新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
: P7 F' w" X: _. Q1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
* D& ^9 ~: Y2 j$ s! K" H% w        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
' O: {' C! F& d, O3 O" }6 b2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
        当伦敦动物园接到报告说，在伦敦以南45英里处发现一只美洲狮时，这些报告并没有受到重视。
8 [5 p, d* u* D3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
7 d' F" \; R' ^' ]% L( ^        可是，随着证据越来越多，动物园的专家们感到有必要进行一番调查，
6 F6 N3 Z3 R  v2 I( E' U4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
        因为凡是声称见到过美洲狮的人们所描述的情况竟是出奇地相似。
5. The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only five yards away from her.
( n7 r. r/ O3 w. b) C" T. e        搜寻美洲狮的工作是从一座小村庄开始的。那里的一位妇女在采摘黑莓时的看见“一只大猫”，离她仅5码远，
% l0 b( H9 {+ `) L7 X1 k- U1 Z6. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
        她刚看见它，它就立刻逃走了。专家证实，美洲狮非被逼得走投无路，是决不会伤人的。
7. The search proved difficult,
7 a) R. i# M+ q/ o0 K4 A( d        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
7 @2 a* l1 A( d) M6 f) r8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
        因为常常是早晨在甲地发现那只美洲狮，晚上却在20英里外的乙地发现它的踪迹。
+ H/ g$ Z9 F4 T" g# f9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
$ u- x+ C$ t2 J! b% ^: D4 f( D6 U3 R        无论它走哪儿，一路上总会留下一串死鹿及死兔子之类的小动物，
/ J2 h5 u$ E) P1 h6 m0 x10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
/ ^$ u8 ]4 u' N: N' j        在许多地方看见爪印，灌木丛中发现了粘在上面的美洲狮毛。
" l' b% }  y4 \11. Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.
        有人抱怨说夜里听见“像猫一样的叫声”；一位商人去钓鱼，看见那只美洲狮在树上。
. Z) `% p! t: {* X: V: K1 K2 f. N12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
1 }9 J7 \1 a  ?; I/ I0 [        专家们如今已经完全肯定那只动物就是美洲狮，但它是从哪儿来的呢?
5 D% i8 g+ P9 C7 \13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
        由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，
14. this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape.
. \, L& p: s' B4 I, L( {& X        因此那只美洲狮一定是某位私人收藏豢养的，不知怎么设法逃出来了。
# q+ A7 I/ e* b15. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
        想到在宁静的乡村里有一头危险的野兽继续逍遥流窜，真令人担心。