《2025年新课程课堂同步练习册九年级英语上册人教版》

Ⅵ.阅读理解。
How did people tell the time before clocks were invented?
At first, the ancient people looked up at the sun and could tell it was the middle of the day when the sun was directly overhead in the sky. They also knew when it was morning or evening.
Later, the Egyptians used sticks. These sticks measured( 测量 ) time during the day. The sun shone on the tall stick and the stick made a shadow( 阴影 ). As the sun moved across the sky, the position( 位置 ) of the shadow changed. This would let people tell what time it was.
Over time, the Chinese first used sundials instead of shadow sticks. The sundial had a type of shadow stick on it. As the sun shone on it, a shadow appeared on the numbers. Each number stood for an hour of the day. But sundials didn’t work at night or on a cloudy day! There were no shadows unless the sun was out.
Water clocks used water to measure time at night. Water dripped( 滴落 ) slowly from one bowl into another. The level of the water in the bowls showed the time.
People also used hourglasses. You may have seen one. Some games still use hourglasses. The sand falls from the top of the hourglasses to the bottom. It measures short amounts of the time. The more sand falls, the more time has passed. When the sand has finished falling, you have to turn the hourglasses over.
根据短文内容,选择最佳选项。
( A )1. Ancient people told the time in many ways EXCEPT using ______.
A. the moon B. the stick C. the sundial
( B )2. Which picture can be a “sundial”?

( A )3. Water clocks were used to tell the time ______.
A. at night B. during the day C. day and night
( C )4. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Sundials were first used in ancient Egypt.
B. Hourglasses usually measure a long time.
C. The water clock told the time by the water level in the bowls.
( C )5. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. The invention of time.
B. Chinese way of telling the time.
C. Ways of telling the time in the past.

答案： 1. A 2. B 3. A 4. C 5. C