2. An explanation of tardiness

In some Government offices the clerks, upon arrival2 in the morning, have to sign their names in an "attendance book". This book provides space for signature3, time of arrival, and "remarks".

Ten minutes after the hour an official draws a redline under the last arrival's name, and all those coming subsequently4 are expected to furnish5 an explanation of their tardiness in the "remarks" column.

When a real "London particular6" occurs the number "below the line" is legion; the first of them writes: "Delayed by fog," and the rest scribble a "ditto7".

One morning—a foggy one—Mr. Jones became a proud father; but even this only caused him to be about eleven minutes late. Proudly he wrote in explanation, "Wife had twins." which was followed in due course by the usual string of "ditto's"!

Notes:

1. tardiness 迟到

2. arrival 到达

3. signature 签名

4. subsequently 随后

5. furnish 供给，装饰

6. London particular 伦敦大雾

7. ditto 我也是，同上

迟到的原因

在英国一些政府机关里，每天早晨到的办公室时职员们都要在一本“签到簿”上签上他们的名字。这本签到簿留出空格签名，写签到时间，还有“备注”。

上班时间过后十分钟，一个官员就在最后一个人的名字下面划一道红线，这之后到达的每一个人都必须在“备注”栏里注明迟到的原因。

当真正的“伦敦大雾”出现时，“红线以下”的名字就很多。第一个迟到的人写上“大雾延误了时间”，其他人都在下面草草写上“同上”。

一天早上——一个大雾弥漫的早晨——琼斯先生骄傲地当上了父亲；但即使是这种事，也只让他迟到了11分钟，他骄傲地写上了他的原因：“妻子生了一对双胞胎。”不多久，这个解释下面照例跟了一串“同上”。

Useful link:

一说到伦敦，人们就会想到“雾都”这个称号。上世纪60年代之前，伦敦成为“雾都”是世人共知的，因为它经常雾气缭绕，迷茫一片，能见度很低。如今，伦敦上空基本难见浓烟迷雾了。经过近30年对污染的治理，伦敦已经从根本上“赶走了”污染源。