第1课

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Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.

美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。

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When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London,

当伦敦动物园接到报告，说在伦敦南面45英里处发现一头野生美洲狮时，

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they were not taken seriously.

他们并没有认真对待。

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However, as the evidence began to accumulate,

然而，随着证据的增多，

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experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,

动物园的专家们感到有必要进行一番调查，

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for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.

因为凡是声称见过美洲狮的人们所描述的情况竟然惊人地相似。

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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.

搜捕美洲狮的行动是从一个小村庄开始的，在那里，一位采摘黑莓的妇女看见“一只大猫”离她只有五码远。

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It immediately ran away when she saw it,

她一看到它，它就立刻跑开了，

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and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.

专家证实，美洲狮除非被逼入绝境，否则是不会伤人的。

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The search proved difficult,

搜寻工作很困难，

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for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.

因为常常是早晨在一个地方发现美洲狮，晚上却在20英里以外的另一个地方发现它。

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Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.

无论它走到哪里，身后都留下了死鹿及死兔子之类小动物的痕迹。

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Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.

在许多地方都发现了美洲狮的爪印，灌木丛中也发现了美洲狮的毛。

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Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.

有几个人抱怨说夜里听到了“像猫叫一样的声音”，一位商人在钓鱼时也看见那只美洲狮爬到了一棵树上。

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The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma,

专家们现在完全相信那只动物就是美洲狮，

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but where had it come from?

可是它是从哪里来的呢？

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As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,

由于全国任何一家动物园都没有报道说美洲狮失踪，

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this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape.

那么这只美洲狮一定是某个私人收藏者喂养的，且不知怎么设法逃脱了。

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The hunt went on for several weeks,

搜捕进行了数周，

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but the puma was not caught.

但那只美洲狮仍未捕获。

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It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.

想到在这宁静的乡村里，一只危险的野生动物仍然逍遥在外，真令人不安。