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Daylight Savings
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Daylight Savings
夏令时

Learn English with this time English lesson

Date: May 08 2013

Grammar: Gerunds vs. Infinitives

Intro

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In the United States and many other countries around the world, something funny happens to the clocks twice a year. In the fall, on a particular day, you set your clock back an hour. And in the spring, you set it forward. To help remember when to do what, you might use the phrases “spring forward” and “fall back.”

This phenomenon is called daylight savings. Originally, it was done in order to give agricultural workers more daylight to work in during the darker months. But is daylight savings still relevant today? Find out what Lily and Greta think in this time English lesson.

在美国和世界上许多其他国家或地区,时钟每年都会发生两次有趣的调整。在秋天的特定某一天,你将时钟调慢 1 个小时。到了春天再调快。你可能会使用短语“春季前拨”和“秋季后拨”来帮助自己记忆这两次调整。

这种现象称为夏令时。起初,实行夏令时是为了让务农的人在日照时间较短的月份里有更多的白天工作时间。但时至今日,夏令时仍具有重要意义吗?在本节以时间为话题的英语课上,了解莉莉和格里塔的想法。

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Lily

Lily

Greta

Greta

Lily:  I think daylight savings time is my least favorite day of the year. At least in Spring.

Greta:  When you spring forward?

Lily:  Instead of falling back. That extra hour just disappears.

Greta:  It’s so strange. I know that it’s sort of a relic of our agricultural past in that we set the clocks forward in the springtime, and we set them back an hour in the fall, to make the most of our daylight, and kind of allow people to have the most time to labor in the fields during the sunlight. But, you know, we’re not a nation of agricultural laborers anymore, and it seems a little outdated.

Lily:  It’s kind of arbitrary, right? Yeah, it is outdated. Though apparently not everywhere has daylight savings time, right?

Greta:  That’s true. There are many countries that don’t have daylight savings time, and even Hawaii, which is a United State, doesn’t observe daylight savings time.

Lily:  What?

 

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Discussion

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Lily hates daylight savings time. Specifically, she hates the end of daylight savings in the spring, when you have to lose an hour and turn the clocks forward. She feels as if the extra hour just vanishes.

Greta thinks the whole daylight savings thing is strange. It’s a tradition from the past that may not be relevant anymore because, in the US at least, not that many people are working in the fields.

They acknowledge that not everywhere has daylight savings, however. In fact, some states in the US don’t even observe it.

Does your country observe daylight savings? What do you think about it? Is it relevant today, or just a relic from the past?

 

Comments

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naira71

naira71

Azerbaijan

we observe time savings in our country.I feel some troubles at the first time but then we get into the way.In summer the days are longer and it gets dark later than usual.

08:22 AM May 08 2013 |

angel_ eyes

Pakistan

Yes, we  observed DLS for few years, but it seemed like noboday cared. People followed old time. Well, it is a good thing if people really udnerstand that this is for their good.

07:51 AM May 08 2013 |

sama.a

sama.a

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

We have daylight savings in Iran as well.


I remember as I was child, at the last night of summer my dad was saying to me ” hey honey its 12p.m you should sleep” I was running to clock and set it back one hour then I was telling him “Oh dad its still 11p.m! let me play abit more!” hahhaha


 

NuriaRuiz

NuriaRuizSuper Member!

Spain

In Spain, April 15 forwards the time. But the truth is that we have sunlight since 7:00h at morning until 21:00h in the afternoon.

06:21 AM May 08 2013 |

manu_wj

manu_wj

Italy

inetika the problem is the “fall Back”, when you sleep one hour less!

05:04 AM May 08 2013 |

manu_wj

manu_wj

Italy

In Italy exists the daylight saving time. I don’t know if it is useful, I mean, not just for agricolture but even in order to save national electricity.



Since January I’ve been living in Indonesia and I don’t really know if in this interesting Country exists the daylight saving time. What I know is that the sun come up very early (5.00) in the morning and left very soon in the afternoon (18.00).  This is why people here is so early rising! 

05:02 AM May 08 2013 |

inetika

Russian Federation

Russia doesn’t observe daylight saving anymore. Two years ago we did that, now we are free.


Of course everyone liked fall back because you can sleep more in the morning!

04:55 AM May 08 2013 |

summerisme

summerisme

Taiwan

I don’t think the daylight savings time is needed in my country,  in Taiwan, the sunset almost around 5-6 pm in fall and winter , in summer time, the sunset is around 7 pm!


I’ve been to Europe two years ago, when i saw my watch reavesl 9pm and the sky still bright, i felt  really wired and amazing, because it will not happen in my country! Anyway, i am so happy that my country doesn’t implement daylight savings time , because i don’t want to go to work early in summer time. XD

03:32 AM May 08 2013 |

Arlinrat Aui

Thailand

I think observe daylight savings is a wonderful times relic from the past to the present of my country, however i love my country most

02:59 AM May 08 2013 |

modaher

modaher

Iraq

Yes, this benefit government employees in order to begin their work early.

02:37 AM May 08 2013 |

1 person likes this

britdam007

britdam007

India

India doesn’t observe DST


CHEERS

06:00 AM May 05 2013 |

1 person likes this

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