09_A_Cold_Welcome

09 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.

Expressions

• second hand; minute hand; hour hand -秒针；分针；时针

• shout at sb. (This suggests that we’re angry.) 冲着某人喊（表示生气）

• shout to sb. (When we shout to someone, we want them to hear us. They might be on the other side of the street) 对某人喊（为了让对方听见）

• in+年/季/月

• on+具体某一天

• at + 时间点

• the last day of the year 一年的最后一天

• a large crowd of 一大群

• in twenty minutes' time 二十分钟后

• refused to do sth. 拒绝做某事

• at that moment 在那一刻

• begin to do sth. 开始做某事