Đề thi chọn học sinh giỏi Huyện môn Tiếng Anh Lớp 9 - Vòng I - Năm học 2009-2010 - Phòng GD&ĐT Tứ Kỳ (Có đáp án)

II. Read the following the passage and then answer the questions below. (20 pts)

THE HISTORY OF CLOCKS

The history of clocks is very long, and there have been many different kinds of clock over the centuries. Not all the historians agree on the history of the clock. The word clock was first used in the 14th century. It came from the word bell in Latin (“Clocca”)

Sundial clocks

The oldest kind of clock is a sundial clock, also called a sun clock. They were first used around 3,500 B. C (about 5,500 years ago). Sundials used the sun to tell the time. The shadow of the sun points to number on circular disk that shows you the time. Since sundials depend on the sun, they can only tell the time during the day.

Water clocks

Around 1,400 B. C (about 3,400 years ago), water clocks were invented in Egypt. The name of a water clock is clepsydra. A water clock was made of two containers of water, one higher than the other. Water travelled from the higher container to the lower container through a tube connecting the containers. The containers had marks that showed the water level, and these marks told the time.

Water clocks were very popular in Greece, where people improved them many times over the years. Water clocks worked better than sundials because they told the time at night as well as during the day. They were also more accurate than sundials.

1. How long has the word “clock” been used?

2. What was the sun used to do in a sundial clock?

3. Did a water clock consist of water, a tube and marks?

4. Why did water clocks work better than sundials?

5. How many years was the sundial clock invented before the water clock?