Pratica di Shadowing: The History of Time Measurement IELTS Listening Test with Answers - Impara a parlare inglese con YouTube

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Question 4.
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Question 4.
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You will hear part of a lecture about time measurement.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
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Thank you.
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Now, listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
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Good morning, everyone.
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Today, I'm going to talk about the research project I've been involved in on time measurement.
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Do you know how time is measured?
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Consider how we measure length and how,
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with time, we encounter a difficulty.
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Before we could grasp it,
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it would slip through our fingers.
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In fact, as we can see,
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we are forced to have the resource to measure something else.
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The movement of something in space or a set of movements in space.
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All the methods that have been employed so far really measure time by a motion in space.
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The measurement of time is no easy matter,
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a scientific unit only arrived at after much thought and reflection.
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As the most primitive form of measurement,
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the sun seems to be natural.
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Ever since man first noticed the regular movements of the sun and stars,
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we have wondered about the passage of time.
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Prehistoric people first recorded time according to the sun's position.
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To start off, let us take noon,
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which is when the Sun is on the meridian at the highest point of its course across the heavens,
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and when it casts the shortest shadow.
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But this measurement, which was regarded as a major one in ancient times,
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was less important than the natural events that occurred.
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The earliest natural events that had been recognized were in the heavens,
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but during the course of the year there were many other events that indicated significant changes in the environment.
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Seasonal winds and rains, the flooding of rivers,
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the flowering of trees and plants,
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and the breeding cycles or migration of animals all led to natural divisions of the year,
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and the further observation and local customs led to the recognition of the seasons.
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Years later, precise measurements were invented
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because the passage of time was extremely important for astronomers
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and priests who were responsible for determining the exact hour for daily rituals and for important religious festivals.
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Apart from the connection with religion,
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accurate time measurement was also related to the government,
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since they divided the day or the night into different periods in order to regulate work and various events.
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For thousands of years, devices had been used to measure and keep track of time.
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The current sexagesimal system of time measurement dates back to approximately 2000 BCE from the Sumerians.
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It was found that the earliest ancient timekeepers were mainly invented and used in Mesopotamia,
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where the water clock was introduced from,
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as well as in North Africa,
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especially in the area of ancient Egypt.
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So, now I'd like to introduce you to some of the most well-known ancient timekeepers,
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as well as the disadvantages of them,
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for which they were replaced by various new forms of clocks that were used afterwards.
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A sun dial is a device that tells the time of day by the apparent positioning of the sun in the sky.
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In the narrowest sense of the word,
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it consists of a flat plate and a nomon which casts a shadow onto the dial.
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As the sun appears to move across the sky,
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the shadow aligns with different hour lines marked on the dial to indicate the time of day.
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However, it was quickly noted that the length of the day varied at different times of the year,
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therefore there could have been a difference between clock time and sundial time.
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In addition, the sundial was of no use at night,
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so a water clock was invented.
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The water clock, or clepsydra,
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appeared to have been invented around 1500 BCE
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and was a device which relied on the steady flow of water from or into a container.
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Measurements could be marked on the container or on a receptacle for the water.
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It was reliable, but the water flow still depended on the variation of pressure
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and temperature from the top of water in the container.
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As the technology of glassblowing developed from some time in the 14th century,
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it became possible to make sand glasses.
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Originally, they were used as a measurement for periods of time like lamps or candles.
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But as clocks became more accurate,
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they were calibrated to measure specific periods of time.
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The drawback, however, as you can imagine,
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was the limited length of time they could measure.
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The last timekeeper to be introduced is the fire candle clock.
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Candle clocks took advantage of a simple concept,
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the slow and consistent nature of a burning wax candle.
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By utilizing this process, our ancestors were able to keep steady track of the time.
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The clocks were created by engraving the length of the candle with evenly spaced markings.
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Each marking represented a single unit of time,
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and as the wax burned down, each hour would disappear.
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However, the drafts and the variable quality of the wax mainly influenced the time of burning.
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Like oil lamps,
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candles were used to mark the passage of time from one event to another rather than tell the time of day.
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That is the end of section 4.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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That is the end of the listening test.
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Please wait for the answers.
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Thank you.

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Perché praticare il parlato con questo video?

Praticare la conversazione in inglese utilizzando video come questo è fondamentale per gli studenti che desiderano migliorare le proprie abilità linguistiche. Ascoltare e ripetere ciò che viene detto nel video sulla storia della misurazione del tempo non solo aiuta nella comprensione del contenuto, ma offre anche numerosi vantaggi pratici. L'approccio shadowspeak permette di assimilare intonazioni, ritmo e pronuncia, rendendo più naturale il vostro parlato. Inoltre, la variabilità lessicale e la struttura di frasi complesse aiuteranno a espandere il vostro vocabolario e a migliorare la costruzione di frasi in contesti diversi.

Grammatica e Espressioni nel Contesto

All'interno della lezione, ci sono alcune strutture grammaticali e espressioni chiave che possono essere analizzate:

  • "Do you know how time is measured?" - Questa domanda retorica invita l'ascoltatore a riflettere e coinvolge chi ascolta.
  • "Before we could grasp it, it would slip through our fingers." - Un'ottima espressione idiomatica che comunica l'idea di perdere qualcosa di prezioso se non si presta attenzione.
  • "The movement of something in space" - Un esempio di come la desinenza di una proposizione possa essere utilizzata per chiarire argomenti complessi.

Tenere traccia di queste espressioni mentre si pratica shadow speech può migliorare notevolmente la capacità di comunicare in inglese.

Trappole di Pronuncia Comuni

Durante l'ascolto del video, alcuni termini e frasi possono presentare sfide di pronuncia. Ecco alcuni esempi:

  • "prehistoric" - Questo termine può essere difficile, specialmente per chi non è abituato agli accenti inglesi. Prestare attenzione alla sua pronuncia corretta può prevenire errori comuni.
  • "meridian" - La corretta pronuncia di parole come questa è cruciale per una comunicazione chiara e comprensibile.
  • "device to measure time" - L'accento sulle parole "device" e "measure" può variare; è utile praticare queste parole per padroneggiare il loro uso.

Riconoscere e affrontare queste trappole di pronuncia attraverso shadowspeaks migliorerà notevolmente la vostra fluidità e sicurezza nel parlato.

Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?

Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.

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