新概念英语第三四册.pdf

新概念英语第三册（共 60课）Lessonl A puma at largePumas are large,catlike animals which are found in America.When reports came in toLondon Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty five miles south of London,they were nottaken seriously.However,as the evidence began to accumulate,experts from the Zoo feltobliged to investigate,for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the pumawere extraordinarily similar.The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw alarge cat only five yards away from her.It immediately ran away when she saw it,and expertsconfirmed 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 themorning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.Wherever it went,it left behindit a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.Paw prints were seen in a number o fplaces and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.Several people complained of catlike noisesat night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.The experts were now fullyconvinced that the animal was a puma,but where had it come from?As no pumas had beenreported missing from any zoo in the country,this one must have been in the possession of aprivate collector and somehow managed to escape.The hunt went on for several weeks,but thepuma was not caught.It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in thequiet countryside.Lesson 2 Thirteen equals oneOur vicar is always raising money for one cause or another,but he has never managed to getenough money to have the church clock repaired.The big clock which used to strike the hoursday 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!Lookingat his watch,he saw that it was one oclock,but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped.Armed with a torch,the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what wa s going on.In thetorchlight,he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins,ourlocal grocer.Whatever are you doing up here Bill?asked the vicar in surprise.Im trying to repair the bell,answered Bill.Ive been coming up here night after night forweeks now.You see,I was hoping to give you a surprise.You certainly did give me a surprise!said the vicar.Youve probably woken up everyone in thevillage as well.Still,Im glad the bell is working again.,Thats the trouble,vicar,answered Bill.Its working all right,but Im afraid that at one oclockit will strike thirteen times and theres nothing I can do about it.Well get used to that Bill,said the vicar.Thirteen is not as good as one but its better thannothing.Now lets go downstairs and have a cup of tea.Lesson 3 An unknown goddessSome 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 anancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini.The city at one time must have beenprosperous,for it enjoyed a high level of civilization.Housesoften three storeys highwerebuilt of stone.They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls.The city was evenequipped with a drainage system,for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrowstreets.The temple which the archaeologists explored was used as a place of worship from thefifteenth century B.C.until Roman times.In the most sacred room of the temple,clay fragmentsof fifteen statues were found.Each of these represented a goddess and had,at one time,beenpainted.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 havebeen 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 goddessturned out to be a very modernlooking woman.She stood three feet high and her hands restedon her hip.She was wearing a fulllength skirt which swept the ground.Despite her great age,she was very graceful indeed,but,so far,the archaeologists have been unable to discover heridentity.Lesson4 The double life of Alfred BloggsThese days,people who do manual work often receive far more money thane lerks whowork in offices.People who work in offices are frequently referred to as white collar workersfor 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 becomingwhite collar workers.This can give rise to curious situations,as it did in the case of AlfredBloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation.When he got married,Alf was tooe mbarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job.He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation.Every morning,。