The McAlister family lives in a small house in a valley on the west coast of Canada. There were few neighbors near their house. They had lots of land that lead out to the mountains.

麦阿里斯特一家人住在加拿大西海岸一个山谷里的小屋里。他们家附近邻居很少，很多通到山里的土地都是他们的。

The McAlister’s had several encounters with raccoons, squirrels, goats and other mountain animals that would come searching for food. They once had a bear in their back yard looking through the garbage. One summer day, Mrs. McAlister was at home with the two children. Mr. McAlister was at work.

麦阿里斯特家遇到过几次正在觅食的浣熊、松鼠、山羊和其他山里的动物。有一次，他们还在后院遇到一只在垃圾堆里觅食的熊。某个夏日，阿里斯特太太和两个小孩待在家里，阿里斯特先生则去上班。

The two children were playing in the backyard. As Mrs. McAlister was finishing up, she heard her oldest daughter scream. She looked up and saw a cougar¹ perched on the fence ready to pounce² on the youngest child. Mrs. McAlister ran outside to save her children. At first, she screamed and waved at the giant cat trying to scare it. But the cat hissed³ at the woman and came closer.

两个小孩在后院本来玩得好好的，结果阿里斯特太太吃完东西时，却听到大女儿的尖叫声。她抬头一看，看到一只美洲狮停在篱笆上准备扑向她最小的小孩，于是阿里斯特太太赶紧跑出去救她小孩。一开始，她一边尖叫一边向那只大猫挥手想要把它吓住，可是那只猫对她嘶嘶叫着越靠越近。

Then Mrs. McAlister grabbed a shovel⁴ in the yard and swung it at the cougar. Finally, the cougar ran off and Mrs. McAlister held her children and was thankful they were safe.

于是阿里斯特太太抓起后院的一把铁锹对着美洲狮挥来挥去。最后美洲狮跑开了，阿里斯特太太抱着她的孩子，很欣慰他们都平安无事。