1、 Lesson 1A Puma at large 逃遁的美洲狮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?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 we
2、re 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 blackberrie
3、s 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
4、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
5、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 week
6、s, but the puma was not caught. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.New words and expressions 生词和短语puman. 美洲狮spotv. 看出，发现evidencen. 证据accumulatev. 积累，积聚obligev. 使感到必须huntn. 追猎；寻找blackberryn. 黑莓human being人类cornerv. 使走投无路，使陷入困境trailn. 一串，一
7、系列printn. 印痕clingv. 粘convincev. 使信服somehowadv. 不知怎么搞地，不知什么原因disturbv. 令人不安参考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。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
8、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。Lesson 2Thirteen equals o
9、ne十三等于一Listen to the tape then answer the question below.听录音，然后回答以下问题。Was the vicar pleased that the clock was striking? Why?Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to strike
10、the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.One night, however, our vicar work up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one oclock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the v
11、icar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.Whatever are you doing up here Bill? asked the vicar in surprise. Im trying to repair the bell, answered Bill. Ive been coming u
12、p here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.You certainly did give me a surprise! said the vicar. Youve probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, Im glad the bell is working again.Thats the trouble, vicar, answered Bill. Its working all right,
13、 but Im afraid that at one oclock it will strike thirteen times and theres nothing I can do about it.“Well get used to that, Bill, said the vicar. “Thirteen is not as good as one, but its better than nothing. Now lets go downstairs and have a cup of tea. New words and expressions 生词和短语equal v. 等于vic
14、arn. 牧师raisev. 募集，筹（款）torchlightn. 电筒光参考译文我们教区的牧师总是为各种各样的事筹集资金。但始终未能筹足资金把教堂的钟修好。教堂的钟很大，以前不分昼夜打点报时，但很多年前遭到毁坏，从此便无声无息了。一天夜里，我们的牧师突然被惊醒了，大钟又在“打点”报时了！他一看表，才 1 点钟，可是那钟一边敲了 13 下才停。牧师拿着一支电筒走上钟楼想去看看究竟发生了什么事情。借着电筒光。他看见一个人，马上认出那是本地杂货店主经比尔.威尔金斯。“你究竟在这上面干什么，比尔？”牧师惊讶地问。“我想把这口钟修好， ”比尔回答说。 “好几个星期了，我天天夜里到钟楼上来。嗯，我是想
15、让你大吃一惊。 ”“你确实使我大吃了一惊！”牧师说， “也许同时你把村里所有的人都吵醒了。不过，钟又能报时了，我还是很高兴的。 ”“问题就在这里，牧师， ”比尔回答说。 “不错，钟能报时了，但是，恐怕每到 1 点钟，它总要敲 13 下，对此我已无能为力了。 ”“大家慢慢就习惯了，比尔， ”牧师说。 “13 下是不如 1 下好，但总比 1 下也不敲强。来，咱们下楼去喝杯茶吧。 ”Lesson 3An unknown goddess无名女神Listen to the tape then answer the question below.听录音，然后回答以下问题。How did the archa
16、eologists know that the statue was a goddess?Some time ago, and interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean island of Kea. An American team explored a temple which stands in an ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini. The city at one time must have been prosperous, for it enj
17、oyed a high level of civilization. Houses - often three storeys high - were built of stone. They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls. The city was equipped with a drainage system, for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.The temple which the archaeologists explo
18、red was used as a place of worship from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times. In the most sacred room of temple, clay fragments of fifteen statues were found. Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted. The body of one statue was found among remains dating from th
19、e fifteenth century B.C. Its missing head happened to be among remains of the fifth century B.C. This head must have been found in Classical times and carefully preserved. It was very old and precious even then. When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments, they were amazed to find that the g
20、oddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman. She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hips. She was wearing a full-length skirt which swept the ground. Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed, but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.
