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1/33Lesson1ApumaatlargePumasarelarge,cat-likeanimalswhicharefoundinAmerica.WhenreportscameintoLondonZoothatawildpumahadbeenspottedforty-fivemilessouthofLondon,theywerenottakenseriously.However,astheevidencebegantoaccumulate,expertsfromtheZoofeltobligedtoinvestigate,forthedescriptionsgivenbypeoplewhoclaimedtohaveseenthepumawereextraordinarilysimilar.Thehuntforthepumabeganinasmallvillagewhereawomanpickingblackberriessaw'alargecat'onlyfiveyardsawayfromher.Itimmediatelyranawaywhenshesawit,andexpertsconfirmedthatapumawillnotattackahumanbeingunlessitiscornered（adj.被困得走投无路的）.Thesearchproveddifficult,forthepumawasoftenobservedatoneplaceinthemorningandatanotherplacetwentymilesawayintheevening.Whereveritwent,itleftbehinditatrailofdeaddeerandsmallanimalslikerabbits.Pawprintswereseeninanumberofplacesandpumafurwasfoundclingingtobushes.Severalpeoplecomplainedof'cat-likenoises'atnightandabusinessmanonafishingtripsawthepumaupatree.Theexpertswerenowfullyconvincedthattheanimalwasapuma,butwherehaditcomefrom?Asnopumashadbeenreportedmissingfromanyzoointhecountry,thisonemusthavebeeninthepossessionofaprivatecollectorandsomehowmanagedtoescape.Thehuntwentonforseveralweeks,butthepumawasnotcaught.Itisdisturbingtothinkthatadangerouswildanimalisstillatlargeinthequietcountryside.美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。当伦敦动物园接到报告说，在伦敦以南45英里处发现一只美洲狮时，这些报告并没有受到重视。可是，随着证据越来越多，动物园的专家们感到有必要进行一番调查，因为凡是声称见到过美洲狮的人们所描述的情况竟是出奇地相似。搜寻美洲狮的工作是从一座小村庄开始的。那里的一位妇女在采摘黑莓时的看见“一只大猫”，离她仅5码远，她刚看见它，它就立刻逃走了。专家证实，美洲狮非被逼得走投无路，是决不会伤人的。事实上搜寻工作很困难，因为常常是早晨在甲地发现那只美洲狮，晚上却在20英里外的乙地发现它的踪迹。无论它走哪儿，一路上总会留下一串死鹿及死兔子之类的小动物，在许多地方看见爪印，灌木丛中发现了粘在上面的美洲狮毛。有人抱怨说夜里听见“像猫一样的叫声”；一位商人去钓鱼，看见那只美洲狮在树上。专家们如今已经完全肯定那只动物就是美洲狮，但它是从哪儿来的呢？由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，因此那只美洲狮一定是某位私人收藏豢养的，不知怎么设法逃出来了。搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。想到在宁静的乡村里有一头危险的野兽继续逍遥流窜，真令人担心。Lesson2ThirteenequalsoneOurvicarisalwaysraisingmoneyforonecauseoranother,buthehasnevermanagedtogetenoughmoneytohavethechurchclockrepaired.Thebigclockwhichusedtostrikethehoursdayandnightwasdamagedmanyyearsagoandhasbeensilenteversince.'Onenight,however,ourvicarwokeupwithastart:theclockwasstrikingthehours!Lookingathiswatch,hesawthatitwasoneo'clock,butthebellstruckthirteentimesbeforeitstopped.Armedwithatorch,thevicarwentupintotheclocktowertoseewhatwasgoingon.Inthetorchlight,hecaughtsightofa2/33figurewhomheimmediatelyrecognizedasBillWilkins,ourlocalgrocer.'WhateverareyoudoinguphereBill?'askedthevicarinsurprise.'I'mtryingtorepairthebell,'answeredBill.'I'vebeencomingupherenightafternightforweeksnow.Yousee,Iwashopingtogiveyouasurprise.''Youcertainlydidgivemeasurprise!'saidthevicar.'You'veprobablywokenupeveryoneinthevillageaswell.Still,I'mgladthebellisworkingagain.''That'sthetrouble,vicar,'answeredBill.'It'sworkingallright,butI'mafraidthatatoneo'clockitwillstrikethirteentimesandthere'snothingIcandoaboutit.''We'llgetusedtothatBill,'saidthevicar.'Thirteenisnotasgoodasonebutit'sbetterthannothing.Nowlet'sgodownstairsandhaveacupoftea.'我们教区的牧师总是为各种各样的事筹集资金。但始终未能筹足资金把教堂的钟修好。教堂的钟很大，以前不分昼夜打点报时，但很多年前遭到毁坏，从此便无声无息了。一天夜里，我们的牧师突然被惊醒了，大钟又在“打点”报时了！他一看表，才1点钟，可是那钟一边敲了13下才停。牧师拿着一支电筒走上钟楼想去看看究竟发生了什么事情。借着电筒光。他看见一个人，马上认出那是本地杂货店主经比尔.威尔金斯。“你究竟在这上面干什么，比尔？”牧师惊讶地问。“我想把这口钟修好，”比尔回答说。“好几个星期了，我天天夜里到钟楼上来。嗯，我是想让你大吃一惊。”“你确实使我大吃了一惊！”牧师说，“也许同时你把村里所有的人都吵醒了。不过，钟又能报时了，我还是很高兴的。”“问题就在这里，牧师，”比尔回答说。“不错，钟能报时了，但是，恐怕每到1点钟，它总要敲13下，对此我已无能为力了。”“大家慢慢就习惯了，比尔，”牧师说。“13下是不如1下好，但总比1下也不敲强。来，咱们下楼去喝杯茶吧。”Lesson3Anunknowngoddess(女神)Sometimeago，aninterestingdiscoverywasmadebyarchaeologistsontheAegean（adj.爱琴海的；n.）islandofKea．AnAmericanteamexploredatemplewhichstandsinanancientcityonthepromontory（海角）ofAyiaIrini．Thecityatonetimemusthavebeenprosperous（繁荣的），foritenjoyedahighlevelofcivilization．Houses--oftenthreestoreys（楼层）high--werebuiltofstone．Theyhadlargeroomswithbeautifullydecoratedwalls．Thecitywasevenequippedwithadrainagesystem，foragreatmanyclaypipeswerefoundbeneaththenarrowstreets．Thetemplewhichthearchaeologistsexploredwasusedasaplaceofworship（礼拜）fromthefifteenthcenturyB.C.untilRomantimes.Inthemostsacredroomofthetemple,clayfragments（碎片）offifteenstatueswerefound.Eachoftheserepresentedagoddessandhad,atonetime,beenpainted.ThebodyofonestatuewasfoundamongremainsdatingfromthefifteenthcenturyB.C.ItsmissingheadhappenedtobeamongremainsofthefifthcenturyB.C.ThisheadmusthavebeenfoundinClassicaltimesandcarefullypreserved.Itwasveryoldandpreciouseventhen（即使在那时）.Whenthearchaeologistsreconstructedthefragments,theywereamazedtofindthatthegoddessturnedouttobeaverymodern-lookingwoman.Shestoodthreefeethighandherhandsrestedonherhip.Shewaswearingafull-lengthskirtwhichswepttheground.Despiteher3/33greatage,shewasverygracefulindeed,but,sofar,thearchaeologistshavebeenunabletodiscoverheridentity.不久之前，在爱琴海的基亚岛上，考古工作者有一项有趣的发现。一个美国考古队在阿伊亚.依里尼海角的一座古城里考察了一座庙宇。这座古城肯定一度很繁荣，因为它曾享有高度的文明，房子一般有3层楼高，用石块修建。里面房间很大，墙壁装饰华丽。城里甚至还敷设了排水系统，因为在狭窄的街道底下发现了许许多多陶土制作的排水管道。考古工作者考察的这座庙宇从公元前15世纪直到罗马时代一直是祭祀祈祷的场所。在庙中最神圣的一间殿堂里发现了15尊陶雕像的碎片。每一尊雕像代表一位女神，而且一度上过色。其中有一尊雕像，她的躯体是在公元前15世纪的历史文物中发现的，而她那身异处的脑袋却碰巧是在公元前5世纪的文物中找到的。她的脑袋一定是在古希腊罗马时代就为人所发现，并受到精心的保护。却使在当时，它也属历史悠久的珍奇之物。考古工作者把这些碎片重新拼装起来后，惊奇地发现那位女神原来是一位相貌十分摩登的女郎。她身高3英