Lesson 9 A cold welcome

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On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a large crowed 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.

Note

1. welcome: n. v. 欢迎
   welcome to + 地点 ：Welcome to China. Welcome home/back:欢迎回来
   adj. 受欢迎的
   You're welcome. 没关系的
   You are welcome to Beijing.

2. person-people-crowd
   I spotted her in the crowd.
   a crowd of people: 一群人
   a group of people: 有秩序的人群
   crowd: v. 拥挤，挤满
   a large crowd of people. ＝ crowds of people. 人山人海
   一般形容数量很多用large

3. hand: n. 手，指针
   minute hand. second hand. hour hand.
   second hand: 二手的，旧的。（所以买不到一支全新的表，因为肯定有一个指针是second hand)
   wait me a moment / wait me a few seconds. (缩写：for a few secs)

4. shot: call out
   cry out: （小孩子）大声哭喊
   scream: 尖叫

5. strike: v. 敲钟
   strike the clock. clock strike.

6. It would strike twelve in twenty minutes' time.
   根据时态判断in表示的含义是将来时，一段时间之后。

7. twenty minutes' time.
   名词所有格可表示时间或距离
   -How far is the school from here?
   -3 minutes' time.

8. waited and waited. （强调重复） 等了又等

9. at that moment = just then.
   at the moment = now