什么意思..是課文嗎?
1.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 descrip-
tions 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 business-
man 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.
2.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 during the war 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 1 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.'
3.Some time ago,an interesting discovery
was made by archaeologists on the Aegean
island of Kea．An AmeriCan team ex-
plored 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 high
level of civilization．Houses--often three
storeys high--were built of stone．They
had large rooms with beautifully decor－
ated 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 archaeologists
explored was used as a place of worship
from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times. In the most sacred room of
the temple, clay fragments of fifteen statues were found. Each of these repre-
sented a goddess and had, at one time, been painted. The body of one statue
was found among remains dating from the 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 goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking
woman. She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hip. She was
wearing a full-length skirt which swept the ground. Despite her greatage,she
was very graceful indeed, but, so far,the archaeologists have been unable to
discover her identity.
4.These days, people who do manual work
often receive far more money than clerks
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 fine blacksuit. 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 as a junior
clerk. 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'.
5.Editors of newspapers and magazines
Often go to extremes to provide their
readers with unimportant facts and statis-
tics. 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 telegram 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 woul1d 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 pub-
lished 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 1o84 steps leading to the 15-foot wall which sur-
rounded the president's palace.