Lesson 1
          A Puma at large
           逃遁的美洲狮

【New words and expressions】 生词和短语
 
学习词汇时仅知道汉语语义是不够的，要把单词放在语句中体会其应用
学习关键句结构是则要把它放在段落结构或文章里
   
    ★puma
n.   美洲狮

    ★spot
v.   看出，发现 
pick out,see,recognise,catch,sight of
spot=see : 强调结果、辨别出、看见、识别、发现
find : 强调发现的结果
find out：查出事实真相
discover：做出重大发现
notice：注意到
observe：观察
watch：观察活动中的人或画面

A tall man is easy jto spot in the crowd.
He has good eye for spotting mistakes.

n. 斑点
There is a white spot on the shirt.
on the spot
1.立刻，马上（at once ,immediately)
Anyone breaking the rules will be asked to leave on the spot.
2.at the place of the action 在现场
Wherever she is needed,she is quickly on the spot.

    ★evidence
n.   证据
不可数名词
When the police arrived,he had already destroied the evidence.
evidence=proof
in evidence: 显而易见的
He was in evidence at the party.
evidently ，evidently

    ★accumulate
v.   积累，积聚
强调积累的过程
As the evidence accumulates,experts from the zoo felt obliged to investigate.
gather vt. 聚集，把某人召集在某处
collect 搜集，采集
assemble 集合，集会，vt.装配
hoard  vt. 大量的储存
hoard up＝store up
amass 积聚（主要用于诗歌和文学作品）
The squirrel hoards up nuts for the cold winter
   
    ★oblige
v.   使……感到必须
feel obliged to do sth 感觉有必要做某事
be obliged to do sth. 被迫做某事

    ★hunt
n.   追猎；寻找
run after 强调追赶、追求
seek/pursue 追寻
chase 追赶
hunt for
search 搜寻某处为了寻找到某人或某物

    ★blackberry
n.   黑莓

    ★human being
     人类

    ★corner
v.   使走投无路，使陷入困境
n.角落
at the corner of the street
in the corner of the room
on the corner of the desk
经常使用被动语态
The thief was cornered at last
The problem cornered me.

    ★trail
n.   一串，一系列
（vt.)trail：follow
The police trailed the criminal to the place where he was hiding

    ★print
n.   印痕

    ★cling
v.   粘
clung
She is always clinging to her mother.
He clung to the hope that he would succeed.
stick 粘住； stick to 坚持； sticky 粘的

    ★convince
v.   使……信服
convince sb.of sth.
和宾语从句that搭配使用
没有宾语的情况下要采用主系表结构：be convinced

    ★somehow
adv. 不知怎么搞地，不知什么原因
by some means,in some way ,for some reason unknown
somewhat : a little

    ★disturb
v.   令人不安
disturbing: 令人不安的
disturbed: 感到不安的
exciting：令人激动的
excited：感到激动的

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 were not taken seriously. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate, for the de<I>script</I>ions 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.