Lesson 1  A Puma at large    问题：Where must the puma have come from?

 

      be at large 潜逃 it means a dangerous person or animal is escaping from somewhere and may cause harm.指危险的人或者动物从什么地方逃了出来，并且会造成伤害。

The escaped prisoners are still at large. 逃犯还没有落网。

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.

知识点1：cat-like  长相似猫的     life-like栩栩如生的

知识点2： spot n. 点、斑点、污点、现场等  V.识别、弄脏、看见（看见了不太容易看见的东西，或者是发现了正在寻找的东西）

I spotted someone coming out of the building.我看见了有一个人从楼里出来。

短语：on the spot:

(1)立刻，马上

Anyone breaking the rules will be asked to leave on the spot.

任何人违反规则，将被要求马上离开。

(2)在现场

Wherever she is needed, she is quickly on the spot.

哪里需要她，她马上就会出现。

知识点3：take sth seriouly/lightly 认真/轻率对待某事

Don't take the hot potato lightly. (hot potato 烤马铃薯，困境，棘手的问题)烫手的山芋

不要轻视棘手的问题。

知识点4：accumulate：means gradually increase over a period of time.随着时间而逐渐增加或积累。

知识点6：feel obliged to do sth. 感觉必须、有责任、有义务做某事= must，have to

I felt obliged to invite him. 我觉得必须邀请他

be obliged to do sth.被迫做某事

译文：美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。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。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，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。

课文：

The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only（=no more than=nothing more than）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.

知识点1：hunt：捕猎 搜寻（本文）

go on a deer/fox hunt 猎鹿 猎狐

the hunt for the remains of the Titanic 寻找泰坦尼克的残骸

hunt for second-hand books 寻找二手书、淘书

job-hunting找工作

知识点2：pick 拾起 捡起 挑选  采摘（本文）

   pick cotton 摘棉花

   We need to pick someone reliable. 我们需要找一个可靠的人。

   pick and choose 挑挑拣拣

知识点3：be cornered ：be forced into a situation which is not easy to escape被逼入困境走投无路

in a corner 在角落里，偷偷摸摸的，秘密的，处于困境的

知识点4：prove = turn out to be 证明是  原来是

Vi不及物动词 ：The rumour/rumor proved false. 谣言被证明是错误的。

Vt及物动词：They proved her innocence. 他们证实了她是无辜的。

知识点5：a trial of 一串。。。一系列。。。。。

Wherever he went, the wound soldier left behind him a trial of blood.

无论他走到哪里，那个受伤士兵都会在身后留下一串血迹。

知识点6：cling: hold sth. tightly or stick to sth. tightly粘，依附，坚持，依靠，紧紧抓住

cling-clung-clung

   cling to

His wet shirt clung to his body.他的湿衬衫贴在了身上。

cling to some belief/idea/feeling当这个词组后面的宾语是信念、思想、感情的时候，表示固守、坚持

She clings to the belief that her husband will come back.她固执地相信她的丈夫会回来。

He clung to the hope that he would succeed.他坚信他会成功。

知识点8：complain : 报告、诉说不满的情绪

   complain about the weather 抱怨天气不好

   complain of a headache 诉说自己头疼这种情形= tell sb. You have a headache

知识点9：convince 使。。。信服

convince sb. of sth./ doing sth. 使某人相信某事

I convince him of my honesty.我使他相信我的忠诚。

You might convince me more if you weren't. The only one who knew about the problem只有你知道内情，让我怎么相信不是你。

知识点10：

sth be in the possession of sb 某物归某人所有

sb in possession of sth 某人拥有某物

类似短语：sth be in the charge of sb 某物归某人掌管

sb be in charge of sth  某人掌管某物

知识点11：disturb 打搅=interrupt

   使担忧=worrying

Sorry to disturb you. 对不起打搅你了。

Do not disturb. 请勿打扰。

His strange behaviour/behavior disturbed me.他举止反常，使我很担心。

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，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。事实上搜寻工作很困难，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。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，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。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。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？由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，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。搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。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。

复杂句阅读的拆分：

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.

主句：experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate

从句：as引导的状语从句，伴随主句发生的状态

      for引导的从句，来交代原因 该原因状语从句中 given是定语从句的作用 用于修饰descriptions =which have been given by people

who引导的定语从句修饰people