Text 课文
How do cats try to protect themselves when falling from great heights?
Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.
never fail to 双重否定意味肯定（运用双重否定结构加深句子肯定的语气）
-- If you ask for help in the polite way, you never fail to succeed.
-- If you receive requests like this, you'll never fail to accept.
双重否定结构：（起加深句子肯定的语气的作用）
1>否定词+fail to
-- never fail to / can't fail to / don't fail to
2>否定的形容词之前加以否定
-- What he said is not unreasonable.（adj.不讲道理的, 不合理的）
-- It is quite common for us to make mistakes.
= It is not uncommon for us to make mistakes.
3> not + without
-- You can't obtain English without working hard. Obtain（vt.获得, 得到）
-- He doesn't have any meal without meats.
4> no + not
-- There is no cat that doesn't like fish.
-- There is nothing that he can't do. 没有什么他不能做的。
-- There is no rule that has no exception. 没有无例外的法规。Exception（n.除外, 例外）
They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of
their own as well.
as well 也, 又, 同样
They never become submissive like dogs and horses.
As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence.
as a result adv.结果
have learned to 学会了, 习惯了
-- People have learned to expect(盼望) that trains are punctual.（adj.准时的）
-- Children have learned to expect(认为) that their parents are very able.（adj.能干的）
Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives.
be suspicious of… 对…表示怀疑, 存有戒心
One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine
lives.
that 引导同位语从句
-- One of the things that fascinates us most about planes is the popular fact that they are safe and
fast.
Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea.
a good deal of +不可数名词
apparently（adv.显然地），语气不是非常确定（= It seems that...）
A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact.
Survive（v.幸免于, 幸存, 生还）
Fall（n.堕落, 落下, 下降）
-- a cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact
be based on 基于事实基础之上
base sth on … 把某事建立在…基础之上
-- We base the theory on the fact. 我们把这理论建立在事实的基础之上。
-- The theory is based on fact. 这理论是建立在事实基础上的。
Recently the New York Animal Medical Center made a study of 132 cats over a period of five
months.
make a study of sth 对什么作出研究
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.
in common = the same
fall off 坠落，掉落
die of + illness, disease, hunger, thirst
die from + shock, injures, wound
Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no
shortage of tall buildings.
Shortage（n.不足, 缺乏）= lack（n.缺乏, 短缺），两个词都和of搭配
-- Shortage of money led to the failure of the experiments.
资金缺乏导致实验的失败。
There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from! One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet
only suffered from a broken tooth.
32 storeys
suffer from 遭受什么痛苦
-- A lot of people in the world are suffering from terrible disease.
'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers.' a doctor said.
behave like = act like
well-trained 训练很好的，well-decorated 装饰漂亮的
It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves.
the more...the more...（用定冠词the +形容词或副词的比较级）
-- The harder you study English, the better you can 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.
In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more.
and more 甚至更多（= more than 60 miles an hour）
At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax. They stretch out their legs like
flying squirrels.
at high speeds
stretch out 充分伸展
This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.
