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.
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spot (v. n.):
- A leopard won’t change its spots.
- a spot of bother: You seem to have a spot of bother with your car, can I help?
- a scenic spot: A great many scenic spots are being spoiled by the ill-behaved tourists.
- on the spot: Ten minutes after calling 911, a police car arrived on the spot.
- see / find / observe
- recognize sb. as …
- identify
evidence, evident, self-evident
- All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. — Arthur Schopenhauer.
- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. — Thomas Jefferson
court, go to court, settle sth out of court
- judge, witness, jury, evidence, testimony, plaintiff
- accuse sb of doing sth
- charge sb with doing sth.
accumulate knowledge / possessions
- amass a fortune
- pile up
- collect stamps
- gather crops
- Shenzhen real estate developers hoard large amounts of land.
be / feel obliged (compelled, impelled) to do
corner
- on / in / at / around the corner
- convince sb. of sth
- cure sb. of sth
- inform sb of sth
- remind sb. of sth
- rob sb of sth
- deprive sb of sth
- assure sb of sth
somehow, somewhat, somewhere
- I’ve lost my wallet somewhere around here.
disturb: Sorry to disturb you, but I really need your help.
a prisoner / suspect at large.
- The disease is still at large.
be found in …
take … seriously / lightly
give / make descriptions
claim to do … , claim to have done
hunt for …
I’m hunting for a job now.
The hunt for a job will begin tomorrow.
the winter in America
the entrance to the parking lot
a witness to the accident
a longing for love
the reason for the disaster
just …
merely …
no more than …
prove to be …
turn out to be …
a trail of
fin, fur, and feather
complain of / about sth
on a business / honeymoon trip
on a journey / voyage / expedition / tour
manage to do
fail to do
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.’
Some time ago, an interesting discovery was made by archeologists on the Aegean island of Kea. An American team explored a temple which stands in the ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini. The city at one time must have been prosperous, for it enjoyed a high level of civilization. Houses — often three stories high — were built of stone. They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls. The city was even equipped with a drainage system for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.
The temple which the archeologists explored was used as a place of worship from the 15th century BC until Roman times. In the most sacred room of the temple, clay fragments of fifteen statute were found. Each of these represented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted. The body of a statute was found among the remains dating from 15th century BC. Its missing head happened to be among remains of fifth century BC. This head must have been found in Classical times and carefully preserved. It was very old and precious even then. When the archeologists reconstructed the fragments, they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman. She stood 3 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 archeologists have been unable to discover her identity.
Why did Alf want a white-collar job?
These days, people who do manual work often receives 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 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 Corporation.
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 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. Alf’s 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 earning 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’.
Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their readers with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president’s palace in a new African republic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused to publish it. The article began: ‘Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president’s palace.’ The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he 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 urgent telegrams, but received no reply. He sent yet another telegram informing 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 telegram from the journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a cable in which he informed the editor that he had been arrested while counting the 1084 steps leading to the 15-foot wall which surrounded the president’s palace.
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- the press, go to press, issue
- publishing, publisher,
- editor, edit, edition, editorial
- the classified ads section
- journalist, reporter, columnist, correspondent
- journalism
- pirate
- extreme (n., adj.) | extremely
- go to extremes to do sth,
- from one extreme to the other,
- between two extremes
facts and statistics
fruit and vegetables
fur and feather / birds and beasts
bed and board / food and shelter
food, shelter, clothing and transportation- become / get / grow impatient with sb. / sth.
- be impatient to do sth.
- be eager / anxious / itching / dying / desperate to do …
- can’t wait to do …
- fire / dismiss sb. from …
- lose one’s job
- lay off
- suspend
- depose, force out, bring down, overthrow, kick out, expel, oust, subvert, topple
- resign, quit, renounce, abdicate, vacate, step down, give up, leave office, pull up stakes
- originally, origin, original, originality
- provide sb with sth
- provide sth for sb
- offer sb sth
- offer sth to sb
- unimportant, trivial, trifling, insignificant
- instruct sb in sth, instructor
- instruct / direct sb to do
- order sb to do
- command sb to do
- article on / about sth by sb
- lead to
- surround, surrounding,
- send sb a fax / a letter / an email / a card
- get / receive a fax from …
- set out: to start a journey
- set out to do sth.
