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Flying cats
Cats never fail to fascinate human beings. They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well. They never become submissive like dogs and horses. As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence. Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives. One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives. Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea. A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact.
Recently the New York Animal Medical Center made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months. All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings, yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries. Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings. There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from! One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth. 'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers.' a doctor said. It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves. In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more. At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax. They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels. This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.
精读注解
Flying cats
flying: 现在分词，又称-ing形式；在此作定语，表示正在进行的或主动的动作。flying cats在本文可理解成“正在跌落的猫”；flying squirrels：飞行中的松鼠
飞猫
Cats never fail tofascinate human beings. They can be friendlyandaffectionatetowards humans, but they lead mysteriouslives of their own as well. They never become submissivelike dogs and horses. As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence. Most cats remain suspiciousof humans all their lives. One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives.Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea. A cat's ability to survive falls is based onfact.
否定词(never)+否定意义动词(fail)=双重否定，表肯定，意思是“从不会，总是”
fail: to not succeed in achieving something.常用搭配：①fail to do sth.未能做成某事，如：Jack failed to survive the diaster. ②fail in (doing) sth.在（做）某事中失败，如Tom fails in everything he tries.
fascinate /'fæsɪneɪt/: if someone or something fascinates you, you are attracted to them and think they are extremely interesting深深吸引，迷住；如：The idea of travelling through time fascinates me. 穿越时光的想法深深吸引着我。
friendly: behaving towards someone in a way that shows you like them and are ready to talk to them or help them友好的，友善的；属于以-ly结尾的形容词，还有lovely, lonely, ugly,silly等
affectionate /ə'fekʃ(ə)nət/: showing in a gentle way that you love someone and care about them表示关爱的；深情的；如：Jo is very affectionate towards her. 乔对她一往情深。
mysterious /mɪ'stɪərɪəs/ :Someone or something that is mysterious is strange and is not known about or understood. 神秘的; 难以理解的；如：He died in mysterious circumstances. 他死得蹊跷。
submissive /səb'mɪsɪv/ : always willing to obey someone and never disagreeing with them, even if they are unkind to you服从的，顺从的；恭顺的；如：In those days, women were expected to be quiet and submissive. 那时的妇女都要寡言恭顺。
feline /'fiːlaɪn/：means belonging or relating to the cat family. 猫科的；如：She moves with feline grace. 她走路时有如猫一般的优雅。
independence /ɪndɪ'pend(ə)ns/ : Someone's independence is the fact that they do not rely on other people.(人的) 自立；如：He was afraid of losing his independence. 他担心丧失自己的独立。
suspicious: thinking that someone might be guilty of doing something wrong or dishonest怀疑的，猜疑的；后面常接of，如：Mike becomes suspicious of his girlfriend’s intention.
【复杂句分析】One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives.本句含有两个that引导的从句。…that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief是定语从句，that在定语从句充当关系代词，代词“One of the things”，在从句中作主语；…thatthey have nine lives是同位语从句，对“belief”作进一步说明，that在从句中不作任何成分。可以翻译成：最使我们感兴趣的一件事情就是一种通俗的信念——猫有九条命。
【熟词僻义】survive: ①vt.比……活得长：She was survived by her husband.她先于丈夫去世；②从……中逃生，经……后继续存在：I’ve had a tough few months, but I’ll survive. 我这几个月十分艰苦，但我会挺过去的；③〔经历事故、战争或疾病后〕活下来，幸存：to continue to live after an accident, war, or illness，She survived the attack. 她在袭击中幸免于难。
be based on在……基础之上
猫总能引起人们的极大兴趣。它们可以对人友好，充满柔情。但是，它们又有自己神秘的生活方式。它们从不像狗和马一样变得那么顺从。结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。在它们的一生中，大多数猫都对人存有戒心。最使我们感兴趣的一件事情就是一种通俗的信念——猫有九条命。显然，这种说法里面包含着许多真实性。猫在跌落时能够大难不死是有事实作为依据的。
Recently the New York Animal Medical Center made a study of 132 cats over a period offive months. All these cats hadone experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings,yet only eight of them died fromshock or injuries. Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings. There are plenty ofhigh-risewindowsillsto fall from! One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth. 'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers.' a doctor said. It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves. In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more. At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax. They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels. This increases theirair-resistanceand reduces the shock ofimpact when they hit the ground.
