新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记【Lesson10、11、12】

新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记【Lesson10、11、

12】

【课文】

The great ship, Titanic, sailed for New York from Southampton on April 10th, 1912. She was carrying 1316 passengers and a crew of 89l. Even by modern standards, the 46,000 ton Titanic was a colossal ship. At that time, however, she was not only the largest ship that had ever been built,

but was regarded as unsinkable, for she had sixteen

watertight compartments. Even if two of these were flooded, she would still be able to float. The tragic sinking of this great liner will always be remembered, for she went down on

her first voyage with heavy loss of life.

Four days after setting out, while the Titanic was

sailing across the icy waters of the North Atlantic, a huge iceberg was suddenly spotted by a look-out. After the alarm had been given, the great ship turned sharply to avoid a

direct collision. The Titanic turned just in time, narrowly missing the immense wall of ice which rose over 100 feet out

of the water beside her. Suddenly, there was a slight

trembling sound from below, and the captain went down to see what had happened. The noise had been so faint that no one thought that the ship had been damaged. Below, the captain realized to his horror that the Titanic was sinking rapidly, for five of her sixteen watertight compartments had already been flooded! The order to abandon ship was given and

hundreds of people plunged into the icy water. As there were not enough life-boats for everybody, 1500 lives were lost.

【课文翻译】

巨轮“泰坦尼克”号1912 年4 月10 日从南安普敦起锚驶向纽约。船上载1,316 名乘客与891 名船员。却使用现代标准来衡量，

45,000 吨的“泰坦尼克”号与算得上一艘巨轮了。当时，这艘轮船不

但是造船建造的的一艘船而且也被认为是不会沉没的。因为船由16 个密封舱组成，即使有两个舱进水，仍可漂浮的水面上。不过，这艘巨

轮首航就下沉，造成大批人员死亡。人们将永远记着这艘巨轮的沉没

惨剧。“

泰坦尼克”起航后的第4 天，它正行驶在北大西洋冰冷的海面上。突然，了望员发现一座冰山。警报响过不久，巨轮急转弯，以避免与

冰山正面相撞。“泰坦尼克”这个弯拐得即时，紧贴着高出海面100

英尺的巨大的冰墙擦过去。突然，从船舱下部传来一声微颤音，船长

走下船舱去查看究竟。因为这个声音非常轻，没人会想到船身已遭损坏。在下面，船长惊恐的地发现“泰坦尼克”号正在急速下沉，16 个

密封舱已有5 个进水。于是，他发出弃船的命令几百人跳进了冰冷刺

骨的海水里。因为没有充足的救生艇运载所有乘客，结果，1,500 人

丧生。

【生词和短语】

Southampton n. 南安普敦(英国港市)

colossal adj. 庞大的

watertight adj. 不漏水的

compartment n. (轮船的)密封舱

flood v. 充满水

float v. 漂浮，飘浮

tragic adj. 悲惨的

liner n. 班船

voyage n. 航行

iceberg n. 冰山

lookout n. 瞭望员

collision n. 碰撞

narrowly adv. 刚刚，勉强地

miss v. 避开

slight adj. 轻微的

tremble v. 震颤

faint adj. 微弱的

horror n. 恐惧

abandon v. 抛弃

plunge v. 投入，跳入

lifeboat n. 救生船

Lesson11

【课文】

Customs Officers are quite tolerant these days, but they can still stop you when you are going through the Green Channel and have nothing to declare. Even really honest people are often made to feel guilty. The hardened professional smuggler, on the other hand, is never troubled by such feelings, even if he has five hundred gold watches hidden in his suitcase. When I returned from abroad recently,

a particularly officious young Customs Officer clearly regarded me as a smuggler.

"Have you anything to declare?"he asked, looking me in the eye.

"No,"I answered confidently.

"Would you mind unlocking this suitcase please?"

"Not at all,"I answered.

The Officer went through the case with great care. All the things I had packed so carefully were soon in a dreadful mess. I felt sure I would never be able to close the case again. Suddenly, I saw the Officer's face light up. He had spotted a tiny bottle at the bottom of my case and he pounced on it with delight.

"Perfume, eh?'"he asked sarcastically.

"You should have declared that."

"Perfume is not exempt from import duty."

"But it isn't perfume,'"I said.

"It's hair-oil." Then I added with a smile,

"It's a strange mixture I make myself.'"As I expected, he did not believe me.

