Has Big Ben ever gone wrong?

When you visit London, one of the first things you will see is Big Ben, thefamous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C. If the Housesof Parliament had not been burned down in 1834, the great clock would never havebeen erected. Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsiblefor 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. Officialsfrom Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day. On the B.B.C. youcan hear the clock when it is actually striking because microphones areconnected to the clock tower. Big Ben has rarely gone wrong. Once, however, itfailed to give the correct time. A painter who had been working on the towerhung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down!

New words and expressions 生词与短语

parliament n. 议会，国会

erect v. 建起

accurate adj. 准确的

official n. 官员，行政人员

Greenwich n. 格林尼治

observatory n. 天文台

check v. 检查新概念英语网上学习

microphone n. 扩音器，麦克风

tower n. 塔

本文参考译文

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”钟很少出差错。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!

(兼职编辑：张博)