Reading

Telling Time

Humans have used different objects to tell time. In the beginning, they used an hourglass. This is a cylindrical glass with a narrow center which allows sand to flow from its upper to its lower portion. Once all the sand has trickled to the lower portion, one knows that an hour has passed. Using the same idea, water clocks were constructed to measure time by having water flow through a narrow passage from one container to another. On the other hand, sundials allowed people to estimate an hour by looking at the position of the shadow cast by the sun on a plate. At night, people measured time by checking the alignment of the stars in the sky. None of these were accurate, though. The clock was the first accurate instrument for telling time.

1. "Which of the following ways of telling time made use of sand?"

• water clocks

• hourglass

• sundials

• clock

2. None of the clocks used long ago were accurate. Accurate in the sentence means ____.

(Inferential)

• free from error

• comparable

• very useful

• efficient

3. When men of long ago told time at night, they looked at the to tell the time. (Literal)

• cloud formation

• moon

• stars

• sun

4. The sundials may not be useful in telling time _______. (Inferential)

• at noon time

• in the morning

• during a rainy day

• when the sun shines brightly

5. How are the hourglass and the water clock similar? (Inferential)

• Both tell time by the hour

• Both use water to tell time

• Both are used only in daytime

• Both have a narrow center through which something flows

6. The best title for the selection is _________. (Critical)

• The Uses of Clocks

• Why People Need to Tell Time

• Ways of Telling Time: Then and Now

• Comparing the Different Types of Clock

7. Which of these sentences is a topic sentence? (Critical)

• The invention of the clock 600 years ago was the first accurate measurement of time

• Hourglass contained sand that fell through one container to another

• Long ago people used simple tools such as the hour glass

• Humans have used different objects to tell the time

Counting the Hours

When men decided to divide the day into twenty-four hours, they used numbers one through twelve two times. As a result, there was one o’clock during the day and another one o’clock after midnight. This created confusion. If one was told to submit a project at six o’clock, did this mean six o’clock in the morning or at night?

The Romans provided a solution to this problem. They thought that noon time, the time when the sun is at its apex, is an important time. They called noon Meridies and measured time by this. They called the morning ante meridiem, which means “before noon” while “after noon” was called post meridiem. Ante meridiem was shortened to

A.M. while post meridiem was shortened to P.M.

8. "When the day was divided into twenty-four hours, what numbers were used to express time?" (Literal)

• one to six

• one to twelve

• one to thirty-six

• one to twenty four