2册-071*********************

1. 中英文逐句转述 

转述场景：假设你是一个导游，今天，你要带国际游客去参观伦敦的著名景点，大本钟，在去之前，你给大家做一个简单的介绍。

女士们，先生们，欢迎来到伦敦！

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London!

当你游览这个城市的时候，你绝不可以错过的景点之一就是大本钟，它是伦敦挚爱的象征符号。

When you visit this city, one of the tourist attractions you can't miss is Big Ben, London's beloved icon.  

我敢保证你们大多数人都曾在BBC广播里听到过这个大钟的声音。

I bet most of you must have heard the famous clock on the BBC.

晚上的时候，当四个钟面都亮起来，整个钟塔看上去非常漂亮。

At night, the clock tower looks spectacular when the four clock faces are illuminated.

这个大钟是什么时候建造的呢？

When was the the great clock built ?

1834年一场毁灭性的大火摧毁了旧的威斯敏斯特宫，这之后这个著名的大钟才建造起来。

Well, it was erected after a devastating fire had destroyed the old Palace of Westminster in 1834.  

在1859年建成的时候，它成为了世界上最大最准的钟。

When completed in 1859, it was the largest and most accurate clock in the world.

为什么它叫做大本钟呢？

Why is it called Big Ben ?

人们认为“大本”钟得名于本杰明.霍尔爵士，因为新的议会大厦建造时，是他负责建造大钟。

It is believed that Big Ben was named after Sir Benjamin Hall , who was in charge of the making of the clock during the construction of the new Houses of Parliament.

【A is/was named after B : A是以B的名字命名的  

be in charge of = be responsible for对...负责】

为了让大钟保持准确，格林尼治天文台的官员们每天派人检查大钟两次，这使得大钟很少出错。

To keep the clock accurate, officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice every single day, making Big Ben seldom go wrong.  

但是，总有些意想不到的事情会发生。

But unexpected things do happen sometimes.

有一次，一个非常粗心的油漆工在钟塔上工作的时候，把一桶油漆挂在了大钟上的巨大的指针上。

Once, a careless painter hung a pot of paint on one of the giant hands while working on the tower.

【注意：hang表示悬挂的时候，过去式/过去分词是hung（不规则变化），规则变化hanged表示“除以绞刑” 】

结果，大钟变慢了。

As a result, the great clock was slowed down.  

2. 全英文转述 

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London! When you visit this city, one of the tourist attractions you can't miss is Big Ben, London's beloved icon.  

I bet most of you must have heard the famous clock on the BBC. At night, the clock tower looks spectacular when the four clock faces are illuminated.

When was the the great clock built ? Well, it was erected after a devastating fire had destroyed the old Palace of Westminster in 1834. When completed in 1859, it was the largest and most accurate clock in the world.

Why is it called Big Ben? It is believed that Big Ben was named after Sir Benjamin Hall , who was in charge of the making of the clock during the construction of the new Houses of Parliament. To keep the clock accurate, officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice every single day, making Big Ben seldom go wrong.  

But unexpected things do happen sometimes. Once, a careless painter hung a pot of paint on one of the giant hands while working on the tower. As a result, the great clock was slowed down.  

3. 东欣文化点睛 

 关于大本钟的有趣事实

Tourists and locals alike often say “Big Ben” when referring to the landmark tower at the Houses of Parliament. But that's not quite accurate.

Formerly known as the Clock Tower, the structure was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012, in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It is the bell within that is named Big Ben.

Big Ben weighs 13.7 tonnes, stands 7.2ft (2.2 metres) tall and has a diameter of 8.9ft (2.7 metres). The hammer weighs 200kg.  It was the largest bell in the United Kingdom for 23 years.

Dials of the clock are 23 feet (7.0 m) in diameter. The hour hand is 9 feet (2.7 m) long and the minute hand is 14 feet (4.3 m) long.

The clock itself is accurate to within one second.

The BBC first broadcast Big Ben’s chimes to the country during a New Year’s Eve radio broadcast in 1923.

Big Ben and its chimes illustrate the difference between the speed of light and sound. Stand by the base of the Elizabeth Tower and you’ll hear the bell’s chimes about one-sixth of a second after the bell is struck. Those listening to a live transmission（传输） of the bell by radio, however, will hear the bells before you.

The clock face’s time has been altered in some ways. In 1944, a flock of starlings rested on one of the hands and were sufficiently heavy in weight to slow the time-keeping mechanism. On New Year’s Eve 1962, heavy snow and ice caused Big Ben to chime in the New Year 10 minutes late.

On the night of May 10, 1941 a German aircraft released a bomb that hit the top of the clock tower. Ornamental ironwork and stonework was destroyed but attempts to destroy it completely were thankfully unsuccessful.

Source : https://www.telegraph.co.uk