Question

阅读理解

　　It hasn't always been easy to know the time. A long time ago people looked at the sun, the sun was their clock. They could tell the time of day by the position of the sun in the sky: morning, Boon, or afternoon.

　　After many years people began to see something else about the sun. When the sun shone on something, it made a dark shadow behind it. This was the place that didn't get sunlight. As the sun moved across the sky, the shadow moved too. People could tell time better by the shadows of things than by the sun. They set something long and pointed in the ground so the shadow was easier to see.

　　About the same time people began to make sundials. A sundial has round flat part called a dial. A long, thin, pointed stick stands in the center. There are 12 lines in the dial to divide the day into 12 parts. When the shadow of the stick fails on a certain part, people know it is a certain part of the day.

　　Around the year 1250, someone made the first mechanical(机械的)clock. It was a mechanical clock because it was a machine that ran by itself. It did not need the help of anything in nature.

　　People began to use the hourglass around 1400. An hourglass is made from glass, and is wide at the top and bottom but very narrow(狭窄的)in the middle. There is sand in one part. When people want to keep time, they place the hourglass on the table with all the sand on top. The sand takes an hour to run from the top into the bottom part. At the end of every hour people turn the glass over and begin again.

　　People carried the first watch in their pockets. Then during World War I men started wearing their watch on their wrists(手腕), not in their pockets. It was easier and faster to tell the time in this way. Now almost everyone wears a wristwatch.

　　Today people want to know the exact time. The time they have must be the right time, not a few minutes early or late. Radio and TV stations, train, airplanes, science, and business all need to know that they have the same exact time.

1．After many years in ancient times, people found they could tell time better by ________.

[　　]

A．years

B．the shadows

C．the sky

D．sunlight

2．The mechanical clock was invented ________.

[　　]

A．in the 13th century B. C.

B．in the 12th century A. D.

C．more than 800 years ago

D．more than 700 years ago

3．An hourglass is ________.

[　　]

A．made from glass and is narrow at the top

B．made from sand and is narrow in the middle

C．made from glass and wide at the top and bottom

D．is full of sand and narrow at both ends

4．The timepiece which is more popular than most others is ________.

[　　]

A．the wristwatch

B．the electric clock

C．the pocket watch

D．the hourglass

5．Choose the best title for the passage.

[　　]

A．From Ancient Times to Modern Times

B．From the Sun to the Clock

C．The History of the Watch

D．Telling the Time

Answer 1

答案：B;D;C;A;D
解析：

1．B．题干中有better，在当时相比之下“用影子”就前进了一步．故选B． 　　2．D．从现在的年代减去1250应是700多年．1250应是在13世纪，故选择B不对． 　　3．C．从Para 5的第二句可知． 　　4．A．从Para 6的后两句可知． 　　5．D．从全文来看，作者主要是在介绍人们的读时方法随时代而发展进步，D项最能概括全文．A意为“从古代到当代”，而本篇文章只涉及时间这一个方面，用此作题目太大了；B项包含不了“手表”这一内容，而C项只专讲手表的历史，都不宜作标题．