156岁大本钟"闹情绪"快6秒

 　　Parliament chiefs have been left baffled by Big Ben’s bongs being out of sync by up to six seconds. The Great Clock has become “temperamental” leaving clocksmiths unsure how to fix the 156-year-old timepiece.

　　听到大本钟的整点钟声快了6秒钟，国会大厦里的议员们很纳闷。工作了156年的大本钟“闹了情绪”，这让钟表匠也有些不知所措。

　　The early chimes caused interruptions to BBC radio 4 programming which rely on the bongs for live broadcasts. But when mechanics climbed the 334 steps up the Elizabeth Tower the clock became too slow after adjustments were made. The speed of the clock can be adjusted by adding and removing weights to the pendulum¹.

　　大本钟报时提前，导致英国广播公司4电台的节目暂时中断，该节目依靠大本钟报时进行实时播报。维修工人爬了334步，到达伊丽莎白塔顶部对大本钟进行了调整，之后钟又走慢了。通过给钟摆增重或者减重可以调整钟速。

　　Clocksmith Ian Westworth said: “When we started correcting it, it corrected itself at the same time so we went from being fast to being slow. It’s settled down telling you exactly the right time so no-one will talk over our chimes.”

　　钟表匠伊恩?文特沃斯表示：“当我们开始矫正时，大本钟自己也进行了调整，这样一来，钟速又变慢了。不过，现在问题已经解决了，大本钟的时间很精准，不会再有人说三道四了。”

　　156岁大本钟

　　He said the clock was “temperamental” adding: “We don’t know why it happened. You’re talking about a 156-year-old clock, it does have a little fit every now and then. Imagine running your car for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the last 156 years.”

　　他说，大本钟“闹脾气了”：“我们也不知道原因。毕竟它已经工作156年了，确实会偶尔闹点小情绪。试想一下，如果你的车24小时全天候运转，一年365天连轴转，这样持续156年会怎样？”

　　Steve Jaggs, the keeper of the clock, said his team were “dispatched immediately” when the problem arose admitting Big Ben needs “a lot of care”.

　　守钟人史蒂夫·雅格斯表示，大本钟出差错之后，他的团队“立马被派遣”去查看了，他坦言大本钟需要“很多保养措施”。

　　The team of three clocksmiths are monitoring the pendulum, air pressure and temperature and the gears to uncover the extent of the problem. Spot checks have increased from three times per week to every day, including weekends.

　　钟表匠团队一共三个人，他们正在监测钟表、气压、温度、齿轮，看问题是否严重。抽查频率也从每周3次增加到每天一次，周末也会抽查。

　　The clock is now accurate to less than one second following the adjustments that include adding or removing old penny coins. Each coin will affect the clock speed by 0.4 seconds per day.

　　目前，通过增减旧时的便士硬币，调整后的大本钟比较精准，误差不到1秒。一枚便士硬币将导致大本钟每天0.4秒的误差。

　　The House of Commons said they became aware of the problem on August 15.

　　英国下议院表示，早在8月15日，他们就注意到大本钟的时间存在误差。

　　Vocabulary

　　baffled: 困惑的

　　bong: (大钟或锣的)嘡嘡声

　　out of sync: 不同步

　　temperamental: 性能不稳定的，喜怒无常的

　　chime: 钟声

　　pendulum: 钟摆

1 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。