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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。
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。
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。
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。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。
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。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。”
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。
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。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。而在1976年，因为一个机械部件断裂，大本钟干脆不“走”了。
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。
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。
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。
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。
