Question

【題目】 How did people tell the time before clocks were invented?

At first, the ancient people looked up at the sun and could tell it was the middle of the day when the sun was directly overhead in the sky. They also knew when it was morning or evening.

Later, the Egyptians used sticks. These sticks measured (測量) time during the day. The sun shone on the tall stick and the stick made a shadow (陰影). As the sun moved across the sky, the position (位置) of the shadow changed. This would let people tell what time it was.

Over time, the Chinese first used sundials instead of shadow sticks. The sundial has a type of shadow stick on it. As the sun shines on it, a shadow appears on the numbers. Each number stands for an hour of the day. But sundials don't work at night or on a cloudy day! There are no shadows unless the sun is out.

Water clocks used water to measure time at night. Water dripped (滴落) slowly from one bowl into another. The level of the water in the bowls showed the time.

People also used sand-glasses. You may have seen one. Some games still use sand-glasses. The sand falls from the top of the sand-glasses to the bottom. It measures short amounts of the time. The more sand falls, the more time has passed. When the sand has finished falling, you have to turn the sand-glasses over.

【1】At first, the ancient people told the time by looking at ________.

A.the stickB.the shadowC.the sunD.the moon

【2】Which picture can be a "sundial"?

A.B.C.D.

【3】Sundials can be used to tell the time when it is ________.

A.sunnyB.rainyC.cloudyD.snowy

【4】Which is right according to the passage?

A.Sticks measured time in Egypt day and night.B.Sundials were first used in ancient Egypt.

C.Sand-glasses usually measure a long time.D.The water clock told the time by the water level in the bowls.

【5】What's the main idea of the passage?

A.Something about sundials.B.How to tell the time by looking at the sun.

C.How to tell the time in the past.D.Some inventions in China.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】A

【4】D

【5】C

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文，介紹了在鐘表發(fā)明出來之前，人們都是利用什么來計時和看時間的。

【1】

細節(jié)理解題。根據“At first, the ancient people looked up at the sun and could tell it was the middle of the day when the sun was directly overhead in the sky”可知起初古代人是通過看太陽來計算時間的，故選C。

【2】

推理判斷題。根據“The sundial has a type of shadow stick on it. As the sun shines on it, a shadow appears on the numbers”，可知日晷有一根陰影棒，太陽照射后陰影會出現在數字上，根據圖片所示，可判斷是B圖，故選B。

【3】

細節(jié)理解題。根據“But sundials don't work at night or on a cloudy day! There are no shadows unless the sun is out”，可知必須要有太陽，故選A。

【4】

判斷正誤題。根據“These sticks measured (測量) time during the day”，可知小棍子只在白天測量時間，晚上不行，A選項表述錯誤，排除；根據“Over time, the Chinese first used sundials instead of shadow sticks”，可知是中國人率先使用日晷，而不是埃及人，B選項表述錯誤，排除；根據“The sand falls from the top of the sand-glasses to the bottom. It measures short amounts of the time”，可知沙漏只能測量短的時間，而不是長的時間，C選項表述錯誤，排除；根據“The level of the water in the bowls showed the time”，可知水時鐘是通過水平面來展示時間的，D選項表述正確，故選D。

【5】

文章主旨題。通讀全文，可知文章主要介紹了在鐘表發(fā)明出來之前，人們都是利用什么來計時和看時間的，故選C。