新概念第二册9

9 A cold welcome冷遇 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. 在星期三的晚上，我们去了市政厅。这是一年的最后一天，一大群人聚集在市政厅的大钟。它将十二在二十分钟的时间。十五分钟过去了，然后，在五至十二，钟停了。大分针不动了。我们等了又等，但是什么都没发生。突然有人喊道。”这是两分钟过去十二！那钟已经停了！”我看了看我的手表。这是真的。大钟拒绝欢迎新年。在那一刻，大家开始又是笑。