| 英文原文
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中文原文
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| Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. |
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美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。 |
| When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously. |
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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。 |
| However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate, |
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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， |
| for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar. |
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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。 |
| 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. |
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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， |
| It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered. |
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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。 |
| 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. |
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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。 |
| Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits. |
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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， |
| Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes. |
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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。 |
| Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree. |
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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。 |
| The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from? |
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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？ |
| 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. |
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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。 |
| 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. |
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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。 |
