新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
( O+ r9 b; u, x2 P        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
- t2 {8 w0 e( p/ T+ w5 i2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
7 X3 V# V" W& t! F# f5 R5 T        当伦敦动物园接到报告说，在伦敦以南45英里处发现一只美洲狮时，这些报告并没有受到重视。
3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
8 t) ^# Q, M7 j: C        可是，随着证据越来越多，动物园的专家们感到有必要进行一番调查，
4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
        因为凡是声称见到过美洲狮的人们所描述的情况竟是出奇地相似。
2 E, Z4 J6 a+ `" E3 F5. The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only five yards away from her.
( p6 w2 T4 W  F' H$ ~) P+ j9 o  l+ 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，
$ I1 h$ q  S6 \0 A: |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.
) ]# b' m2 T# i- D7 n        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,
0 }. p9 S" u3 U2 h& Q& q0 ^        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
7 l9 e, C% J( e; s% _8. 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。
1 N; E) P) G  c7 H& @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，
10. 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。
( A% T2 ^# X& ]5 j/ y11. 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。
& H3 H. f: E+ z  K3 l% e0 |& _0 a) e4 e12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
+ R- h) F4 [7 W. ^        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,
        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.
0 U1 T" x, s( v* i* P' }- s        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。
! b, g# |+ Z! s/ Z15. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
. t1 w; N  P1 i* V5 Z$ d6 d) g        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
3 I6 y4 j7 w, _# E9 v+ M16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
+ {! Q9 T9 v5 M        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。