6. An alarm clock

A young man went to a mountain village for his holiday. One night he stayed at a small hotel near a train station.

Before going to bed, he went to the owner of the hotel and said to him, "Excuse me, sir, Will you please wake me up at half past four tomorrow morning? I'm going to take the five o'clock train tomorrow morning."

Oh, sorry, the owner said, "I am afraid I can't. I don't get up that early." The young man started to go back to his room when he stopped and asked, "Do you have an alarm clock? That would help me"

Yes, here it is, Youngman.

The young man took the clock happily and thanked the owner of the hotel. But when he looked at it carefully, there appeared to be something wrong with it.

Does it ring1 on time? the young man asked.

Sure! Just shake2it when it's time to get up, and it'll ring.

Notes:

1. ring 响铃

2. shake 摇晃

闹　钟

一位小伙子去山村度假，晚上住在一家离火车站不远的小旅馆里。睡觉之前，他找到旅馆的老板，请求说：“打搅您了，请问您可以在明晨四点半时叫醒我吗？我要赶五点钟的火车。”

“真是抱歉，”老板说，“恐怕不行，那么早我起不来。”

小伙子刚要回屋却又转身问道：“请问您有闹钟吗？我可以靠它叫醒我。”

“给，小伙子，拿去吧。”

小伙子谢过老板，高兴地接过闹钟。他仔细地看了看闹钟，总觉得有什么不对劲。

“请问它能准时响铃吗？”小伙子问道。

“当然！到了该起床的时间，你摇一摇它，它就响了。”

Useful link:

1656年，荷兰科学家惠更斯应用伽利略的等时性理论设计了钟摆。第二年，在他的指导下，年轻钟匠科斯特成功制造了第一个摆钟。1675年，游丝取代了原始的钟摆，于是出现了以发条为动力、以游丝为调速装置的小型钟。