7 Time

Time written by Jack Gabolinscy

《时代》杂志作者:杰克·加波林西

Thousands of years ago, cave people knew about time. The sun and the stars were their clocks. At sunrise, they knew it was time to get out of bed. They could tell it was midday when the sun was overhead. At sunset, the sun told them it was time to go back to bed. Night started with the sunset. By watching the stars in the sky, people knew when it was early at night. They could tell when it was near midnight and when it was nearly morning.

几千年前，穴居人就知道时间。 太阳和星星就是他们的时钟。 日出时，他们知道该起床了。 当太阳高悬在头顶时，他们就知道是正午了。 日落时分，太阳告诉他们该回去睡觉了。 日落开始了夜晚。 通过观察天上的星星，人们知道什么时候是晚上的早些时候。 他们能分辨出什么时候接近午夜，什么时候接近早晨。

sundial The first clocks were sundials. A sundial used the sun's shadow to show the time of the day. Sundials only worked on sunny days and they couldn't show the time at night. sand clock Then there were sand clocks. Sometimes a sand clock was called an hourglass because it took one hour for the sand to fall from the top to the bottom.

最早的时钟是日晷。 日晷利用太阳的影子来显示一天中的时间。 日晷只在晴天有用，晚上不能显示时间。 然后就有了沙钟。 有时沙钟被称为沙漏，因为沙子从顶部落到底部需要一个小时。

Big Ben The first real clocks were made in towers. Bells were rung to tell people when it was time to start work, when to rest, and when to go to the market. Many towns and cities have clock towers on important buildings. Big Ben is a famous clock tower. Its huge bell has been ringing out in London for about one hundred and fifty years.

第一个真正的钟是在塔上制造的。 钟声敲响是为了告诉人们什么时候开始工作，什么时候休息，什么时候去市场。 许多城镇的重要建筑上都有钟楼。 大本钟是一座著名的钟楼。 大本钟已经在伦敦敲响了大约150年。

pendulum clock Next came pendulum clocks, which keep good time. Large ones, called Grandfather clocks, often have chimes. Some people still have pendulum clocks in their homes. They like the chimes and the swinging pendulum.

接着出现了摆钟，它走时很准。 大的，被称为落地钟，通常有报时。 有些人家里仍然有摆钟。 他们喜欢编钟和摇摆的钟摆。

pocket watches There are lots of different clocks and watches to help us know the time. Today many people wear a watch on their wrist. Some people have an alarm clock to wake them up in the morning. A timetable is a chart that helps us know when to go to class. We need to know when to go to sports practice. We don't want to be late for a birthday party or for a special dinner.

怀表有很多不同的钟表可以帮助我们知道时间。 现在很多人在手腕上戴手表。 有些人早上用闹钟叫醒他们。 时间表是一个图表，帮助我们知道什么时候去上课。 我们需要知道什么时候去参加体育训练。 我们不想在生日聚会或特别的晚餐上迟到。