首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Clocks through Time It took human being a long time to invent diverse ways for telling time. About 3000 years ago people firs
Clocks through Time It took human being a long time to invent diverse ways for telling time. About 3000 years ago people firs
admin
2010-02-20
30
问题
Clocks through Time
It took human being a long time to invent diverse ways for telling time. About
3000 years ago people first made a circle with a stick in the center of it to 【1】 【1】____.
_____ the passage of time by noticing various marks on the circle the shadow of
the stick tell across.
Since these kinds of circles that are-called 【2】____ did not work without 【2】____.
the sun, men had to find other ways to keep track of time, including a 【3】____. 【3】____.
candle on which each stripe took about one hour to melt, a water clock which had a
line with a number beside it for every hour and an 【4】____ which followed the 【4】____.
invention of glass blowing.
The first clock with a face and an hour hand was invented about600 years ago
for few people. With the gradually 【5】____ use of clocks, they were beautiful- 【5】____.
ly 【6】____, though they could not keep correct time. Scarcely had clocks been 【6】____.
made small enough to be carried when watches came into use.
As the beginning of the style of "grandfather clocks," which were enclosed in
tall wooden boxes, the 【7】____ clock was made in1657 . In1700, there were 【7】____.
clocks with minute and second hands. About200 years later, a clock is commonly
used in every house and a watch is almost used by every 【8】____ gentleman. 【8】____.
A newly created clock that shows the time exactly is so -called 【9】____ 【9】____.
clock. Nowadays such a clock has more and more complicated functions.
【10】_____ as clocks and watches are, time means different things to differ- 【10】____.
ent nations.
【7】
Clocks through Time
It was probably around 3,000 years ago that people first began making things to help them measure the passage of time. Having observed that shadows move around trees as the sun moves across the sky, someone drew a circle and put a stick in the center. As the sun passed overhead, he marked even divisions on the circle as the shadow of the stick crossed it. Then people could tell which part of the day it was by noticing which mark on the circle the shadow fell across. These circles were called "sundials." Later, they were made of stone and metal to last longer.
Of course, a sundial did not work at night or on cloudy days. So men kept inventing other ways to keep track of time. One invention was a striped candle. Each stripe took the same amount of time to melt. If each stripe melted in a- bout an hour, about three hours would have passed when three stripes melted. A water clock was another way to tell time. A container had a line with a number beside it for every hour. It also had a tiny hole in the bottom. The contain- er was filled with water that dripped through the hole. When the water level reached the first line, people knew that an hour had passed. Each time the water level fell to another line, one more hour had passed. Candles and water clocks helped people know how much time had gone by. But candles had to be remade, and water clocks had to be refilled. So, after glass blowing was invented, the hourglass came into use. Glass bulbs were joined by a narrow tunnel of glass, and fine, dry sand was placed in the top bulb. The hourglass was easy to use, but it had to be turned over every hour so the sand could flow again.
It was about 600 years ago that the first clock with a face and an hour hand was made. One of the first such clocks was built for a king of France and placed in a tower of the royal palace. The clock did not show minutes or seconds. Usually it did not even show the correct hour! Since there were no planes or trains to catch, however, people were not concerned about knowing the exact time. Gradually, clocks began to be popular. They still did not keep correct time, but they were unusual, and they could be beautifully decorated. One clock was in the shape of a cart with a horse and, driver. One of the wheels was the face of the clock. Watches came into use as soon as clocks were made small enough to be carried. These did not always tell the correct time, either. They were often put into beautiful watchcases, which were made to look like anything the owner wanted.
The pendulum clock was invented in 1657. This was the beginning of the style of clocks we call "grandfather clocks," which were enclosed in tall wooden boxes. Pendulum clocks showed the hours more exactly than earlier clocks, since the weight on the pendulum could be moved up or down to make the clock go faster or slower. About forty years later, minute and second hands were put on some clocks. Grandfather clocks are very much in demand again today. They are usually very expensive, however, and re- quire more space than other styles of clocks. As people began to go to more places and do more things, they were more interested in knowing the correct time. By 1900, almost every house had a clock, and nearly every well-dressed gentleman wore a watch on a chain tucked in his vest pocket.
Today, of course, we have electric clocks that keep giving the right time until they are unplugged or the electrici- ty goes off. Scientists have invented clocks that look like large machines and tell the correct time to a split second. The most modem corporate clocks for home use do not have faces or hands; These clocks are called digital clocks, and they tell the time with a set of numerals which appear in a little window. The seconds are counted off like the tenths of a mile on the odometer of a car. Many electric clocks are combined with radios, which can sometimes be set to turn on automatically. Thus, instead of an alarm ringing in your ear in the morning, you can hear soft music playing when it is time to get up. Some clocks will even start the coffee maker!
Although clocks and watches play an important part in people’s lives in industrialized countries, time is still regarded in very different ways in different parts of the world. In the next selection, we will talk about attitudes toward time in different cultures.
选项
答案
pendulum。
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/GQ9YFFFM
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
IntheUnitedStates,olderpeoplerarelylivewiththeiradultchildren.Butinmanyothercultureschildrenareexpectedtoca
A、Womenbeingrobbed.B、Thievesstealingbagsfrominternationaltourists.C、Darlinghurstresidentsbeingrobbed.D、Burglariesh
Americansdonotgoinforenvy.Thegapbetweenrichandpoorisbiggerthaninanyotheradvancedcountry,butmostpeopleare
A、Thewoman’shobbies.B、Thenightlifeinthecity.C、Thedifferencebetweenrurallifeandurbanlife.D、Howtomakefriendsi
A、Fathersmightobjecttotheirdaughters’leavinghome.B、Giftswereforcedintomarriages.C、Friendshipbetweenmenwasimport
Itisdifficulttogiveadescriptionof【C1】______becausetheyvaryfromstatetostateandcitytocity.Sometownsallowth
Asregardssocialconventions,wemustsayawordaboutthewell-knownEnglishclasssystem.Thisisanembarrassingsubjectfor
Ifyou’relikemostmiddle-classparents,you’veprobablygottenannoyedwithyourdaughterforconstantlycheckingherInstagra
ThemightyLuceorPikeistakentobetheTyrant,astheSalmonistheKing,ofthefreshwaters.It’snottobedoubtedbutth
DangersofUsingComputerTerminalsUndoubtedly,thecomputerhasgreatlyincreasedhumanbeing’sworkingcapacityandintel
随机试题
从治适应于
有关焦点极限分辨率的叙述,错误的是
国内引起新生儿溶血病最常见的原因是()。
滑坡变形监测1)滑坡体介绍××滑坡体位于长江左岸,前缘高程139m,后缘高程400m,滑坡面积约30万m2。1954年该滑坡临江地带200m高程以下部分曾崩滑入江,之后每遇特大暴雨即有崩滑迹象。2002年以来,滑体300~400m高程地段出现多条横向裂
下列地区中,属于国家层面限制开发的农产品主产区的是()。
对教师的考核应当()①客观、公正、准确②充分听取教师本人的意见③充分听取其他教师的意见④充分听取学生的意见
学生心理健康教育中的心理评估,指依据用心理学方法和技术搜集得来的资料,对学生的心理特征与行为表现进行评鉴,以确定其性质和水平并进行________的过程。
袁世凯洪宪帝制失败的根本原因是()。
EconomicReforminChinaMoreUSsinologistshaveexpressedconfidenceinChina’seconomicreformandtheprospectsforChi
WhowontheWorldCupfootballgame?WhathappenedattheUnitedNations?Howdidthecriticslikethenewplay?【C1】______aneve
最新回复
(
0
)