"Try it!'"I said encouragingly.

The Officer unscrewed the cap and put the bottle to his nostrils. He was greeted by an unpleasant smell which convinced him that I was telling the truth. A few minutes

later, I was able to hurry away with precious chalk-marks on my baggage.

【课文翻译】

现在的海关官员往往相当宽容。但是，当你通过绿色通道，没有任何东西需要申报时他们仍能够拦住你。甚至是最诚实的人也常弄得觉得有罪似的，而老练的职业走私犯却使手提箱里藏着 500只金表，却也处之泰然。最近一次，我也出国归来，碰上一位特别好管闲事的年轻海关官员，他显然把我当成走私犯。“您有什么需要申报的吗?”他直盯着我的眼睛问。“没有。”我自信地回答说。“请打开这只手提箱好吗?” “好的。”我回答说。那位官员十分仔细地把箱子检查了一遍。所有细心包装好的东西一会儿工夫就乱成一团。我相信那箱子再也关不上了。突然，我看到官员脸上露出了得意的神色。他在我的箱底发现了一只小瓶，高兴地一把抓了起来。“香水，嗯?”他讥讽地说道，“你刚才应该申报，香水要上进口税的。” “不，这不是香水，”我说，“是发胶。”接着我脸带微笑补充说：“这是一种我自己配制的奇特的混合物。” “你就闻一闻吧!”我催促说。海关官员拧开瓶盖，把瓶子放到鼻子底下。一股怪味袭来，使他相信了我说的真话。几分钟后，我终于被放行，手提划着宝贵的粉笔记号的行李，匆匆离去。

【生词和短语】

guilty adj. 犯罪的，违法的

tolerant adj. 宽容的

declare v. 申报

hardened adj. 有经验的

professional adj. 职业的，专业的

smuggler n. 走私者

officious adj. 爱管闲事的

confidently adv. 自信地

dreadful adj. 可怕的，一团糟的

pounce v. 猛抓，扑住

perfume n. 香水(人造的)

sarcastically adv. 讽刺地

exempt adj. 被免除的

duty n. 税

gel n. 凝胶

mixture n. 混合物

unscrew v. 拧开

nostril n. 鼻孔

chalk n. 粉笔

baggage n. 行李

Lesson12

【课文】

Most of us have formed an unrealistic picture of life on a desert island.We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise where the sun always shines. Life there is simple and good. Ripe fruit falls from the trees and you never have to work. The other side of the picture is quite the opposite. Life on a desert island is wretched. You either starve to death or live like Robinson Crusoe, waiting for a

boat which never comes. Perhaps there is an element of truth in both these pictures, but few us have had the opportunity to find out.

Two men who recently spent five days on a coral island wished they had stayed there longer. They were taking a badly damaged boat from the Virgin Islands to Miami to have it repaired. During the journey, their boat began to sink. They quickly loaded a small rubber dinghy with food, matches, and cans of beer and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island. There were hardly any trees on the island and there was no water, but this did not prove to be a problem. The men collected rainwater in the rubber dinghy. As they had brought a spear gun with them, they had plenty to eat. They caught lobster and fish every day，and, as one of them put it 'ate like kings'. When a passing tanker rescued them five days later, both men were genuinely sorry that they had to leave.

【课文翻译】

我们很多人对于荒岛生活有一种不切实际的想法。我们有时想象荒岛是阳光终日普照的天堂。在那里，生活简单又美好。成熟的水果从树上掉下来，人们根本无需劳动。另一种想法恰恰相反，认为荒岛生活很可怕，要么饿死，要么像鲁滨孙那样，天天盼船来，却总没见船影。也许，这两种都像都有可信之处。但很少有人能有机会去弄个究竟。

最近有两个人在一座珊瑚岛上呆了5天，他们真希望在那儿再多呆一些日子。他们驾着一条严重损坏的小船从维尔京群岛阿密修理。途中，船开始下沉，他们迅速把食物、火柴、罐装啤酒往一只救生筏上装。然后在加勒比海上划行了几英里，到了一座珊瑚岛上。岛上几乎没有一颗树，也没有淡水，但这不算什么问题。他们用像皮艇蓄积

雨水。因为他们随身带了一支捕鱼枪，所以，吃饭不愁。他们天天捕捉龙虾和鱼，正如其中一位所说，吃得“像国王一样好”。5天后，一条油轮从那儿路过，搭救了他们。这二位不得不离开那个荒岛时，还真的感到遗憾呢!

