Question

    How do we know the time? A clock, a watch or a mobile phone can help us. However, many years ago there were no clocks and knowing the time was not so easy. Over the centuries people have developed different ways of telling the time.

About 5, 500 years ago, the Egyptians invented the sun clock. This was a tall stone building. Its shadow(影子) showed the movement of the sun. So people were able to know midday. The Egyptians made a sundial about 3, 500 years ago. It was smaller than the sun clock and could let people know the time for half a day. On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial. Water clocks were the first clocks not to use the sun. The idea is simple. Water flows(流动) from one bottle to another. When the water reaches a certain level, it shows the hours. The Egyptians used water clocks about 3, 400 years ago. These clocks were popular in the Middle East and China. But they failed to make people know the exact time.

In the 13th century, the mechanical clock was invented. This was more exact, but it was expensive to make one. Over the next few centuries it was developed. For example, springs(发条) were added around 1500. This enabled people to get the correct time and allowed clocks to be smaller. In 1927, the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It’s also cheaper for ordinary people to own a clock. People began depending on them more and more to run business, markets and so on. More recently, in 1956, came the digital clock. And nowadays satelites send our mobile phones the time to the exact second.

There has been a lot of progress in timekeeping. Clocks are always changing but some things never change. Many of us still have trouble getting out of bed on time and not being late for school or work.

1.According to the passage, we can’t use ________ to tell the time on a rainy day.

A.water clock B.sun clock C.digital clock D.mechanical clock

2.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “ordinary” in the third paragraph?

A.现代的 B.特殊的 C.富有的 D.普通的

3.How many kinds of clocks are mentioned in the passage?

A.Four. B.Five. C.Six. D.Seven.

4.Which of the following shows the structure(结构) of the passage?

(①=paragraph 1 ②= pargaph 2,…)

A. B.

C. D.

5.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A.The importance of time. B.The development of timekeeping.

C.The inventions of clocks. D.The history of a digital clock.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

5.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了从古至今计时方法的不断演变和进步。

1.

题意：根据本文内容，下雨天我们不能用________来判断时间。

细节理解题。根据原文“On cloudy days or at night it was impossible to tell the time with a sun clock or a sundial”可知，太阳钟是用来显示太阳运动轨迹从而判断时间的，所以雨天的时候不能使用。B选项sun clock“太阳钟”符合题意，故选B。

2.

题意：第3段中画线单词“ordinary”的意思是？

词句猜测题。根据原文“In 1927, the first quartz clock was developed. Clocks became cheaper to build. It’s also cheaper for ordinary people to own a clock”可知，石英钟问世之后，时钟的成本开始变便宜，许多普通人也买得起时钟了。画线单词“ordinary”意为“普通的”，故选D。

3.

题意：文中提到了多少种时钟？

细节理解题。通读全文可知，一共提到了sun clock、sundial、water clock、mechanical clock、quartz clock、digital clock六种时钟。C选项Six“6种”符合题意，故选C。

4.

题意：以下哪一项展示了本文的篇章结构？

篇章结构题。第一段用于引出时钟演变的历史这一话题，第二、三段则是具体描述了不同历史时期出现的时钟及其优缺点，第四段是文章结尾，对时钟演变历史进行了评价，即时钟在计时方面的进步随着科学技术的进步而不断进步。由此可知本文采用“总-分-总”的篇章结构，即“①—②③—④”，故选A。

5.

题意：这篇文章主要讲什么？

主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本文是一篇说明文，介绍了从古至今计时方法的不断演变和进步。B选项The development of timekeeping“计时技术的发展”符合题意，故选B。