伦敦大本钟将以新面貌在新年敲响

London's Big Ben will Ring with a New Look in the New Year

刘立军 供稿

TRANSCRIPT

Big Ben's famous clock will appear in time for it to do its most important yearly activity: marking the start of the New Year for thousands of people on London's streets and millions more watching on television.

The clock tower of Britain's Houses of Parliament has been hidden in a repair project for over three years. Hundreds of workers are involved in the effort to fix the structure built in 1859. 

Nick Sturge, project manager for Sir Robert McAlpine's special projects, said removing the scaffolding was an important step in the $107 million project. Scaffolding is a movable structure on which workers stand or sit while working high above the ground.

"By New Year people will start to see a big difference; they'll start to get their tower back," he said. "The roofs will be fully visible along with the four clock faces."

Big Ben is an internationally-known symbol of London and Britain's parliamentary democracy. It is also one of the most photographed places in the city. 

The repair work includes replacing parts of the clock faces using handmade glass, Sturge said. 

The dials' hands, numbers and other details have been repainted bright blue rather than the black long familiar to Londoners. Sturge said an early painting of Big Ben showed a color that was confirmed by a paint study to be Prussian blue. 

Sturge said, "When you stand on the street it's a really nice nod to the past," meaning a recognition of the building's history. The symbols of the four parts of the United Kingdom - the thistle, shamrock, leek and rose - have also been repainted in the colors from the first design of the tower. 

The building was called the Clock Tower until 2012 when officials re-named it the Elizabeth Tower in honor of Britain's Queen. 

The tower's Great Bell, or Big Ben, marks the turning of the year with twelve strikes. That will be powered by an electric motor January 1.

Alex Jeffrey, one of three clockmakers at the Palace of Westminster, said the clock had been transported to Cumbria, in northwestern England, to be taken apart and put back together. It was a big job. "To give you an example, one of the hands weighs about 305 kilograms," he said. The clock's minute hand, he added, is about 4.3 meters long. 

The one dial showing the time when the scaffolding comes down is electric-driven. But starting in the spring, the gravity-powered clock will operate all four dials as first designed. 

"It is famously accurate," Jeffrey said. "The Great Clock is designed extremely well and it's accurate to one second to the first strike of each hour."

VOCABULARY

1. scaffolding n.（不可数名词）poles and boards that are joined together to make a structure for workers to stand on when they are working high up on the outside wall of a building 脚手架（组）；鹰架

2. parliamentary n. connected with a parliament; having a parliament 议会的；国会的；设有议会的。例如：parliamentary elections 议会选举

3. democracy n. a system of government in which all the people of a country can vote to elect their representatives 民主政体；民主制度。例如：the principles of democracy 民主原则

4. thistle n. a wild plant with leaves with sharp points and purple, yellow or white flowers made up of a mass of narrow petals pointing upwards. The thistle is the national symbol of Scotland. 蓟（野生植物，叶有刺，花呈紫色、黄色或白色，为苏格兰民族象征）

5. shamrock n. a small plant with three leaves on each stem. The shamrock is the national symbol of Ireland. 三叶草（爱尔兰的国花）

6. leek n. a vegetable like a long onion with many layers of wide flat leaves that are white at the bottom and green at the top. Leeks are eaten cooked. The leek is a national symbol of Wales. 韭葱（威尔士民族的象征）

QUESTIONS

Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). Then correct the false statements.

1. The clock tower of Britain's Houses of Parliament has been hidden in a repair project for nearly three years.

2. Thousands of workers are involved in the effort to fix the structure built in 1859.

3. Scaffolding is a movable structure for workers to stand or sit while working high above the ground.

4. Big Ben is a nationally-known symbol of London and Britain's parliamentary democracy.

5. The repair work includes replacing parts of the clock faces using handmade glass.

6. The dials' hands, numbers and other details have been repainted bright blue rather than the black.

7. The symbols of the four parts of the United Kingdom have also been repainted in the colors from the last design of the tower.

8. In 2012, officials re-named the Clock Tower the Elizabeth Tower in honor of Britain's Queen.

9. The tower's Great Bell marks the turning of the year with one strike.

10. The clock had been transported to Cumbria to be taken apart and will be put back together in London.

11. The clock's hour hand is about 4.3 meters long.

12. The Great Clock is designed extremely well and it's accurate to one or two seconds to the first strike of each hour.

KEY

Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). Then correct the false statements.

(F) 1. The clock tower of Britain's Houses of Parliament has been hidden in a repair project for nearly three years.（正确表达）The clock tower of Britain's Houses of Parliament has been hidden in a repair project for over three years.

(F) 2. Thousands of workers are involved in the effort to fix the structure built in 1859.（正确表达）Hundreds of workers are involved in the effort to fix the structure built in 1859.

(T) 3. Scaffolding is a movable structure for workers to stand or sit while working high above the ground.

(F) 4. Big Ben is a nationally-known symbol of London and Britain's parliamentary democracy.（正确表达）Big Ben is an internationally-known symbol of London and Britain's parliamentary democracy.

(T) 5. The repair work includes replacing parts of the clock faces using handmade glass.

(T) 6. The dials' hands, numbers and other details have been repainted bright blue rather than the black.

(F) 7. The symbols of the four parts of the United Kingdom have also been repainted in the colors from the last design of the tower.（正确表达）The symbols of the four parts of the United Kingdom have also been repainted in the colors from the first design of the tower.

(T) 8. In 2012, officials re-named the Clock Tower the Elizabeth Tower in honor of Britain's Queen.

(F) 9. The tower's Great Bell marks the turning of the year with one strike.（正确表达）The tower's Great Bell marks the turning of the year with twelve strikes.

(F) 10. The clock had been transported to Cumbria to be taken apart and will be put back together in London.（正确表达）The clock had been transported to Cumbria to be taken apart and put back together.

(F) 11. The clock's hour hand is about 4.3 meters long.（正确表达）The clock's minute hand is about 4.3 meters long.

(F) 12. The Great Clock is designed extremely well and it's accurate to one or two seconds to the first strike of each hour.（正确表达）The Great Clock is designed extremely well and it's accurate to one second to the first strike of each hour.

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