Mystery as Big Ben falls Silent for an Hour
大本钟沉默一小时的奥秘
The chimes of Big Ben were silenced for over an hour on Friday night but the cause remains a mystery, an engineer said today.
今天一位工程师说，大本钟在周五晚上沉默了一个小时至今仍然是个谜wzRg^-!^cP~GO3UGK。
The Palace of Westminster's 147-year-old clock, considered to be one of the most reliable in the world, stopped at 10.07pm.
被认为是世界上最可靠的，威斯敏斯特宫的147岁高龄的钟，在下午10.07点停了3I;9%^IbVV;#ObK。
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.
据说钟停了90分钟，直到指针被重新设置，分针才开始继续缓慢地移动，但是到了下午10.20的时候时间停滞了一秒M])lROCV.X。
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.
有人认为可能是炎热的天气导致的dPit3VtVnBsNhk-。昨天伦敦的气温高达31.8摄氏度（90华氏度），预报员宣布这可能是1953年以来最热的一天%G0,qbYNe1q;Eq[@MB-。
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."
但是一位皇宫工程师说原因尚不清楚XZQmeojNt,E。他说：“我们被告知这是一个小问题，但是后来它又自动重新开始了VST@b7OR|eg。”
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.
大本钟因其走时准确而名扬四海，二战期间，它经受住了来自德国纳粹空军的10余次狂轰滥炸，依然继续报时且与标准时间的误差不超过1.5秒*Bf2@1u]V;i。
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.
当然，大本钟偶尔也会出现“晚点”的情况T=|wk93;4Rj+-jm。在1962年，由于雪花不断堆积，使得新年钟声比正常时间晚响了10分钟92+cn6@8uSWE@h&t#HvO。而在1976年，因为一个机械部件断裂，大本钟干脆不“走”了&a;FPS6*CxVg。
It also ground to a halt on April 30, 1997, just 24 hours before the general election and once more three weeks later.
他还在1997年4月3日停过一次，就在大选的前一天，还有一次在三周之后K9,+VdapDGys8n~U@Unz。
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.
大本钟实际上是这口大钟13吨重的“铃铛”部分，是以本杰明·霍尔爵士的名字命名的，他是当年铸造这口钟时监督工程的英国专员],kgYSSOx4^N!。
The official name for the Gothic tower in which Big Ben nestles is St Stephen's Tower.
大本钟所处的哥特式塔楼的官方名称是圣·斯蒂芬塔!)S1vQqWnI]_O(#7f(。
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）的高楼于1858年完工，此前在1834年一场大火摧毁了威斯敏斯特宫的大部分DVFe^Zu&Kd+~8zbp9*J。