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$课文1 逃遁的美洲狮
7 l. L( I1 ?1 Q1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
# R5 e, n4 h- d0 L: E$ |! a 美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物,产于美洲。
; t6 }1 @/ o0 X2 _3 S P. A' j2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
6 ]6 l8 G3 o3 _7 ^ 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。
0 Z" r/ b/ G; T3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
) h3 b- ^% @: ^& B/ O. a4 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,
$ U7 [4 f6 \, u7 N8 Z4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
* X% ~# r' ~8 k6 i+ G 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。
0 z6 o7 e5 Y6 n5 U3 I5 N5 h5. 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.
" g8 k+ x. {3 { 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,
8 ^% u" O8 Z! E ]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.$ j' ` v) S2 A m+ Z
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。
0 @8 B. f* R5 N; _& e+ K! j& c9 N7. The search proved difficult,
9 d+ N$ f# g$ a/ D7 r' t 事实上搜寻工作很困难,
& e0 m9 S9 V. g, ~; G3 g' n( t$ v' P8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
# Y' \1 R! s* M. T, L* t- Y 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。* W$ G T- |5 ~0 u2 ^
9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
7 L# c! n+ {1 V: B& Z# ~ 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,
?3 `: t8 Q& ^9 V4 l o; ?9 _10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
V( p; d1 r: y9 g$ Y 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。
6 l) {" } r# Z) C* s& p2 I! k11. Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.' |6 F$ Q: N2 _9 `/ b3 i9 x2 O
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。; h; P' _ e$ c6 @6 ~0 D3 Q# q
12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
7 y4 W$ r( v+ h4 Z7 O; u 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 L2 z" f+ |* G2 ^9 ]' m
13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
! [/ z9 A1 [9 v }4 ^2 e' @8 E 由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮,4 h' r/ z; g% ?$ ]
14. this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape.+ {' s$ R; \2 x' A
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。
4 h4 v0 @" B& M15. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
+ H1 T9 w s# r1 X 搜寻工作进行了好几个星期,但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
. H* ~( Z6 ]2 D9 S* n( l. W+ j+ f8 K7 }16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
; @8 v* e% e' Y% L 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。 |
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