Lesson 1.
第一课。
A Puma at Large.
一只逍遥法外的美洲狮。
Listen to the tape, then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
Where must the puma have come from?
美洲狮一定是从哪里来的？
Pumas are large, cat-like animals, which are found in America.
美洲狮是一种大型的猫状动物，产于美洲。
When reports came into London Zoo.
当伦敦动物园接到报告时。
that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London.
在伦敦以南45英里处发现了一只野生美洲狮。
they were not taken seriously.
他们没有被认真对待。
However, as the evidence began to accumulate.
然而，随着证据开始积累。
experts from the zoo felt obliged to investigate.
动物园的专家觉得有必要进行调查。
for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
因为声称见过美洲狮的人给出的描述非常相似。
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.
对美洲狮的搜寻始于一个小村庄，一个采摘黑莓的女人，看见一只大猫离她只有五码远。
It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
当她看到它时，它立即逃跑了，专家证实美洲狮不会攻击人类，除非它走投无路。
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.
搜索证明很困难，因为美洲狮经常早上在一个地方被观察到，晚上在20英里外的另一个地方被观察到。
Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
无论它走到哪里，都会留下一串死鹿和兔子等小动物。
Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
在许多地方都可以看到爪印，灌木丛上还发现了美洲狮皮毛。
Several people complained of cat-like noises at night, and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.
几个人抱怨晚上有猫一样的噪音，一个去钓鱼的商人看到美洲狮爬上了树。
The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
专家们现在完全相信这只动物是美洲狮，但是它是从哪里来的呢？
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.
由于该国任何动物园都没有报告美洲狮失踪，这只美洲狮一定是由私人收藏家拥有的，并且设法逃脱了。
The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
狩猎持续了几个星期，但美洲狮没有被抓住。
It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
想到一只危险的野生动物仍然在宁静的乡村逍遥法外，令人不安。