【生词和短语】

unrealistic adj. 不真实

paradise n. 天堂，乐士

wretched adj. 可怜的，艰苦的

element n. 成分

starve v. 挨饿

opportunity n. 机会

coral n. 珊瑚

dinghy n. 救生筏，小船

lobster n. 龙虾

tanker n. 油轮

genuinely adv. 由衷地

新概念英语3课文

Lesson1 A puma at large 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（adj.被困得走投无路的）. 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

新概念英语第三册课文及详解第课

Lesson 1 A puma at large 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. Language points Pay attention: The points below are not covered by the mp3. It is better for you to listen to the mp3 first and try to take notes by yourselves. 1，a puma at large at large 1：逃遁的，没有被控制的。

新概念英语第三册课文及详解第6课

Smash－and－grab 砸橱窗抢劫 The expensive shops in a famous arcade 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 window display. Two of his assistants had been working busily since 8 o'clock 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, with its headlights on and its horn blaring, roared down the arcade. It came to a stop outside the jeweler's. One man stayed at the wheel while two others with black stockings over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars. While this was going on, Mr Taylor was upstairs. 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 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. Language points （Attention：The following points are may not covered by the video. It is better for you to watch the video or listen to the MP3 first and try to take notes on your own. Then you may check here to get more details. ） 1, The expensive shops in a famous arcade near Piccadilly were just opening. in a famous arcade near Piccadilly介词短语修饰shops e.g. The shoe shop in my neighborhood was just opening.我家附近的鞋店刚刚开们营业。 2, After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr. Taylor went back into his shop. after gazing...=after he gazed... 本句运用-ing形式结构，表明其逻辑主语要和主句的主语是一致的。

新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson60

新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson60 【课文】 Punctuality is a necessary habit in all public affairs in civilized society. Without it, nothing could ever be brought to a conclusion; everything would be in state of chaos. Only in a sparsely-populated rural community is it possible to disregard it. In ordinary living, there can be some tolerance of unpunctuality. The intellectual, who is working on some abstruse problem, has everything coordinated and organized for the matter in hand. He is therefore forgiven if late for a dinner party. But people are often reproached for unpunctuality when their only fault is cutting things fine. It is hard for energetic, quick-minded people to waste time, so they are often tempted to finish a job before setting out to keep an appointment. If no accidents occur on the way, like punctured tires, diversions of traffic, sudden descent of fog, they will be on time. They are often more industrious, useful citizens than those who are never late. The over-punctual can be as much a trial to others as the unpunctual. The guest who arrives half an hour too soon is the greatest nuisance. Some friends of my family had this irritating habit. The only thing to do was ask them to come half an hour later than the other guests. Then they arrived just when we wanted them. If you are catching a train, it is always better to be comfortably early than even a fraction of a minted too late. Although being early may mean wasting a little time, this will be less than if you miss the train and have to wait an hour or more for the next one; and you avoid the frustration

新概念英语第三册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson8

新概念英语第三册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson8 【课文】 The Great St. Bernard Pass connects Switzerland to Italy. At 2,473 metres, it is the highest mountain pass in Europe. The famous monastery of St. Bernard, witch was founded in eleventh century, lies about a mile away. For hundreds of years, St. Bernard dogs have saved the lives of travellers crossing the dangerous Pass. These friendly dogs, which were first brought from Asia, were used as watchdogs even in Roman times. Now that a tunnel has been built through the mountains, the Pass is less dangerous, but each year, the dogs are still sent out into the snow whenever a traveller is in difficulty. Despite the new tunnel, there are still a few people who rashly attempt to cross the Pass on foot. During the summer months, the monastery is very busy, for it is visited by thousands of people who cross the Pass in cars. As there are so many people about, the dogs have to be kept in a special enclosure. In winter, however, life at the monastery is quite different. The temperature drops to -- 30 and very few people attempt to cross the Pass. The monks prefer winter to summer of they have more privacy. The dogs have greater freedom, too, for they are allowed to wander outside their enclosure. The only regular visitors to the monastery in winter are parties of skiers who go there at Christmas and Easter. These young people, who love the peace of mountains, always receive a warm welcome at St. Bernard's monastery. 【课文翻译】

