Extensive Reading in English for Intermediate Learners #10 - What time is it?

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WHAT TIME IS IT?

WHAT IS TIME?

What time is it right now?

People talk about time a lot, but what is time?

Time is when things happen.

Time is also how long it takes for things to happen.

UNITS OF TIME

Clap your hands fast four times in a row.

One second passed while you were clapping.

Sixty seconds make up a minute.

Sixty minutes make up an hour.

Twenty-four hours make up a day.

We keep track of time with clocks.

Let’s learn how to use a clock to tell time.

ANALOG CLOCKS

Analog clocks have numbers in a circle.

The two hands point to different numbers.

The short hand tells the hour, and the long hand tells the minutes.

The numbers are for the hour.

Are the short and long hands lined up?

Then it’s right on the hour.

The numbers on a clock are also for minutes.

Each number is five minutes.

Each little line between the numbers is one minute.

Count by fives for all the minutes in an hour.

Count the same way the arrow points.

The minute hand tells how much time has passed after an hour.

This clock shows ten minutes after four o’clock.

The time is “ten past four” or “ten after four” or “four ten.”

You can write the time as 4:10.

What times do these clocks show?

Sometimes the minute hand is on the left side of the clock.

Then we talk about how many minutes before the next hour.

Count the minutes backward from the top of the clock.

Count the same way the arrow points.

This clock shows ten minutes before three o’clock.

The time is “ten till three” or “ten of three.”

That means ten minutes before three o’clock, or ten minutes until three.

Do you want to write the time in numbers?

Count the minutes from the top of the clock.

Count the same way the arrow points.

The time is 3:50.

Think of an hour as a pie that is cut in half.

Each half is thirty minutes.

What time is it?

Now the pie is cut in four equal pieces.

Each piece is fifteen minutes.

Each piece is one quarter of the pie.

Study these clocks.

Can you see how each time has many names?

What happens when both hands point to the twelve?

It may be noon or midnight!

DIGITAL CLOCKS

Digital clocks do not have hands.

They show the time in numbers.

You will see both kinds of clocks.

That’s why it’s important to know how to tell time.

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