01 · 逃遁的美洲狮
A Puma At Large
读懂长句与段落衔接，分清事实、推断和观点，再连贯复述或说明。
课文精读整篇课文
点选一句，句末即可听读；连起意思，大声读一遍。
Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate, for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
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. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered. The search proved difficult, for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes. Several people complained of "cat-like noises" at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from? As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country, this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
本课原文与译文
展开完整文本 · 便于查阅与检索
整篇课文
Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate, for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
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. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered. The search proved difficult, for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes. Several people complained of "cat-like noises" at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from? As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country, this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
美洲狮是一种生活在美洲的大型猫科动物。伦敦动物园陆续接到报告，说有人在伦敦以南45英里处发现了一只野生美洲狮，起初这些报告并未受到重视。然而，随着证据不断积累，动物园的专家们觉得必须展开调查，因为那些声称见过美洲狮的人，描述的情况竟然出奇地相似。
搜寻从一个小村庄开始。一位妇女在那里采摘黑莓时，看见离自己仅5码远的地方有“一只大猫”。她一发现它，它就立刻跑开了。专家证实，美洲狮不会攻击人，除非被逼得无路可逃。搜寻却并不顺利：人们常常早晨还在一处看见它，傍晚它就出现在20英里以外的另一处。它所到之处，总会留下死鹿，以及兔子之类小动物的尸体。好几个地方都发现了爪印，灌木上也粘着美洲狮的毛。几个人反映，夜里听见过“像猫一样的叫声”；还有一位外出钓鱼的商人，曾看见它待在树上。专家们这时已经完全确信，那只动物就是美洲狮。但它究竟从哪儿来的呢？全国没有一家动物园报告丢失美洲狮，因此它一定原本归某位私人收藏家所有，后来不知怎么逃了出来。搜寻持续了好几个星期，美洲狮却始终没有被捕获。一想到这样一只危险的野兽仍在宁静的乡间游荡，就令人不安。
学完这一课
用“收到报告说……，起初没有受到重视”写一次需要核实的消息。
译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第10—13页，2022年2月第3版。