新概念英语第3册课文解析

新概念第三册语法精粹 第一章英语从句 Subordination 英语从句主要有定语从句，状语从句和名词性从句（主语从句，宾语从句，表语从句，同位语从句） 一．定语从句 定语从句：由关系代词who, whom, whose, that, which; 关系副词when, where, why 引导。 （下面十个句子请读5遍并脱口译出！） 1. The death notices tell us about people who have died during the week. 2. The man (whom) you spoke to just now is my friend. 3. The building whose lights are on is beautiful. 4. Please find a place which we can have a private talk in. 5. The knee is the joint where the thighbone meets the large bone of the lower leg. 6. He still remembers the day when he went to school. 7. It is no need telling us the reason why you didn't finish it in time. 8. He has three sons, two of whom died in the war. 9. Mr. Smith, whose wife is a clerk, teaches us English. 10. In the Sunday paper there are comics, which children enjoy.

新概念英语第3册课文word版

—－可编辑修改，可打印—— 别找了你想要的都有！ 精品教育资料——全册教案，，试卷，教学课件，教学设计等一站式服务——

全力满足教学需求，真实规划教学环节 最新全面教学资源，打造完美教学模式 新概念英语第三册课文 Lesson1 A puma at large 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（adj.被困得走投无路的）. 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

新概念三册课文+翻译

新概念英语第三册 Lesson1 A puma at large 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（adj.被困得走投无路的）. 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 2 Thirteen equals one 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 the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since. ' One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar 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. ' I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill.' I've been coming up 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. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.' 'That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it.' 'We'll get used to that Bill,' said the vicar. 'Thirteen is not as good as one but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.' 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

新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记【Lesson7、8、9】

新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记【Lesson7、8、9】【课文】 Has it ever happened to you? Have you ever put your trousers in the washing machine and then remembered there was a large bank note in your back pocket? When you rescued your trousers, did you find the note was whiter than white? People who live in Britain needn't despair when they made mistakes like this (and a lot of people do)! Fortunately for them, the Bank of England has a team called Mutilated Ladies which deals with claims from people who fed their money to a machine or to their dog. Dogs, it seems, love to chew up money! A recent case concerns Jane Butlin whose fiancé, John, runs a successful furniture business. John had a very good day and put his wallet containing $3,000 into the microwave oven for safekeeping. Then he and Jane went horse-riding. When they got home, Jane cooked their dinner in the microwave oven and without realizing it, cooked her fiancé's wallet as well. Imagine their dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned to ash! John went to see his bank manager who sent the remains of wallet and the money to the special department of the Bank of England in Newcastle： the Mutilate Ladies! They examined the remain and John got all his money back. 'So long as there's something to identify, we will give people their money back,' said a spokeswoman for the Bank. 'Last year, we paid $1.5m on 21,000 claims. 【课文翻译】

新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson37

新概念第三册课文翻译及学习笔记：Lesson37 【课文】 We have learnt to expect that trains will be punctual. After years of conditioning, most of us have developed an unshakable faith in railway timetables. Ships may be delayed by storms; air flights may be cancelled because of bad weather; but trains must be on time. Only an exceptionally heavy snow fall might temporarily dislocate railway services. It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong. The truth is that when mistakes occur, they are more likely to be ours than theirs. After consulting my railway timetable, I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven. It went direct from my local station and the journey lasted a mere hour and seventeen minutes. When I boarded the train, I could not help noticing that a great many local people got on as well. At the time, this did not strike me as odd. I reflected that there must be a great many people besides myself who wished to take advantage of this excellent service. Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Widley, a tiny station a few miles along the line. Even a mighty express train can be held up by signals. But when the train dawdled at station after station, I began to wonder. It suddenly dawned on me that this express was not roaring down the line at ninety miles an hour, but barely chugging along at thirty. One hour and seventeen minutes passed and we had not even covered half the distance. I asked a passenger if this was the Westhaven Express, but he had not even heard of it. I determined to lodge a complaint as soon as we arrived.

新概念英语第3册课文word版

新概念英语第三册课文 Lesson1A puma at large 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（adj.被困得走投无路的）. 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. Lesson 2 Thirteen equals one 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 the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since. One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar 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.' I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill.' I've been coming up 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. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.''That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it.''We'll get used to that Bill,' said the vicar. 'Thirteen is not as good as one but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.' Lesson 3 An unknown goddess Some time ago，an interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean（adj.爱琴海的；n.）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 enjoyed a