The Day the Trains Made Time
Lee el texto en inglés, parte por parte, y responde cada pregunta. Toca una palabra con línea punteada para ver su traducción. Abajo está el vocabulario completo en español.
Before the railways, every town in Britain kept its own time. Noon was the moment the sun stood highest above the town, so clocks in Bristol ran about ten minutes behind clocks in London. Nobody minded, because nobody traveled fast enough to notice.
1. Why did nobody mind the different times?
- AClocks were too expensive
- BNobody traveled fast enough to notice
- CEveryone used London time
Ver la respuesta
B. Nobody traveled fast enough to notice
Nobody traveled fast enough to notice a few minutes' difference.
La prueba en el texto: because nobody traveled fast enough to notice
The trains changed that. A timetable printed in London was nonsense in a town whose clocks disagreed with it, and passengers missed trains they thought they had plenty of time to catch. In 1840 the Great Western Railway began running every station on London time.
2. True or false? In 1840, one railway put all its stations on London time.
- ATrue (Verdadero)
- BFalse (Falso)
Ver la respuesta
A. True (Verdadero)
In 1840, the Great Western Railway ran every station on London time.
La prueba en el texto: began running every station on London time
Other railways followed, and by 1855 almost every public clock in Britain showed 'railway time'. Some towns resisted. The clock on Bristol's Corn Exchange was given a second minute hand, one for local time and one for London's.
3. How did Bristol resist railway time?
- AIt stopped all its clocks
- BIts clock showed local time next to London's
- CIt built its own railway
Ver la respuesta
B. Its clock showed local time next to London's
Its clock got two minute hands: one for local time, one for London's.
La prueba en el texto: one for local time and one for London's
It took the law until 1880 to catch up and make one time official across the country. The change we now take for granted, a single time for everyone, was not decided by scientists or politicians. It was decided by the needs of a timetable.
4. According to the writer, what really decided the change?
- AScientists
- BPoliticians
- CThe needs of a timetable
Ver la respuesta
C. The needs of a timetable
Not scientists or politicians: the needs of a timetable decided it.
La prueba en el texto: It was decided by the needs of a timetable
Vocabulario en español
| Inglés | Español | Significado en inglés |
|---|---|---|
| noon | mediodía | twelve o'clock in the middle of the day |
| nonsense | sin sentido | something that makes no sense |
| resisted | se resistieron | tried not to accept a change |
| minute hand | minutero | the long hand on a clock that shows the minutes |
| take for granted | dar por hecho | accept something without thinking about it |
Ahora escribe tú
Escribe una frase en inglés: In one sentence: why did Britain end up with one time for the whole country?
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