Lesson 2 Thirteen equals one 十三等于一

Lesson 2
Thirteen equals one
十三等于一
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
Was the vicar pleased that the clock was striking? Why?
Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get
enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to strike the hours day
and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
One night, however, our vicar work up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at
his watch, he saw that it was one o’clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped.
Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the
torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local
grocer.
‘Whatever are you doing up here Bill?’ asked the vicar in surprise.
‘I’m trying to repair the bell,’ answered Bill. ‘I’ve been coming up here night after night for weeks
now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.’
‘You certainly did give me a surprise!’ said the vicar. ‘You’ve probably woken up everyone in the
village as well. Still, I’m glad the bell is working again.’
That’s the trouble, vicar,’ answered Bill. ‘It’s working all right, but I’m afraid that at one o’clock it
will strike thirteen times and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
We’ll get used to that, Bill,’ said the vicar. “Thirteen is not as good as one, but it’s better than
nothing. Now let’s go downstairs and have a cup of tea.’