Lesson 1 A puma at large

Can you describe the animal in the picture?

Key words:cat-like

body: slenderlimbs( 四肢 ): strong, and the hind legs （后腿） are longer than the front.head: smallears: small and rounded

neck: long

tail: long and heavy

Listening

Listen to the tape then answer the question below.1. What sort of reports were received by London Zoo?2. Were the reports similar in nature or not?3. Who saw the puma first?4. Did it stay in one place, or did it move from place to place?5. What did it leave behind it? 6. Were paw prints and puma fur found as well or not?7. What was heard at night?8. Was the animal seen up a tree or not?9. Were experts now sure that the animal really was a puma or not?10. Where must the puma have come from?

ReadingRead the text carefully, and then do the multiple choice questions below:1. Experts eventually decided to investigate .(a) because they did not believe that pumas existed in England(b) because they wanted a puma for the London Zoo(c) when a woman saw a puma in a small village(d) because people’s descriptions of the puma had a lot in common2. What particular piece of evidence persuaded the experts that a puma had been

seen in the village?(a) The puma had not attacked the woman.(b) The woman had described the animal she had seen as ‘a large cat ’.(c) A puma had come very close to a human being.(d) The puma had behaved like a cat.3. What was the problem the experts were unable to solve?(a) How the puma had managed to cover such great distances within a day.(b) How the puma had escaped from a zoo.(c) Whom the puma had belonged to.(d) How the puma had climbed a tree.

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.

A puma at large 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.

at largeat large⑴ （危险的人物或野兽）自由自在到处跑；逃遁的，没有被控制的e.g. 1 ） The thief is still at large 那个小偷仍在逍遥法外。 2 ） Two of the escaped prisoners are still at large. 两个逃犯仍逍遥法外。

⑵ 全部，整个，总体来讲（ = as a whole ） ：e.g. 1 ） The country at large is hoping for great changes. 整个国家都盼望发生巨大的变革。 2 ） The students at large are interested in English. 总体来讲，学生们对英语是感兴趣的。

cat-like

cat-like 猫一样的 , 偷偷摸摸的 dog-like 狗一样的 life-like 栩栩如生的

spotv. 看见；看出；注意到；发现e.g. 1 ） I finally spotted my friend in the crowd. 我终于在人群中看见了我的朋友。 2 ） He has good eye for spotting mistakes. 他有发现错误的好眼力。 n. 斑点；污迹 e.g. His jacket was covered with spots of mud. 他的上衣满是泥点。 on the spot1) 当场；当下 e.g. He answered the question on the spot. 他当场就回答了那个问题。 2) 在现场 e.g. An ambulance was on the spot within minutes. 几分钟之后，一辆救护车便赶到现场。

Take sth. seriously

take sth. seriously = deal with sth seriously 认真地对待某事 e.g. I always take your suggestions seriously 我总是认真听取你的建议。take sth. lightly 草率地对待某事 e.g. Don’t take the problem lightly. 不要草率地对待这个问题。

evidence

evidence n. 根据；证明；证据（不可数名词） e.g. When the police arrived, he had already destroyed the evidence. 当警察赶到的时候，他已经把证据给销毁了。

evident adj. 明显的 , 显然的evidently adv. 明显地 , 显然 in evidence 显而易见的 e.g. He was in evidence at the party. 他在晚会上很显眼。

accumulate

accumulate / ə’kju:mjuleit / v. 积累，积聚e.g. He gradually accumulated an

impressive collection of paintings. 他逐渐积聚起一批可观的绘画收藏品。accumulation n. accumulative adj. (fml) 累积的，渐增的 accumulatively adv.

feel obliged to

oblige / ə’blaidʒ / v. （常用被动态）使某人非做 ~ 不可；迫使某人做某事，使负有 ~ 的义务

feel obliged to do sth. 感觉有必要做某事 e.g. I feel obliged to say no to his demand. 我感觉有必要对他的要求说不。 be obliged to do sth. 被迫做某事 e.g. They were obliged to sell their car to pay their debts off. 他们被迫买车还债。I’m much obliged to you.我非常感谢你。

claim

claim / kleim / v. （尤指面对反对意见）断言；声称；主张；认定

e.g. They claimed to have seen UFO last

night.

他们声称昨天晚上看见飞碟了。

extraordinarily

extraordinarily / iks’trɔ:dnərili / adv. 1) 非常奇怪地e.g. Why does he behave so extraordinarily? 为什么他的行为那么奇怪？2 ）不寻常地；极端地e.g. It took an extraordinarily long time. 这事情花了特别长的时间。extraordinary adj.

hunt

hunt n. / v. ~for 1) 狩猎 2 ）搜寻，寻找e.g. (1) The hunt for these terrorists still

continues.

对这些恐怖分子的搜索仍在继续。 (2) They are hunting the foxes.