over a period of+时间段：表示为期时长；如：over a period of five months为期五个月
have…in common:有……共同之处；如：The twins have a lot in common.这对双胞胎有许多共同之处。
本段前三句：Recently the New York…shock or injuries.主要是讲述New York Animal Medical Center在过去进行的一项研究，因此采用过去时态（当中涉及过去时：made a study和过去完成时：they had fallen off high buildings）
【熟词僻义】yet:本文作连词，一般前面标注逗号，表达“然而”、“不过”的转折意义；如：I don't eat much, yet I am a size 16. 我吃得不多，然而我是个穿16号的人。
【词汇辨析】die和kill的区别：一般而言，强调死于横祸或突发事件时，用kill，如：He was killed in a car accident.他死于一次车祸。
die：表示“死亡”，大体用法：①表示死于疾病、饥饿等，用介词of，如：Many people died of starvation.他们许多人死于饥饿。②表示死于创伤、事故等，用介词from，如：they had fallen off high buildings, yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries. 它们都曾从高层建筑上摔下来过，但只有其中的8只猫死于震荡或跌伤。
plenty of：很多，既可以修饰可数名词，也可以修饰不可数名词，如：Thereis plenty of food in the fridge. 冰箱里有充足的食物；There are plenty of books on the table.桌上有很多书。
high-rise /'hai'raiz/ : high-rise buildings are tall buildings with many levels〔建筑物〕高耸的，高层的；如：They live in a high-rise on the East Side. 他们住在东区的一幢高楼里。
windowsill /'wɪndəʊsɪl/: a shelf fixed along the bottom of a window窗台，窗沿
suffered from:患……，以……为患。一般均为不利的事情，如：The country suffered from a serious economic crisis in 2008.该国在2008年遭受了严重的经济危机。
paratrooper/'pærətruːpə/: paratroopers are soldiers who are trained to be dropped by parachute into battle or into enemy territory. 伞兵
It seems that…:似乎……
【语法小学堂】the + 形容词或副词比较级…the + 形容词或副词比较级：表示比较关系，可以译为“越……越……”，如：The more people you know, the less time you have to see them.你认识的人越多，你见他们的时间就越少。
squirrel /'skwɪr(ə)l/: A squirrel is a small animal with a long furry tail. Squirrels live mainly in trees. 松鼠
air-resistance:空气阻力
【熟词僻义】impact /'ɪmpækt/: the force of one object hitting another冲击力，撞击力；如：The force of the impact knocked the breath out of her. 撞击力使她喘不过气来。
最近，纽约动物医疗中心对132只猫进行了为期5个月的综合研究。所有这些猫有一个共同的经历：它们都曾从高层建筑上摔下来过，但只有其中的8只猫死于震荡或跌伤。当然，纽约是进行这种有趣的试验的一个理想的地方，因为那里根本不缺乏高楼大厦，有的是高层的窗槛从上往下坠落。有一只叫萨伯瑞娜的猫从32层楼上掉下来，但只摔断了一颗牙。“猫就像训练有素的跳伞队员，” 一位医生说。看起来，猫跌落的距离越长，它们就越不会伤害自己。在一个长长的跌落过程中，它们可以达到每小时60英里甚至更快的速度。在高速下落中，猫有时间放松自己。它们伸展四肢，就像飞行中的松鼠一样。这样就加大了空气阻力，并减少了它们着地时冲击力带来的震动。
Summary writing(last paragraph):用不多于80个单词概述最后一段。（摘自新概念英语教师用书新版3）
The New York Animal Medical Center recently made a study of 132 cats. All these cats had one thing in common: they had fallen off high buildings, yet only eight had died from shock or injuries. One cat, Sabrina, had fallen 32 storeys but only suffered from a broken tooth. When falling at speeds up to 60 miles per hour, cats strech out their legs which increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact on hitting the ground.
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