042 惊喜大本钟

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Welcome to my home

欢迎来到我的家。

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I live here in this little nest inside this large clock, which is here in this tall clock tower in the great city of London

我住在这个大钟里面的小窝里，这个大钟就在伦敦这座大城市里高高的钟楼里。

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I'm a Big Ben bird

我是一只大本钟鸟。

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Big Ben is in the Palace of Westminster, which is the main government building in Britain

大本钟在威斯敏斯特宫里，那里是英国主要的政府大楼。

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This is where the most important decisions in the United Kingdom are made

这里是英国作出最重要决定的地方。

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It is also where the prime minister works

这里也是首相工作的地方。

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The clock tower is 97 meters tall, and it has a very unusual clock

钟楼高97米，里面有一个非常特别的钟。

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Most clocks have only one face, but this clock has four faces

大多数钟只有一个钟面，但这个钟有四个钟面。

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Each one looks in a different direction

每个钟面都朝着不同的方向。

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That way, people from all around London can look up and see what time it is

这样，伦敦各地的人们抬头就能看到时间。

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The clock does not need a battery or electricity like your clocks at home

这座钟不像你们家里的钟表，不需要电池或电力。

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This is an old-fashioned clock. It runs on weights

这是一座老式钟，靠重锤运行。

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Increasing the weights slows the clock a tiny bit, while reducing the weights speeds it up a little

增加重量会让钟走慢一点点，减少重量则会让它走快一点点。

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If the clock is not keeping perfect time

如果钟走得不准，

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the clock master adds or removes one penny at a time until the weight is just right, and the clock keeps perfect time again

钟表师就会每次增加或拿掉一枚一便士硬币，直到重量恰到好处，让钟再次精准走时。

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The clock master still uses the same old-fashioned pennies from when the clock was built

钟表师至今仍使用钟建造时的那些老式便士。

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I often hear people say," Look over there. It's Big Ben."

我经常听到人们说：“看那边，是大本钟。”

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Most people think that Big Ben is the name of this tower

大多数人以为大本钟是这座塔的名字。

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But did you know that Big Ben is not the name of the clock tower?

但你知道吗，大本钟并不是这座钟塔的名字？

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It's the name of the biggest and most famous bell inside the tower

它是塔内那口最大、最有名的钟的名字。

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The tower itself is called St. Stephen's Tower

塔本身叫做圣斯蒂芬塔。

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Big Ben rings every hour of the day so that people can hear what time it is

大本钟在每天每个整点都会敲响，这样人们就能听到现在几点了。

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A hammer strikes the great bell the same number of times as the hour

一个钟锤敲击大钟，敲的次数和当时的小时数一样。

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So if you count the number of times Big Ben rings, you'll know what time it is

所以数一数大本钟敲了几下，你就知道几点了。

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There are other smaller bells in the tower as well

塔里还有其他小一些的钟。

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These play a short melody every 15 minutes to signal the quarter hours

这些钟每隔15分钟奏响一段短旋律，表示一刻钟。

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Big Ben is one of the biggest bells in the world

大本钟是世界上最大的钟之一。

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It is much taller than even a really tall man

它比一个非常高的人还要高得多。

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Big Ben is 2.8 meters high, and it weighs 13,760 kilograms

大本钟高2.8米，重13760公斤。

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That is more than the weight of 175 men

这比175个成年男子的重量还要重。

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It was made on Saturday, April 10, 1858, and was named after Sir Benjamin Hall

它铸造于1858年4月10日，星期六，并以本杰明·霍尔爵士的名字命名。

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Benjamin, or Ben for short, was a very large man who was in charge of buying the new bell for the St. Stephen's Tower clock

本杰明，简称本，是个身材魁梧的人，负责为圣斯蒂芬塔的钟购买新钟。

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One of the most amazing things about Big Ben is the place where it was made

大本钟最令人惊奇的一件事是它的铸造地。

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Big Ben comes from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry here in London

大本钟出自伦敦的白教堂铸钟厂。

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The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is famous because many of the great bells in the world were made here

白教堂铸钟厂之所以著名，是因为世界上许多大钟都铸造于此。

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But it is also famous because this factory is over four hundred years old

但它出名也因为这个工厂已有四百多年历史。

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The Whitechapel Bell Foundry began in 1570 and is still in business today

白教堂铸钟厂始于1570年，至今仍在经营。

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It is the oldest company in Britain and one of the oldest companies in the world

它是英国最古老的公司，也是世界上最古老的公司之一。

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Since the opening of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, there have been over 27 kings and queens in Britain

自白教堂铸钟厂开业以来，英国已经历了超过27位国王和王后。

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Some of them, like King George V and Queen Mary, even visited this factory

其中一些，如乔治五世国王和玛丽王后，甚至还参观过这家工厂。

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The factory has always been on this same street

工厂一直就在这条街上。

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In 1670, during the Great Fire of London, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry burned down

1670年，伦敦大火期间，白教堂铸钟厂被烧毁。

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But right after the fire, the owners rebuilt their factory just across the street

但火灾过后，业主们立刻在街对面重建了工厂。

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And that is where it still stands today

它今天依然矗立在那里。

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The most famous bells that were made at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry are the Liberty Bell in the United States

白教堂铸钟厂铸造的最著名的钟有美国的自由钟、

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the Great Bell of Montreal Cathedral in Canada, and of course, Big Ben

加拿大蒙特利尔大教堂的大钟，当然还有大本钟。

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But now there are some new, very special bells that are being made at the factory

但现在，工厂正在铸造一些新的、非常特别的钟。

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They are called the Bells of September

它们被称为“九月之钟”。

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Three large bells are being made to remember the very sad day when the World Trade Center in New York City was destroyed

正在铸造三口大钟，以纪念纽约世贸中心被毁的那个非常悲伤的日子。

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The first one has just been finished

第一口钟刚刚完成。

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It was made to look exactly like the Liberty Bell

它被铸造得与自由钟一模一样。

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Listen! Can you hear that?

听！你能听到吗？

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It's Big Ben ringing, so it must be twelve o'clock

大本钟正在敲响，那一定是十二点了。

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I should hurry back to the bell tower now and get my lunch

我现在得赶快回钟楼吃午饭了。