他们在猎狐。

confirm

confirm / kən’fə:m / v.1) 证实；进一步确定e.g. The announcement confirmed that the

election would take place on June 20th. 公告证实选举将在 6 月 20 日举行。2) 批准，确认e.g. When do you think the President will confirm

you in office? 你认为总统会在什么时候批准你上任？confirmation n. 证实；证明；确定

cornercorner / 'kɔ:nə / v. 使走投无路 , 使陷入困境 e.g. 1) He fought like a cornered animal. 他作困兽之斗。 2) The thief was cornered at last. 最后那个小偷走投无路了。 3) The problem cornered me. 这个问题让我走投无路了。n. 角；拐角处；角落e.g. (1) I hit my knee on the corner of the table. 我的膝盖碰到了桌子角。 (2) There’s a telephone at the corner of the street. 这条街的拐角有电话。 (3) They live just round the corner. 他们就住在附近。 (4) in the corner of the room 在房间的角落里

Trail

trail / treil /

n. 1) 一串 , 一系列 e.g. The car raced( 使快速移动 )past, leaving a trail of dust.

汽车飞快地掠过，扬起了一缕灰尘。 2) 足迹，踪迹e.g. The hunters followed the tiger’s trail.

猎人跟着老虎的踪迹。

v. 跟踪，追踪（ = follow ） e.g. The police trailed the criminal to the place where he was hiding.

警方跟踪罪犯一直到他的藏身之处。

Printprint / print /n. [c] ( 常构成复合词 )印痕，痕迹e.g. 1) These deep marks in the wet ground look like the prints of a bicycle tyre. 湿地上的这些深痕看上去像是脚踏车轮 胎的印痕。 2) fingerprint footprint 指纹 脚印v. 印刷e.g. This machine can print 60 pages in a minute. 这台印刷机一分钟能印 60页。printing ink 油墨printing press印刷机

Cling

cling / kliŋ / v.( clung/ klʌŋ / clung, clinging)紧握 (紧抱 )住；牢牢粘住；缠着e.g. 1) His wet shirt clung to his body. 湿衬衫紧紧贴在他的身上。 2) She still clings to the belief that her son is alive. 她仍然抱着儿子还活着的信念。 3) He clung to the hope that he would succeed. 他怀有成功的希望 。

Trip

trip / trip / n. ( 尤指短途的 )旅行，旅游； ( 有目的的 ) 外出

e.g. 1) We were on a bus trip / a boat trip. 我们乘公共汽车 (乘船 )旅行。 2) a business trip to Japan 去日本出差 3) a day trip to France 法国一日游

Convince

convince / kən’vins / v. 使确信；使信服e.g. 1) I’m convinced that she is telling the

truth.

我确信她讲的是事实。 2) We finally convinced them of our

innocence.

我们终于使他们相信我们是清白的。convincing adj. 令人信服的

Possession

possession /pə’zeʃən/ n. [u] (~of) 占有，持有，拥有e.g. 1) She was found in possession of dangerous drugs. 她被发现藏有危险药品。 2) According to facts in my possession he can not

possibly be guilty. 根据我所掌握的事实，他是不可能有罪的。possess v. 拥有，占有；具有 ( 某种品质 )e.g. The police asked me if I possessed a gun. 警察问我是否拥有一支枪。

Somehow

somehow adv. 不知怎么搞地 , 不知什么原因 e.g. 1) I’ll get the book back somehow.

无论如何我要把这本书取回来。 2) I got lost somehow.

不知怎么搞地 , 我迷失了。 3) Don’t worry, we’ll get the lost money

back somehow.

别担心，我们总会把丢失的钱找回来的。

Manage

manage / 'mænidʒ / 有能力做，有办法处理e.g. Tom had somehow managed to pass

the exam at last.

最后汤姆总算通过了考试。

Disturb

disturb / di’stə:b / v.

1) 使焦躁，使烦恼，令人不安e.g. (1) His illness disturbed me.

他的病令我不安。 (2) a disturbing new development in the dispute between the two

countries

两国间争端令人不安的新发展2) 打扰，妨碍e.g. I am sorry to disturb you, but could you tell me how this machine

works?

对不起，打扰你一下，你能否告诉我这机器是怎么运作的。

American English Proverbs

1. Great minds think alike. 英雄所见略同。2. To see is to believe. 眼见为实。3. A friend in need is a friend indeed( 确实 , 实在 ).

患难见真情。4.He who laughs last, laughs best. 谁笑到最后，谁笑得最甜。5.The grass is always greener on the other side of the

fence. 这山望着那山高。

Homework

1. Finish the exercises on page16 and 17 in your textbook.2. Remember the words ,expressions and proverbs.3. Retell the story of the text.4. Read a little passage and then do multiple choice questions.5. Write a small composition according to the request below: 人们完

成工作的方式通常有两种：独立完成与合作完成。两种方式各有特点。请你以“Working Individually or Working in a Team” 为题，按照以下要点写一篇英语短文：

独立完成：自行安排、自己解决问题； 合作完成：一起讨论、相互学习； 我喜欢的方式及理由。 注意：词数 150以上，文章的题目和开头已给出。

Working Individually or Working in a Team There are basically two ways to get work done.