21、New words and expressions 生词和短语goddess(tile)n. 女神archaeologistn. 考古学家Aegeanadj. 爱玲海的explorev. 考察，勘探promontoryn. 海角prosperousadj. （经济上）繁荣的，昌盛的civilizationn. 文明storeyn. 楼层drainagen. 排水worshipn. 祟拜sacredadj. 宗教的，神圣的fragmentn. 碎片remainsn. 遗物，遗迹，废墟classicaladj. （希腊和罗马）古化的reconstructv. 修复restv. 倚放，放置hipn.
22、 屁股，臀部full-lengthadj. （裙衣）拖地长的gracefuladj. 优雅的identityn. 身份参考译文不久之前，在爱琴海的基亚岛上，考古工作者有一项有趣的发现。一个美国考古队在阿伊亚.依里尼海角的一座古城里考察了一座庙宇。这座古城肯定一度很繁荣，因为它曾享有高度的文明，房子一般有 3 层楼高，用石块修建。里面房间很大，墙壁装饰华丽。城里甚至还敷设了排水系统，因为在狭窄的街道底下发现了许许多多陶土制作的排水管道。考古工作者考察的这座庙宇从公元前 15 世纪直到罗马时代一直是祭祀祈祷的场所。在庙中最神圣的一间殿堂里发现了 15 尊陶雕像的碎片。每一尊雕像代表一位女神，而且一
23、度上过色。其中有一尊雕像，她的躯体是在公元前 15 世纪的历史文物中发现的，而她那身异处的脑袋却碰巧是在公元前 5 世纪的文物中找到的。她的脑袋一定是在古希腊罗马时代就为人所发现，并受到精心的保护。却使在当时，它也属历史悠久的珍奇之物。考古工作者把这些碎片重新拼装起来后，惊奇地发现那位女神原来是一位相貌十分摩登的女郎。她身高 3 英尺，双手叉腰。身穿一条拖地长裙，尽管上了年纪，但体态确实优美。不过，考古工作者至今未能确定这位女神的身份。Lesson 4The double life of Alfred Bloggs阿尔弗雷德.布洛格斯的双重生活Listen to the tape then a
24、nswer the question below. 听录音，然后回答以下问题。Why did Alf want a white-collar job?These days, people who do manual work often receive far more money than people who work in offices. People who work in offices are frequently referred to as “white-collar workers for the simple reason that they usually wear a
25、 collar and tie to go to work. Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers. This can give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corpo
26、ration.When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job. He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he left home dressed in a smart black suit. He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman. Before returning
27、 home at night. He took a shower and changed back into his suit. Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret Alfs wife has never discovered that she married a dustman and she never will, for Alf has just found another job. He will soon be working in an office. He will be e
28、arning only half as much as he used to, but he feels that his rise in status is well worth the loss of money. From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will call him Mr. Bloggs, not Alf.New words and expressions 生词和短语manualadj. 体力的collarn. 衣领sacrificev. 牺牲，献出privilegen. 好处dustmann. 清洁工corp
29、orationn. 公司overallsn. 工作服showern. 淋浴secretn. 秘密statusn. 地位参考译文如今，从事体力劳动的人的收入一般要比坐办公室的人高出许多。坐办公室的之所以常常被称作“白领工人” ，就是因为他们通常是穿着硬领白衬衫，系着领带去上班。许多人常常情愿放弃较高的薪水以换取做白领工人的殊荣，此乃人之常情。而这常常会引起种种奇怪的现象，在埃尔斯米尔公司当清洁工的艾尔弗雷德.布洛斯就是一个例子。艾尔弗结婚时，感到非常难为情，而没有将自己的职业告诉妻子。他只说在埃尔斯米尔公司上班。每天早晨，他穿上一身漂亮的黑色西装离家上班，然后换上工作服，当 8 个小时清洁工。晚
30、上回家前，他洗个淋浴，重新换上那身黑色西服。两年多以来，艾尔弗一直这样，他的同事也为他保守秘密。艾尔弗的妻子一直不知道她嫁给了一个清洁工，而且她永远也不会知道了，因为艾尔弗已找到薪职，不久就要坐办公室里工作了。他将来挣的钱只有他现在的一半。不过他觉得，地位升高了，损失点儿钱也值得。从此，艾尔弗可以一天到晚穿西服了。别人将称呼他为“布洛格斯先生” ，而不再叫他“艾尔弗”了。Lesson 5The facts确切数字Listen to the tape then answer the question below.听录音，然后回答以下问题。What was the consequence of t
31、he editors insistence on facts and statistics?Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their reader with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the presidents palace in a new African repu
32、blic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refuse to publish it. The article began: Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the presidents palace. The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him find out the exact number of steps and the
33、height of the wall.The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but the took a long time to send them Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press. He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply. He sent yet another fax inf
34、orming the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired. When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written. A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrest
35、ed, but he had been sent to prison as well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor that the he had been arrested while counting the 1,084 steps leading to the fifteen-foot wall which surrounded the presidents palace.New words and expressions 生词和短语editorn.
