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 fascinaes 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 Centre made a study of 132 cots 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 hid the ground.

二、【New words and expressions】生词和短语

◆fascinate v. 迷住，吸引住

◆affectionate adj. 充满情深的，柔情的

◆mysterious adj. 神秘的，难以理解的

◆submissive adj. 服从的，顺从的

◆feline adj. 猫的

◆independence n. 独立，独立性

◆high-rise adj. 高层的

◆windowsill n.窗槛

◆paratrooper n. 伞兵

◆squirrel n. 松鼠

◆air-resistance n. 空气阻力

◆impact n. 冲击力

★fascinate v. 迷住，吸引住

vt. 主系表结构：be fascinated with被…迷住了，被…吸引住了

He is fascinated with chess.

Are you fascinated with English.

like, love, be fond of

The boy is fond of football.

be crazy about:着迷

be mad about

He is crazy / mad about music.

He is fascinated with music.

fascination n.

fascinating adj.

Sweet music is fascinating.

★affectionate adj. 充满情深的，柔情的

Cats are affectionate animals.

affectionately adv.

The lady is looking that man affectionately.

affection n.

★mysterious adj. 神秘的，难以理解的

a mysterious plan

a mysterious explanation

mystery n. 迷团，神秘感

His death is a mystery.

★submissive adj. 服从的，顺从的

obedient

Are you obedient?

Dogs and horses are submissive, but Cats are never submissive to us.

be submissive to sb.

submit v.

Submit oneself to sb. / sth. 屈服于，顺从于

submission n.

★feline adj. 猫的

★independence n. 独立，独立性

independent adj.

You have already grown up, you must be independent.

depend 依靠

You must depend on yourself.

depend, dependence

independence, independent

★high-rise adj. 高层的

★windowsill n.窗槛

★paratrooper n. 伞兵

★squirrel n. 松鼠

★air-resistance n. 空气阻力

★impact n. 冲击力

三、【课文精析】

nver fail to do 双重否定==肯定

If you aks for help in the polite way, you never fail to succeed.

If you receive requests like this, you'll never fail to accept.

常用的双重否定结构(加强语气)

1. never fail to, can't fail to, don't fail to , 否定词+fail to(语气较强烈)

2. 否定的形容词之前加以否定 unreasonable-> not unreasonable

Eg: What he said is not unreasonable.

It is quite common (not uncommon ) for us to make mistakes.

3. not + without

Eg: You can't obtain english without working hard.

He doesn’t have any meal without meat.

4.no+not

Eg: There is no cat that doesn't like fish.

There is nothing that he can't do.

There is no rule that has no exception.

as well

as a result

have learned to:学会了，习惯了

People have learned to expect that trains are punctual.

Children have learned to expect that their parents are very able.

be suspicious of sb. 对什么表示怀疑，存有戒心

One of the things that fascinaes us： that 引导定语从句

that 引导同位语从句

One of the things that fascinaes us most about planes is the popular fact that they are safe and fast.

truth,不可数名词，a good deal of

apparently 显然，显而易见

It seems that...

Key sentence:

A cat’s ability to survive falls is based on fact.

survive v. fall v.&n.

be based on:基于事实基础之上

base sth. on: 把某事加强在什么基础之上

We base the theory on the fact

The theory is based on fact.

make a study of sth:对什么作出研究

in common = the same

fall off 坠落， 掉落

die from:死于

死于疾病：die of illness / disease / hunger / thirst,自然的死亡用of

死于非自然原因：die from shock / injures / wound, 用from

there is no shortage

shortage:缺乏 = lack, 与of搭配，shortage / fack of

shortage of money led to the failure of the experiments.

suffer from: 遭受什么痛苦

A lot of people in the world are suffering from terrible disease.

behave like = act like

well-trained: 训练很好的，well-decorated:装饰漂亮的

the further cats fall, the less

典型的the more...the more...句型，用定冠词the 修饰形容词或副词的比较级

The harder you study English, the better you an learn it.

The more you eat, the fatter you will be.

be likely to do:有可能如何，强调可能性

In cold winter, We are likely to catch a cold.

and more 甚至更多

stretch out 充分伸展重庆新概念英语第三册