《新概念英语》第二册第71集：A famous clock

Lesson 71 A famous clock

First listen and then answer the question.

Has Big Ben ever gone wrong?

When you visit London, one of the first things you will see is Big Ben, the famous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C. If the Houses of Parliament had not been burned down in 1834, the great clock would never have been erected. Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making of the clock when the new Houses of Parliament were being built. It is not only of immense size, but is extremely accurate as well. Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day. On the B.B.C. you can hear the clock when it is actually striking because microphones are connected to the clock tower. Big Ben has rarely gone wrong. Once, however, it failed to give the correct time. A painter who had been working on the tower hung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down!

New words and expressions

生词和短语

parliament [ˈpɑːrləmənt] n.议会;国会;英国议会(包括下议院和上议院);一届议会的会期;(两次大选之间的)一届议会

parl 说，谈 + ia + ment 名词后缀 → 大家讨论国家大事 → 国会

词源：在中世纪的英国，当国王觉得有必要召集一些贵族、教士来讨论朝政时，就会专门召集一次会议，这种会议就叫做parliament。这个单词来自法语parlement，是动词parler（说话、发言）的名词形式。parliament的字面意思就是“开会、讨论”，后来才演变成了一种常设机构和国家政治制度。最初在英语中保持了parlement这种法语拼写形式，后来受了拉丁语parliamentum的影响，才演变为现在的拼写形式parliament。源自法语单词parler的英语单词还有parlour（会客室）、parley（会谈）等。

the issue was debated in Parliament

议会就这个问题进行了辩论。

We are now into the second half of the parliament.

我们现已进入了本届议会的后半任期。

erect [ɪˈrekt]  adj.垂直的;竖直的;直立的;(因性兴奋)勃起的，坚挺的vt.建立;建造;竖立;搭起;创立;设立

e 加强 + rect 正，直 → 竖直

Stand with your arms by your side and your head erect.

手放两边，昂首站立。

The church was erected in 1582.

此教堂建于1582年。

accurate [ˈækjərət]  adj.精确的;准确的;正确无误的;准确的(掷、射、击等)

ac (=ad,去) + cur 关心 + ate 形容词词尾 → 小心的去做 → 精确的

同源词：cure, accuracy, curator, curate.

an accurate description/account/calculation

准确的描述 / 叙述 / 计算

official  n. 官员，行政人员

Greenwich  n. 格林尼治

observatory [əbˈzɜːrvətɔːri]  n.天文台;天文观测站;气象台

ob 表加强 + serv 服务；保持 + ate 形容词后缀 + ory 名词后缀 → 观察星象的场所 → 天文台

Few museums could rival the Old Royal Observatory at Greenwich for a grand day out

若想找个地儿开心地逛一天，没有哪家博物馆能比得上格林尼治皇家天文台。

check  v. 检查

microphone  n. 扩音器，麦克风

tower  n. 塔

参考译文

当你游览伦敦时，首先看到的东西之一就是“大本”钟，即那座从英国广播公司的广播中全世界都可以听到它的声音的著名大钟。如果不是国会大厦在1834年被焚毁的话，这座大钟永远也不会建造。“大本”钟得名于本杰明.霍尔爵士，因为当建造新的国会大厦时，他负责建造大钟。此钟不仅外型巨大，而且走时也非常准确。格林尼治天文台的官员们每天两次派人矫正此钟。当大钟打点的时候，你可以从英国广播公司的广播中听到，因为钟塔上接了麦克风。“大本”钟很多出差错。然而有一次，它却把时间报错。在钟塔上干活的一位油漆工把一只油漆桶挂在了一根指针上，把钟弄慢了！

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