Introduce the story: Today we'll talk about repairing church clock.
Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: Was the vicar pleased that the clock was striking? Why?
Vocabulary:
equal v.等于
vicar n.牧师
raise v.募集，筹（款）
torchlight n. 电筒光
Passage:
Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed
to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to
strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever
since.
我们教区的牧师总是为各种各样的事筹集资金。但始终未能筹足资金把教堂的钟
修好。教堂的钟很大，以前不分昼夜打点报时，但很多年前遭到毁坏，从此便无
声无息了。
One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours!
Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times
before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see
what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he
immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
一天夜里，我们的牧师突然被惊醒了，大钟又在“打点”报时了！他一看表，才 1
点钟，可是那钟一边敲了 13 下才停。牧师拿着一支电筒走上钟楼想去看看究竟
发生了什么事情。借着电筒光，他看见一个人，马上认出那是本地杂货店主比
尔·威尔金斯。
Notes:
1 woke up with a start: ...with a start，被惊醒了。冒号后面是一个解释性的分句，
是对 start 所作的具体说明。
2 recognize as, 认出是。
'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.
'I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill. 'I've been coming up here night after night
for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'
'You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar. 'You've probably woken up
everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'
That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at
one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it."
We'll get used to that, Bill,' said the vicar. "Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's
better than nothing. '
“你究竟在这上面干什么，比尔？”牧师惊讶地问。
“我想把这口钟修好，” 比尔回答说。“好几个星期了，我天天夜里到钟楼上来。
嗯，我是想让你大吃一惊。”
“你确实使我大吃了一惊！”牧师说，“也许同时你把村里所有的人都吵醒了。不
过，钟又能报时了，我还是很高兴的。”
“ 问题就在这里，牧师，”比尔回答说。“不错，钟能报时了，但是，恐怕每到 1
点钟，它总要敲 13 下，对此我已无能为力了。”
“大家慢慢就习惯了，比尔，”牧师说。“ 13 下是不如 1 下好，但总比 1 下也不敲
强。”
Notes:
3 Whatever are you doing up here? 你究竟在这上面干什么？
whatever 用于疑问句中，用以加强 what 的语气，作“究竟什么”解，口语中很常
用。
4 You certainly did give me a surprise!你确实使我感到意外！在英语中助动词 do
可以用来表示强调。此时助动词 do放在谓语动词之前。
5 Thirteen is not as good as one, but it is better than nothing.
敲 13 下虽然不如敲 1 下好，但总比 1 下不敲强多了。
2.2【阅读理解】Thirteen equals one
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
Comprehension:
1What does the vicar do with the money he raises? (He gives it to good causes.)
2 Why has the church clock never been repaired? (Because the vicar has never
managed to raise enough money.)
3 why doesn't the church clock strike the hours any more? (Because it was damaged
many years ago.)
4 It's never been repaired. has it? (No, it hasn't.)
5 What woke the vicar up one night (The clock striking the hours.)
6 What time was it? (One o'clock.)
7 How did the vicar know this? (He looked at his watch.)
8 Did the clock strike once at one o'clock? (No, it didn't.)
9 How many times did it strike? (Thirteen.)
10Why did the vicar go into the clock tower? (To see what was going on.)
11 Who did he find there? (Bill Wilkins.)
12 What was Bill trying to do? (He was trying to repair the clock.)
13 How long had he been trying to do this? (For weeks.)
14 What did Bill want to do? (Give the vicar a surprise.)
15 Did he succeed in giving the vicar a surprise? (Yes, he did.)
16 What did the vicar say about the village? (That Bill had probably woken everyone
up.)
17 Why hadn't the clock been properly repaired (Because it struck thirteen times at
one o'clock.)
18 What could Bill do about this? (Nothing.)
19 Did the vicar mind about this? (No, he didn't.)
20 Why not? (Because thirteen is better than nothing.)
2.3【拓展写作】Thirteen equals one
Step 3: Composition
Write a composition of about 200 words using the ideas given below:
Title: A sticky business.
Introduction: A small village—the church clock suddenly stopped—no one could
explain why.
Development: The vicar climbed into the clock tower—found that the clock had been
invaded by bees—full of honey and wax.
Conclusion: A bee keeper was called—removed the queen bee—the other bees
followed—the clock was cleaned—working again.
Key to composition
A sticky business
We were used to hearing our church bell striking the hours in our small village.
For as long as anyone could remember, the bell had struck the hours day and night.
However, one night the church bell remained silent and the next morning we saw that
the clock had stopped at exactly one a.m. Our clock was clearly damaged, but no one
could explain how this had happened.
Armed with a torch, our vicar climbed into the church tower to see what was
going on. He heard a loud buzz as he went towards the clock and in the torchlight he
found it had been invaded by bees. He was lucky they didn't sting him! He shone his
torch into the great bell and saw that it was full of wax and honey. No wonder it
wasn't working!
A bee keeper was called in to deal with the situation. He immediately removed
the queen bee to one of his bee hives and the other bees followed. The clock was
cleaned and was soon working again. We not only enjoyed hearing it strike the hours
day and night, but we enjoyed eating the honey as well. (195 words)
以下为仅讲义内容：
课外练习：
1 The church clock did not work because .
(a)it was too expensive to repair
(b) it disturbed the vicar's sleep
(c)Bill Wilkins only worked at night
(d) the bell had been out of order for many years
2 The vicar was surprised to see Bill Wilkins in the clock tower because .
(a)Bill Wilkins had been hoping to surprise him
(b) it was an unusual time and place to find him
(c)he had expected to find a figure
(d) the clock had struck thirteen times
3 The vicar offered Bill Wilkins a cup of tea because .
(a)he thought that Bill Wilkins was thirsty
(b) thanks to him, the clock would now strike once an hour
(c)he was grateful for the trouble Bill Wilkins had taken
(d) he was pleased to have been woken up for nothing
4 In the past the big clock the hours.
(a)struck always
(b) always struck
(c) was always striking
(d) has always been striking
5 It was not until the thirteenth stroke the bell stopped.
(a)before
(b)when
(c)so that
(d) that
6 The vicar asked Bill doing in the church tower.
(a) what was he
(b)what he was
(c) what he is
(d)whatever was he
7‘I it all right, but I'm afraid...’
(a)shall mend
(b)am mending
(c) have mended
(d) mended
8 ‘We'll get used to that, Bill,’
(a)hearing
(b)hear
(c) the sound
(d)having heard
9 Money which is collected for a cause is known as .
(a)cash
(b) fund
(c) scholarship
(d)an investment
10 grocer is man who .
(a) runs a shop
(b) eats a lot
(c)sells bread
(d) surprises people
11 ‘I've been coming here for weeks now. ’
(a)every night
(b) all night
(c) the following night
(d) several nights
12 ‘ , I'm glad the bell is working again. ’
(a)Yet
(b)Good
(c)Just the same
(d) Even now
答案：1d 2d 3c 4b 5d 6b 7c 8a 9b 10a 11a 12c
2.1【故事精讲】An unknown goddess