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Mystery as Big Ben falls Silent for an Hour
大本鐘沉默一小時(shí)的奧秘
The chimes of Big Ben were silenced for over an hour on Friday night but the cause remains a mystery, an engineer said today.
今天一位工程師說(shuō)，大本鐘在周五晚上沉默了一個(gè)小時(shí)至今仍然是個(gè)謎。
The Palace of Westminster's 147-year-old clock, considered to be one of the most reliable in the world, stopped at 10.07pm.
被認(rèn)為是世界上最可靠的，威斯敏斯特宮的147歲高齡的鐘，在下午10.07點(diǎn)停了。
The minute hand started to move again slowly but stalled a second time at 10.20pm where it is reported to have remained for 90 minutes before the hands were reset.
據(jù)說(shuō)鐘停了90分鐘，直到指針被重新設(shè)置，分針才開(kāi)始繼續(xù)緩慢地移動(dòng)，但是到了下午10.20的時(shí)候時(shí)間停滯了一秒。
It was thought the hot weather may have been to blame. Temperatures in London reached a high of 31.8C (90F) yesterday and forecasters declared it the hottest May day since 1953.
有人認(rèn)為可能是炎熱的天氣導(dǎo)致的。昨天倫敦的氣溫高達(dá)31.8攝氏度（90華氏度），預(yù)報(bào)員宣布這可能是1953年以來(lái)最熱的一天。
But an engineer at the palace said the cause was unclear. He said: "We've been told there was a minor glitch but then it was started up again."
但是一位皇宮工程師說(shuō)原因尚不清楚。他說(shuō)：“我們被告知這是一個(gè)小問(wèn)題，但是后來(lái)它又自動(dòng)重新開(kāi)始了。”
The clock is renowned for its accuracy and even survived a dozen attacks by Luftwaffe bombers during the Second World War, continuing to mark the time within one and a half seconds of GMT.
大本鐘因其走時(shí)準(zhǔn)確而名揚(yáng)四海，二戰(zhàn)期間，它經(jīng)受住了來(lái)自德國(guó)納粹空軍的10余次狂轟濫炸，依然繼續(xù)報(bào)時(shí)且與標(biāo)準(zhǔn)時(shí)間的誤差不超過(guò)1.5秒。
It has, however been late on occasion. In 1962 snow accumulation caused the clock to ring in the new year ten minutes late and in 1976 the clock stopped when a piece of its machinery broke.
當(dāng)然，大本鐘偶爾也會(huì)出現(xiàn)“晚點(diǎn)”的情況。在1962年，由于雪花不斷堆積，使得新年鐘聲比正常時(shí)間晚響了10分鐘。而在1976年，因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)機(jī)械部件斷裂，大本鐘干脆不“走”了。
It also ground to a halt on April 30, 1997, just 24 hours before the general election and once more three weeks later.
他還在1997年4月3日停過(guò)一次，就在大選的前一天，還有一次在三周之后。
Big Ben is the name of the clock's 13-tonne bell, which was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the British Commissioner of Works at the time of the clock's construction.
大本鐘實(shí)際上是這口大鐘13噸重的“鈴鐺”部分，是以本杰明·霍爾爵士的名字命名的，他是當(dāng)年鑄造這口鐘時(shí)監(jiān)督工程的英國(guó)專(zhuān)員。
The official name for the Gothic tower in which Big Ben nestles is St Stephen's Tower.
大本鐘所處的哥特式塔樓的官方名稱(chēng)是圣·斯蒂芬塔。
Standing 100 metres (315ft) tall it was completed in 1858, after an 1834 fire destroyed most of the Palace of Westminster.
100米（315英尺）的高樓于1858年完工，此前在1834年一場(chǎng)大火摧毀了威斯敏斯特宮的大部分。
