新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
! U4 b  N/ z2 Z) E# t        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
+ d; k+ s) k5 w; ~% z0 D2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
9 \+ \9 b/ ?! O' z( S1 g" U        当伦敦动物园接到报告说，在伦敦以南45英里处发现一只美洲狮时，这些报告并没有受到重视。
+ A8 q! E! P, d) a3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
/ H! N7 o. G( ~( C/ ~7 s        可是，随着证据越来越多，动物园的专家们感到有必要进行一番调查，
" l" A. v- h, D" x( @4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
4 y7 G! m7 u4 c3 b5 R' j& q( L5 T        因为凡是声称见到过美洲狮的人们所描述的情况竟是出奇地相似。
5. The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only five yards away from her.
0 E; J4 I% ^. G7 _' n        搜寻美洲狮的工作是从一座小村庄开始的。那里的一位妇女在采摘黑莓时的看见“一只大猫”，离她仅5码远，
6. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
        她刚看见它，它就立刻逃走了。专家证实，美洲狮非被逼得走投无路，是决不会伤人的。
6 f& d2 p6 X" [" f2 n: N# e7. The search proved difficult,
        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
3 O7 {/ B% q; W& W8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
/ S0 k+ N2 p1 r( a        因为常常是早晨在甲地发现那只美洲狮，晚上却在20英里外的乙地发现它的踪迹。
9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
0 K) S# y  B$ A! }) ]" i) z: f        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，
10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
- x' ^% l& z* ^& y) T1 T9 }        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。
! o) q$ s* ]0 `$ N& h  B) l- I, M11. Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.
+ o/ ^" I* x9 t9 N. L5 u        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。
) b! V' S0 ^& |" x12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
) S$ d4 m2 h, a- B        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?
13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
0 x6 w1 |# ]2 y* S! E        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.
+ |1 I. f4 z* [: g3 ?" }        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。
6 N3 e7 L8 s0 Q+ @* R15. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
1 I  e0 w: o& Q; }& y- X7 O/ @        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
8 K2 n/ H+ B. W16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
" r9 T) A! ~& S) F- F8 ]5 F        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。