How did ancient people tell time?

◆Natural ways of keeping time

In ancient time，people had to use the sun and the moon to tell time．They got up when the sun came up and worked in the fields until the sun went down．

◆Man-made things

The sand clock is made of two glass balls joined by a narrow neck．The top ball was filled with sand．The sand slowly moved through the neck into the bottom（底部）ball．People knew the time by watching how much sand fell to the bottom hall．People also made the water clock．They made a small hole near the bottom of a pot．when the water in the pot dripped（滴）out，marking（刻度）inside the pot showed how much time passed．

◆Body clocks in living things

Animals' body clock

Animals don't need clocks to know time．They have their body clocks．Birds know when to fly to warmer places before winter．Some animals know when to keep more food for the winter．Some fish know when it's time to move up the river and lay eggs．

Plants' own clock

Plants have their own clocks to keep time．Plants know when to open flowers or when to drop their leaves．

Body clock in human beings

People also have their own body clocks．When we get used to our lives，our body clocks can be very exact．It can tell us when it's time to wake up．It can also tell us when to eat or to go to sleep．

1．How could an ancient farmer know when to go back home from the field in the daytime?

A．By looking at the moon．                         B．By the sand clock or the water clock．

C．By looking at the sun．                               D．By feeling whether tired or not．

2．According to the passage，how can animals know time?

A．They use body clocks．                           B．They ask other animals．

C．They use the sun and the moon．                D．They make something to tell time．

3．How many kinds of living things with body clocks are mentioned here?

A．Two．                B．Three．               C．Four．                   D．Six．

4．In what way is the sand clock the same as the water clock in telling time?

A．Both of them have a neck．

B．Both of them have two glass balls．

C．Both of them can be used only once．

D．Both of them give the time by quantity（數量）．

5．The passage is mainly about _________．

A．man-made clocks                                    B．nature's clocks

C．time and clock                                           D．how people keep time

More than a hundred years ago, an American produced a game. He called it indoor tennis. The Americans were not interested in it at first so he sent it to his London friends and it became very popular in Britain.The game was then played across the dining room table, or on the floor with the net hung between two chairs. The balls were made of cork or rubber.The bats were made of wood.

A few years later a hollow ball like the one we use today was invented. The game then quickly spread all over the world. An Englishman once made a bat covered with rubber. He first played the game in England and called it “ping-pong”. “Ping”was the sound of the bat when it hit the ball. and “pong” was the sound of the ball when it hit the table.

1.Who invented the game of ping-pong?

A  A Chinese  B An Englishman  C An American  D We don’t know

2.The game was first known as_________.

A ping-pong tennis   B  table tennis

C outdoor tennis     D indoor tennis

3.What did the British think of the game?

A Moving  B Interesting  C Terrible  D Well

4.In the early days the ball was ______________.

A hollow       B covered with rubber

C made of cork and rubber  D made of plastics

5.The name of ping-pong has something to do with_______.

A sound  B size  C history  D  place