Have you ever recorded your own voice? There were many kindhearted people who ever suggested me to make my own recording of reading so that I may improve the language skill. But I paid a deaf ear to them as I was dreadful to hear my own voice until last night one friend of mine recorded my voice stealthily. It was quite funny indeed.

That was an idea came to mind, I wanted to have my own recording of the NCE books. I was so lack of confidence to share my first recording. Thanks for Fish and Icing who encouraged me a lot last night.

Here, I would like to share my first recording with you guys. Hope that you could give me some valuable suggestions how to improve my reading competence or figure out the wrong pronunciation. I really appreciate.

Lesson 1 A Puma at large

Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

Where must the puma have come from?

    Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously. 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.

    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. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered. 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. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes. Several people complained of "cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from? 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 managed to escape. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.