求新概念第2册第9课

Lesson 9
A cold welcome
冷遇

First listen and then answer the question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What does 'a cold welcome' refer to?

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.

New words and expressions 生词和短语

welcome n. 欢迎；v. 欢迎
crowd n. 人群
gather v. 聚集
hand n. （表或机器的）指针
shout v. 喊叫
refuse v. 拒绝
laugh v. 笑

参考译文

星期三的晚上，我们去了市政厅。 那是一年的最后一天，一大群人聚集在市政厅的大钟下