“A puma at large ”是介詞短語後置修飾前面名詞，可以理解為 'a puma which is at large' 定語從句中出現“先行詞+系動詞”時，在不影響句子完整性的情況下，可以把先行詞和系動詞都省略。at large 常見意思是整個，全部，總地，但在這是在逃的，翻譯成逍遙法外的也無不可。
puma 美洲豹
Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
“is/are found in”是產於...，不是被發現於，如果想表達此意，應該用過去時，which are 雖然在定語從句中出現，但此處不可省略。
When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
reports沒有特指意味，也沒有被修飾，無需加the。單數名詞不可獨立出現，但複數名詞可以不加the獨立出現。London Zoo 應該是動物園名字倫敦動物園，所以zoo也大寫了。that 引導的從句指的就是reports的內容，理解成同位語從句。spotted動作早於reports came, 所以用過去完成時在這表示過去的過去。 forty-five miles south of London可能省略了to或on，表示補全應該是forty-five miles to/on the south of London，這是不確定的個人觀點，到底省了什麼，要根據地理知識判斷。
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.
evidence特指的關於reports內容的證據，所以有the表示特指，the evidence也不是一個證據，它是不可數名詞，表示一系列證據，不能加s。Zoo大寫表示的就是London Zoo而不是其它的動物園。feel obliged to do=have to, feel impelled to do, feel compelled to do，不多說。for在這裡相當於because of 但也相當於because跟一個句子表原因。claimed to have seen 之前可能沒留意，感覺沒見過，應該是想表示聲稱已經見過。extraordinarily similar 副詞修飾形容詞是常規操作，但可以考慮一下為什麼也有幾個形容詞連用的情況，這裡未涉及，暫時不說。
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.
hunt不止是有打獵，也有尋找的意思，常和for連用，比如 hunt for a job 找工作，hunt for easy-girls 獵豔。加the，上面的the evidence原因相同。where引導的定語從句裡面嵌套了一個非謂語結構picking blackberries 修飾woman,表示一個正在採摘黑莓的女人。英里和碼等長度單位換算，也不想多說。
It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
confirm和conform做一下區分，很簡單，不多說。corner這裡作動詞，表示被逼到了牆角，引申為被逼無奈，就是說美洲豹不會主動攻擊人類，除非人類攻擊它。
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.
the search=the hunt 變化用詞，體現詞彙豐富。prove difficult=prove (to be) difficult，但一般不加to be 不要畫蛇添足。這裡的for引導一個句子，相當於because。observed=saw，spotted。one 後面跟the other或another也是常規操作，for one thing, for another thing.
Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
left本來已經夠用了，加了behind為了更生動，留在身後，所以leave behind 是留下。She had sex with men indiscriminately and left behind a licentious reputation . a trail of 一系列，但trail還有小路的意思，表示美洲獅所到之處，一路留下了的死鹿死兔等小動物。
Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
clinging to bushes做found的補足語，更加簡潔.
Several people complained of ‘cat-like noises’ at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.
complain of something抱怨某物。cat-like 第一句就出現了，貓似的。a businessman on a fihsing trip=a businessman who was on a fishing trip. up 當動詞，相當於climb。
The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
convinced 確信，這裡直接跟賓語從句，常見的也可以convinced of。
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 manage to escape.
report missing 和found clinging to buses是一個道理。in the possession of =possessed by。somehow不知怎的。manage to do=successfully do.
The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
went on=continued,last 持續，繼續
It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
disturbing讓人不安的
puma 也是一個服裝品牌
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