新概念英语3课文文本.doc

新概念英语第三册Lesson 1 A puma at largePumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted foity-five miles south of London, they were not taken senously 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 tlie puma were extra ordinarily siniilai:The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackbennes saw 'a large cat1 only five yards away fi'om her It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confmried that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered （adj 被困得走投无路 的）The seai-ch proved difficult, for the puma was often obseived at one place in tlie 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 clinguig to bushes. Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a busmessnian on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree. The expeits were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come fi*om ? As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the countiy, 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 cauglit It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild anunal is still at large in tlie quiet counhysideLesson 2 Thii teen equals oneOur 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 since1 One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw tliat it was one o'clock, but tlie bell struck thnteen times before it stopped. Aimed with a torch, the vicai* went up into the clock towei* 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 suipnse1 Tm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill.1 I've been corning up here night after night for weeks now You see, I was hoping to give you a suipnse 1'You ceitainly did give me a surprised said the vicar 'YouVe probably woken up everyone in the village as well Still, Pm glad the bell is working again 1That's tlie trouble, vicar,1 answered Bill. 'IVs working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will stnke thirteen times and there's notliuig I can do about it1Well get used to that Bill/ said the vicar Thirteen is not as good as one but it's better than nothing Now lets go downstairs and have a cup of tea.1Lesson 3 An unknown goddessSome time ago* an interesting discoveiy 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 an ancient city on the promontoiy of Ayia Inni. 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 decorated walls. The city was even equipped with a drainage system> for a great many clay pipes were found beneatli the narrow streets.The temple which the archaeologists explored was used as a place of worship from tlie fifteenth centuiy B.C. until Roman tnnes In the most sacred room of the temple, clay fragments of fifteen statues were found Each of tliese represented 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 centuiy B C This head must have been found in Classical tunes and carefully preseived It was veiy old and precious even then Wheti the archaeologists reconstiucted tlie Segments, they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a veiy modem-looking woman She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hip She was wearing a full-length skirt v/hich swept the ground Despite her great age, she was veiy graceful indeed, but, so far, the archaeologists have been unable to discovei* her identityLesson4 The double life of Alfred BloggsThese days, people who do manual work often receive far more money tlian clerks who work in offices People v/ho work in offices are frequently refeired to as' white collai* workers" for the sunple 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 collai* workers. This can give rise to cunous situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the El。