[01:44.18]Lesson 46
[01:52.43]2.Reading comprehension
[01:56.58]ESCAPE FROM THE ZOO(1)
[02:00.74]"This is Radio Two.Here is the o'clock news.
[02:05.60]A young lion has escaped from Green Park Zoo in southeast London.
[02:11.66]In the hurricane last night a tree fell onto the cage
[02:17.01]where it was kept and in the morning it was found that the lion had escaped.
[02:23.18]It is about seventy-five centimetres tall.
[02:27.72]The manager of the zoo said that the young lion,
[02:32.19]which was born in the zoo and is now six months old,
[02:37.05]would probably not attack people.
[02:40.81]However,if it becomes hungry,it might be dangerous.
[02:45.85]Anyone who sees the lion is asked to telephone the zoo and the police."
[02:52.41]When she had finished listening to the news,Mrs Cousins turned off the radio.
[02:59.17]The hurricane last night had been a grear surprise,
[03:04.16]but fortunately the house had not been damaged and no trees had fallen near it.
[03:10.62]Her baby was sleeping in its basket.
[03:14.59]She wanted to cook some vegetables quickly for lunch before the baby woke up.
[03:20.75]So,as it was a nice sunny day,she carried her baby in its basket outside,
[03:28.40]put it on the table under the tree and went back inside.
[03:33.97]About half an hour passed.
[03:37.52]Mrs Cousins was making a lot of noise with the pans
[03:42.88]and did not hear anything unusual.
[03:46.82]Then she went to the window to see if everything was all right.
[03:51.86]She had the surprise of her life.
[03:55.70]Her neighbour's big dog had got into her garden,
[04:00.56]jumped onto the table and was looking at her baby.
[04:05.52]She was just about to open the window and shout at the dog to frighten it,
[04:11.59]when she stopped and stood quite still.
[04:16.26]This was not the neighbour's dog;it was paler and of a different shape.
[04:22.50]She was not so sure now that it was a dog.
[04:27.26]Slowly it turned its face and stared straight at Mrs Cousins.
[04:33.61]"Me?A dog?"it seemed to say with its strong body and sharp white teeth.
[04:40.74]"The lion!It must be the lion from the zoo!"
[04:45.20]Mrs Cousins was frightened.
[04:48.97]At that very moment the animal bent over the baby.
[04:54.32]Mrs Cousins held her breath,and her whole body went cold.
[05:00.49]The lion was smelling the face of the sleeping baby.
[05:05.53]Was it hungry?What was it going to do?
[05:10.10]Thoughts rushed through her head.
[05:13.86]How could she get the lion away from her baby?
[05:17.81]If she ran towards it,it might attack her.
[05:22.64]Worse still,it could even carry off the baby in its mouth.
[05:28.39]She looked around the kitchen for something to throw at the lion.
[05:33.43]Suddenly she had an idea.
[05:37.37]In the fridge there was a large leg of pork
[05:41.92]which she was planning to cook on Sunday.
[05:46.36]There was not a moment to lose.
[05:50.41]She picked up the leg of pork,went to the back door and opened it.
[05:56.86]The lion looked at her as she swung the pork in her hand
[06:02.03]so as to attract the lion's attention.
[06:06.29]"Here!Eat that!" she cried as she threw the leg of pork as far as she could
[06:13.34]onto the grass away from the table.
[06:17.39]The lion at once jumped off the table and ran to the meat.
[06:23.03]It picked it up in its mouth and carried it into the bushes.
[06:28.36]Mrs Cousins ran to the table,picked up her baby in her arms,
[06:34.32]ran inside and shut the door.