1 Lesson 9 A cold welcome On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock. It would strike twelve in twenty minutes' time. Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five to twelve, the clock stopped. The big minute hand did not move. We waited and waited, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted. 'It's two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped!' I looked at my watch. It was true. The big clock refused to welcome the New Year. At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing. New words and expressions 生词和短语 welcome n. 欢迎；v. 欢迎 crowd n. 人 gather v. 聚集hand n. （表或机器的）指针 shout v. 喊叫 refuse v. 拒绝 laugh v. 笑 参考译文 星期三的晚上，我们去了市政厅。 那是一年的最后一天，一大群人聚集在市政厅的大钟下面。再过20 分钟，大钟将敲响12 下。15 分钟过去了，而就在11 点55 分时，大钟停了。那根巨大的分针不动了。 我们等啊等啊，可情况没有变化。突然有人喊道：“已经 12点零 2 分了！那钟已经停了！”我看了一下我的手表，果真如此。那座大钟不愿意迎接新年。此时，大家已经笑了起来，同时唱起了歌。 1. On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall. 星期三的晚上，我们去了市政厅。 hall [hɔ:l] n. 1. (also hallway) (AmE also entry) a space or passage inside the entrance or front door of a building 门厅；正门过道 e.g. 她跑进门厅，冲上楼梯。She ran into the hall and up the stairs. (stair [steə(r)] n. 1. (stairs)[pl.] 楼梯 2. [c] 梯级) 2. (AmE also hallway) a passage in a building with rooms down either side(大楼内的)走廊 synonym: corridor [ˈkɔridɔ:(r)] n. (建筑物或火车内的) 走廊；走道，过道，通道 e.g. 我沿着走廊直奔斯科特的办公室。I headed for Scott’s office down the hall. (head [v. +adv./prep] to move in a particular direction 朝(某方向)行...