36、编辑extremen. 极端statisticsn. 统计数字journalistn. 新闻记者presidentn. 总统palacen. 王宫；宏伟的住宅publishv. 出版faxn. 传真impatientadj. 不耐烦的firev. 解雇originallyadv. 起初，原先，从前参考译文报刊杂志的编辑常常为了向读者提供成立一些关紧要的事实和统计数字而走向极端。去年，一位记者受一家有名的杂志的委托写一篇关于非洲某个新成立共和国总统府的文章。稿子寄来后，编辑看第一句话就拒绝予以发表。文章的开头是这样的：“几百级台阶通向环绕总统的高墙。 ”编辑立即给那位记者发去传真，要求他核实一下
37、台阶的确切数字和围墙的高度。记者立即出发去核实这些重要的事实，但过了好长时间不见他把数字寄来，在此期间，编辑等得不耐烦了，因为杂志马上要付印。他给记者先后发去两份传真，但对方毫无反应。于是他又发了一份传真，通知那位记者说，若再不迅速答复，将被解雇。但记者还是没有回复。编辑无奈，勉强按原样发稿了。一周之后，编辑终于接到记者的传真。那个可怜的记者不仅被捕了，而且还被送进了监狱。不过，他终于获准发回了一份传真。在传真中他告诉编辑，就在他数通向 15 英尺高的总统府围墙的 1，084 级台阶时，被抓了起来。Lesson 6Smash-and-grab砸橱窗抢劫Listen to the tape th
38、en answer the question below.听录音，然后回答以下问题。How did Mr. Taylor try to stop the thieves?The expensive shops in a famous near Piccadilly were just “opening. At this time of the morning, the arcade was almost empty. Mr. Taylor, the owner of a jewellery shop was admiring a new display. Two of his assistan
39、ts had been working busily since eight oclock and had only just finished. Diamond necklaces and rings had been beautifully arranged on a background of black velvet. After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr. Taylor went back into his shop.The silence was suddenly broken when a large car, w
40、ith its headlights on and its home blaring, roared down the arcade. It came to a stop outside the jewellers. One man stayed at the wheel while two others with black stocking over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars. While this was going on, Mr. Taylor was upstair
41、s. He and his staff began throwing furniture out of the window. Chairs and tables went flying into the arcade. One of the thieves was struck by a heavy statue, but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain. The raid was all over in three minutes, for the men scrambled back into
42、the car and it moved off at a fantastic speed. Just as it was leaving, Mr. Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves. They had got away with thousands of pounds worth of diamonds. New words and expressions 生词和短语smash-and-grabn. 砸橱窗抢劫arcaden. 有拱廊的街道（两旁常设商店）Piccadillyn. 皮卡迪利大街jewlleryn. 珠宝（总称）necklacen. 项链ring n. 戒指backgroundn. 背景velvetn. 天鹅绒，丝绒
