时差N小时 时间之谜 时间的测量

If you can read a clock, you can know the time of day. But no one knows what time itself is. We cannot see it. We cannot touch it. We cannot hear it. We know it only by the way we mark its passing. For all our success in measuring the smallest parts of time, time remains¹ one of the great mysteries of the universe.如果你会看钟，你就能知道时间。但没人了解时间本身。它看不见，摸不着，听不到。我们只能通过标记它的流逝来认识它。我们在测量极短时间的成就有限，时间仍旧是宇宙最大的谜之一。

In the real world—the world with time—changes never stop. Some changes happen only once in a while, like an eclipse² of the moon. Others happen repeatedly, like the rising and setting of the sun. Humans always have noted³ natural events that repeat themselves. When people began to count such events, they began to measure time.在现实世界中——有时间的世界中，变化从未停止。有些变化只是偶尔发生一次，比如月蚀。还有其它重复发生的变化，比如日出和日落。人类一直在记载自然界中重复发生的事件。当人们开始记载这些事件时，他们就开始测量时间了。

In early human history, the only changes that seemed to repeat themselves evenly were the movements of objects in the sky. The most easily seen result of these movements was the difference between light and darkness. The appearance and disappearance⁴ of the sun was even and unfailing. The periods of light and darkness it created were the first accepted periods of time. We have named each period of light and darkness—one day.在早期的人类历史中，天体运行是唯一有规律的重复发生的变化。而天体运行引起的最直观的结果就是白天和黑夜的出现。太阳乐此不疲地出现和消失，而此产生的黑白交替的时段是首次被人们认可的时间。我们把每段白天黑夜的组合称为“一天”。

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 eclipse   

v.使黯然失色，使相形见绌，日食，月食

参考例句：

• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。
• There will be an eclipse of the moon next month.下个月有月食。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。