- inform sb. of sth
- inform sb that …
- in that … | but / except that …
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 jewelery 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.
smash (hit violently), shatter (break into many pieces)
grab, seize
expensive, fancy, luxury
staff vs police
only just adv. not long ago/ before 刚刚
Has it ever happen to you? Have you ever put your trousers in the washing machine and then remember 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 make 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 finance, John, runs a successful furniture business. John had a very good day and put his wallet containing 3000 pounds into the microwave 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 fiance’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 Mutilated Ladies! They examined the remains 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 1.5 million pounds on 21,000 claims.’
mutilate, maim, paralyze, cripple, disable, handicap
chew, bite, gobble, devour, swallow, nibble
bridesmaid, maid of honor | groomsman, best man
newlyweds, happy couple
spokeswoman
dead presidents
happen to do | sth happen to sb. | come up to
sth. occur to sb.
remember / recall / recollect sth
remind sb of sth
bill, note, coin, change
rescue/save | come / go to one’s rescue | pick up sb. | salvage sth from … | savior, a knight in shining armor
despair of sb., despair of (doing) sth | in despair
deal with / attend to / see to / cope with / tackle / handle
feed sth to sb. | feed sb on sth
concern… ; be concerned with …
dismay
The Great St Bernard Pass connects Switzerland to Italy. At 2470 metres, it is the highest mountain pass in Europe. The famous monastery of St Bernard, which was founded in the 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 watch-dogs 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 for 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 the mountains, always receive a warm Welcome at St Bernard’s monastery.
- connect A with / to B | link A with/to B | join A to B |
associate A with B
relate A to B at…
at an altitude of …
Being at 2,473 meters, …bring … from …: 从……带来……
introduce … from …: 从……引进……now (that) conj. 同时表示时间和原因
- rash, reckless, impulsive
cross the pass on foot
cross the pass in cars
cross + 宾语 + 方式状语fly across the English Channel
动词 + across + 宾语
cross the pass on foot
= walk across the pass
cross the pass in cars
= drive across the pass
row across the Caribbean
= cross the Caribbean by boatattempt to do sth.
try to do sth.
make an attempt to do sth.
make an effort to do sth.
seek to do sth. (fml.)in cars = by car
表示“使用某种交通工具”的介词短语，“by”后要直接加单数名词; “in”后的名词要有人称 和数的变化。- enclosure, be enclosed by .. | be surrounded by … | be besieged by …
keep: confine 把……关起来
quite adv. completely 完全，截然
- drop, fall, plunge, dive, increase, rise, rocket, soar, + to / by
wander: to walk aimlessly
= roam
Cats never fail to fascinate human beings. They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well. They never become submissive like
dogs and horses. As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence. Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives. One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is
the popular belief that they have nine lives. Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea. A cat ’ s ability to survive falls is based on fact.
Recently the New York Animal Medical Centre made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months. All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings, yet only
eight of them died from shock or injuries. Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings. There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from! One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth. ‘ Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers, ’ a doctor said. It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves. In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more. At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax. They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels. This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.
fascinate, attract, charm, seduce / entice,
be a mystery to sb
submissive,
submit to … , yield to …, succumb to …, bow to …, be subject to sth.
as … as …(肯定)
as/so…as…(否定/ 疑问)
They never become as / so submissive as dogs and horses (do).
in the (same) way that …
We like them in the same way that we like pretty curtain material.
Love me in the way that I love you.
The city is living proof that the policy works in the way that economists claim. They never become submissive in the (same) way that dogs and horses do.
- as a result, thus, therefore, for this reason, as a consequence,
- so, hence, accordingly, consequently, in consequence
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 water- tight 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
water-tight 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.