“新概念”英语大盘点：五大神兽

在这一系列的文章中，我会对“新概念”英语做出有趣的盘点，主要的原因在于闲得慌... ...请注意，这一系列的文章对于各位英语能力的提升，没有帮助，但是可以给你在学习“新概念”之余多一点佐料~

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在这次的盘点中，我们会一起看到“新概念”课文中出现的五种“神奇”的动物：

NO.5 Snail

出处：“新概念”三册 第23课

事迹：逃脱纸袋子的束缚，占领整个大厅，让作者无法直视

原文：I happened to be walking in my garden when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my prize plants. ... To our dismay, we saw that there were snails everywhere：they had escaped from the paper bag and had taken complete possession of the hall！ I have never been able to look at a snail since then.

点评：这篇课文里对于蜗牛有一个非常精辟的评价，就是No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail.这里的receive praise and abuse就是“毁誉参半”的意思。你吃过蜗牛吗？喜欢吗？我是一直挺不喜欢蜗牛的，直到吃过一次之后... ...

NO.4 Elephant（Jumbo）

出处：“新概念”二册 第65课

事迹：一头小象对抗一大堆警察，霸气

原文：A policeman approached Jimmy and told him he ought to have gone along a side street as Jumbo was holding up the traffic. Though Jimmy agreed to go at once，Jumbo refused to move. Fifteen policemen had to push very hard to get him off the main street.

点评：这是一个有爱的故事，小象的主人是去给儿童医院的孩子们送圣诞礼物的：Dressed up as Father Christmas and accompanied by a 'guard of honour' of six pretty girls，he set off down the main street of the city riding a baby elephant called Jumbo. 我觉得最有爱的，就是 a 'guard of honour' of six pretty girls ...

NO.3 Cat（Sabrina）

出处：“新概念”三册 第9课

事迹：从32楼掉下来，几乎安然无恙

原文：One cat，Sabrina，fell 32 storeys，yet only suffered from a broken tooth. ... It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves. At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax. They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels.

点评：“新概念”的作者Alexander好像特别喜欢猫，猫出现在课文中的频率绝对超过其他动物。在这篇课文里，有一句非常漂亮的表达，never fail to do sth.，大家可以找找看，整本三册里面，这个表达一共出现了多少次。

NO.2 Fish

出处：“新概念”二册 第82课

事迹：成为了海员、水手口中常常出现的谈资

原文：It had a head like a horse，big blue eyes，shining silver skin，and a bright red tail. The fish，which has since been sent to a museum where it is being examined by a scientist，is called an oarfish.

点评：作者在标题里已经问了，Monster or fish？这还能不是神兽嘛... ...我自己教这课的时候，其实也搞明白这个oarfish是什么个鬼样子，但在网上查了一下，发现的确可以说是monster，不信的话，大家亲自去感受一下它的尊容... ...

NO.1 Puma

出处：“新概念”三册 第1课

事迹：偷偷跑了出来，一会儿上树，一会儿潜伏，咬死小动物，吓坏好多人

原文：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.

点评：接触过“新概念”的人还有不知道puma的？快点儿，跟我一起大声背出来：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 ...