评《[综英美]变种人观察报告》

来来来作者开课了！（你醒醒）
新概念英语第三册第一篇课文：
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.
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.
重难点单词：
oblige:使……感到必须（动词）
print:痕迹、印痕（名词）
cling:粘（动词）
convince:使……信服（动词）
课文注释重难点：
1. At large: 介词短语，意为行动自由。这里指美洲狮逃了。
2. 本课重难点为从句，由开始的‘Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.’此处为which引导的定语从句，which是pumas的同位语，即which后跟随的是修饰pumas的从句。此处的which也可以更换为that，但是当which 和 that 放在一处时，单选优先选择which。
3.feel obliged to do sth：感到不得不做某事——固定短语，应背下来，可作为英语作文高层次用句来使用。
4. It left behind a trail of：它身后留下一串……的印记，表达相对优美，比低级的‘It had a trail behind itself’念起来优美得多。
5. In the possession of: 为……所有，应予以记忆，适合应用于作文和辩论式口语。
参考译文不贴在这里了！作者君在这里祝大家！英语四六级顺利通过！高考顺利——！