新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
# l( [5 c! H- K) {, Y+ o4 ^0 x        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
2. 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。
3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
! d0 @' ~- @3 L9 {, O        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，
4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
$ F/ ]0 w. ^/ u, C# j        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。
- j5 Z* H% {4 F) T8 i7 K* ^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.
        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，
1 b) t+ W8 B/ p9 }: Q+ R6. 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。
! Q8 S6 h' e7 }  s7 n/ [$ w7. The search proved difficult,
. g. h" w6 |; o0 X        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
3 W1 E+ H9 O/ H$ Q1 g/ \0 X8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
/ U8 |; N6 P' \) }% y) N: f# w        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。
9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
        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，
) \; ^" F+ \* I$ g' c, W. A10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
        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。
11. Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.
9 e0 e" L  @0 s. w        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。
  }+ A+ u3 i& \, G. H" u0 T12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
        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?
4 H! U# H( L/ c( C4 a2 {13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
) b! a. Q" Q) ~& Y+ d        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.
+ }& @, A" {9 _: ^        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。
0 s1 |; k7 z+ t; T! O" J- y! m3 z. E15. 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。
, P/ Z7 x0 ^/ ]16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
4 P+ f7 M0 d* V/ Z$ O        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。