Chapter 12

Consider the case of the female black leopard¹ that escapedfrom the Zurich Zoo in the winter of 1933. She was new tothe zoo and seemed to get along with the male leopard. Butvarious paw injuries hinted at matrimonial strife². Before anydecision could be taken about what to do, she squeezedthrough a break in the roof bars of her cage and vanished inthe night. The discovery that a wild carnivore was free in theirmidst created an uproar³ among the citizens of Zurich. Trapswere set and hunting dogs were let loose. They only rid thecanton of its few half-wild dogs. Not a trace of the leopard wasfound for ten weeks. Finally, a casual labourer came upon itunder a barn twenty-five miles away and shot it. Remains⁴ ofroe-deer were found nearby. That a big, black, tropical catmanaged to survive for more than two months in a Swisswinter without being seen by anyone, let alone attackinganyone, speaks plainly to the fact that escaped zoo animals arenot dangerous absconding⁵ criminals but simply wild creaturesseeking to fit in.
And this case is just one among many. If you took the cityof Tokyo and turned it upside down and shook it, you wouldbe amazed at the animals that would fall out. It would pourmore than cats and dogs, I tell you. Boa constrictors, Komododragons, crocodiles, piranhas, ostriches⁶, wolves, lynx, wallabies,manatees, porcupines⁷, orang-utans, wild boar – that's the sortof rainfall you could expect on your umbrella. And theyexpected to find – ha! In the middle of a Mexican tropicaljungle, imagine! Ha! Ha! It's laughable, simply laughable. Whatwere they thinking?

1 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

2 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

3 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 absconding   

v.（尤指逃避逮捕）潜逃，逃跑( abscond的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with absconding from lawful custody. 他被指控从合法监护人那里逃走。 来自互联网

6 ostriches   

n.鸵鸟( ostrich的名词复数 )；逃避现实的人，不愿正视现实者

参考例句：

• They are the silliest lot of old ostriches I ever heard of. 他们真是我闻所未闻的一群最傻的老鸵鸟。 来自辞典例句
• How ostriches could bear to run so hard in this heat I never succeed in understanding. 驼鸟在这样干燥炎热的地带为什么能疾速长跑，我永远也理解不了。 来自辞典例句

7 porcupines   

n.豪猪，箭猪( porcupine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Porcupines use their spines to protect themselves. 豪猪用身上的刺毛来自卫。
• The59 victims so far include an elephant, dromedaries, monkeys and porcupines. 目前为止，死亡的动物包括大象、峰骆驼、子以及豪猪。 来自互联网