1. 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. 1．可能在3000年前左右，人们开始制造一种东西来帮助人们度量所度 过的时间。人们观察到当太阳在天空移动时，树的阴影也在树的周围移动之 后，有人划了一个圈，在其中央树了一根棍。当太阳在天上走过时，棍子的 影子与圆圈相交，他便在圆圈上划出许多分割圆圈的记号。人们看到影子落 在圆圈上的位置就可以说出现在是这一天的什么时候。这些圆圈被叫做"日 晷"。后来，为了长久使用，人们用石头和金属做成了日晷。 2. 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 about an hour, about three hours would have passed when three stripes melted. 2．当然，日晷在夜间或阴天不能使用，所以人们还发明了其他方法来度量时间。其一就是划上条纹的蜡烛。每一条都花相同的时间才熔化。如果每一条熔化的时间大约为一小时，那么熔化三条，就过了大约三小时 3. 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 container 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 feel to another line, one more hour had passed. 3．水钟又是一种计时的方法。一个划上线的容器，线的旁边标上数字，一个数字代表一小时。容器底有个小孔容器内装满水，水通过孔滴下。当水面降到第一条线时，人们便知道一个小时过去了。每当水面触到另一条线时，又一个小时过去了。 4. 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. 4．蜡烛和水钟帮助人们知道过去了多少时间。但蜡烛总得-根根选，水钟需要重新装满水。所以玻璃吹制技术发明以后，沙漏开始使用。用狭长的玻璃通道把玻璃泡连接起来，把干燥的细沙放在上面的玻璃泡内。沙漏的用法很简单，每小时倒置一次，沙子才能重新流下。 5. 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. 5．大约在600年前制造出了第一个带钟盘和时针的钟。第一批造的钟里面有一个是专为法国国王造的，放在皇宫的塔上。这种钟不能显示分和秒，通常也显示不出准确的时数。然而，因不赶飞机和火车，人们对知道准确时间也不太在乎。 6. Gradually, clocks began to be popular. The 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. 6．渐渐的开始广泛地使用钟了。它们还是走时不准。但它们是稀有的东西，而且还可以把它们装饰的更漂亮。有一种钟的形状是一辆马车和一个骑着马的马车夫，其中一个轮子是钟的面盘。 7. Watches came into use as soon as clocks were made small enough to be carded. These did not always tell the correct time, either. They were often put into beautiful watchcases, which were mad to look like anything the owner wanted. 7．钟被做成小到可以携带时便出现了表，表也不总是准点。他们常常被放在精制的表壳里，人们根据自己的喜爱把表壳作成自己喜欢的东西那样。 8. 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 require more space than other styles of clocks. 8．钟摆是1657年发明的，起初这种类型钟是被装在高大的木盒子里被叫做"落地式大摆钟"。摆钟比早期的钟记时准，因为摆上的重锤可以上下移动调整钟的快慢。大约40年以后，某些钟装上了分针和秒针。落地式大摆钟今天的需要量仍很大。但，它们一般很贵，比其他类型的钟占地也大。 9. 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. 9．因为人们要到很多地方，做很多事情，人们对知道准确时间感兴趣了。到1900年，几乎每家都有一个钟，几乎每位穿着讲究的绅士都带一块表，并用表链连着放在马甲口袋里。 10. Today, of course, we have electric clocks that keep giving the right time until the electricity goes off. Scientists have invented clocks that look like large machines and tell the correct time to a split seconds. 10．当然，今天我们有电钟，只要不断电它走得很准。科学家们发明了样子像大机器的钟。它报时准确到几分之一秒。 11. The most modem electric 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 meter of a car. 11．家用的最现代化的电钟没有钟盘和时针，这种钟叫做数字钟，它用一组出现在小显示屏上的数字报时，秒数是每10秒一报，就象小汽车里的里程表每1／10英里一报一样。 12. 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! 12．许多电钟与收音机结合起来，有时可定时使收音机自动打开。因此，早晨到该起床时你的耳边听到的不是闹钟声，而是轻音乐的演奏声。有些钟甚至可以用来起动煮咖啡壶。 13. Although time is still regarded in very different ways in different parts of the world, clocks and watches have played an important part in people's lives in industrialized countries. 13．虽然世界不同地区对待时间的方式极不相同，但钟和表在工业化的国家里对人们的生活起到重要的作用。点或分配只是综合营销的一部分，市场之间的距离。