『A deadly respiratory?virus transmitted to humans by mouse feces has caused an explosion in demand for cats in the greater Santiago region. “Demand for cats has grown 60 percent this summer. I relate it to a kind of collective psychosis over the Hanta virus,” said Luis Navarro, President of Chile’s Human Society. The Hanta virus has claimed five lives in recent weeks among at least 10 people known to be infected. One innovative Santiago mayor launched a “Tom and Jerry” campaign, inspired by the classic cartoon featuring a crafty cat’s hapless schemes to catch an elusive mouse. In the hopes that Tom’s real-life peers would be more successful, the mayors delivered 1500 cats free of charge to his constituents. Since the virus was first detected in this South American nation in 1993, there have been 138 cases of contagion and 68 deaths.』

《世說英語》Page 20

Vocabulary

respiratory，呼吸的

feces，排泄物

collective，集團(tuán)、集體、共同的

psychosis，精神錯亂

claim，報道

hapless，運(yùn)氣不好、倒霉的

elusive，神出鬼沒的

contagion，傳染病

Phrases

in demand for，需求

in the hopes that，希望

free of charge，免費(fèi)

貓是人類的好朋友，會賣萌，又能抓老鼠。