A Very Dear Cat 一只贵重的宝贝猫

Kidnappers are rarely interested in animals, but they recently took considerable interest in Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay's cat. Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay, a very wealthy old lady, has shared a flat with her cat, Rastus, for a great many years. Rastus leads an orderly life. He usually takes a short walk in the evenings and is always home by seven o'clock. One evening, however, he failed to arrive. Mrs. Ramsay got very worried. She looked everywhere for him but could not find him.
Three days after Rastus' disappearance, Mrs. Ramsay received an anonymous letter. The writer stated that Rastus was in safe hands and would be returned immediately if Mrs. Ramsay paid a ransom of $1,000. Mrs. Ramsay was instructed to place the money in a cardboard box and to leave it outside her door. At first she decided to go to the police, but fearing that she would never see Rastus again -- the letter had made that quite clear-she changed her mind. She withdrew $1000 from her bank and followed the kidnapper's instructions. The next morning, the box had disappeared but Mrs. Ramsay was sure that the kidnapper would keep his word. Sure enough, Rastus arrived punctually at seven o'clock that evening. He looked very well though he was rather thirsty, for he drank half a bottle of milk. The police were astounded when Mrs. Ramsay told them what she had done. She explained that Rastus was very dear to her. Considering the amount she paid, he was dear in more ways than one!

1.Kidnappers are rarely interested in animals, but they recently took considerable interest in Mrs. Eleanor Ramsay's cat.

绑架者很少对动物感兴趣。最近，绑架者却盯上了埃莉诺.拉姆齐太太的猫。

语言点1:be interested in 表示“对…感兴趣”

语言点2:由kidnapper一词拓展学习:

kidnap case 绑架案
kill hostage 撕票
take sb.out of circulation 绑架某人
take …hostage 把…扣作人质
exchage hostages 交换人质

2.Mrs.Eleanor Ramsay, a very wealthy old lady, has shared a flat with her cat, Rastus, for a great many years.

埃莉诺.拉姆齐太太是一个非常富有的老妇人，多年来，一直同她养的猫拉斯一起住在一所公寓里。

语言点1:句子结构分析:a very wealthy old lady是Mrs.Eleanor Ramsay的同位语;Rastus是her cat的同位语，起解释说明的作用。For a great many years放在句尾，一是为了强调时间很长，二是为了与现在完成时has shared形成用法上的呼应。

语言点2:rich只表示有钱，而wealthy则表示十分富有，相关的表达还有:fat-cat有钱有势的人。

3.Rastus leads an orderly life.

拉斯特斯生活很有规律。

语言点:orderly从结构上看像副词，但实际上是形容词。