托福英语听力练习:The History of the Calendar

Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight! I’m Liz Waid.

Voice 2

And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

The year was 1752. On Wednesday, September 2, the people of Britain went to sleep.

When they woke up in the morning the date was Thursday, September 14. That sounds like a mistake. The date should have been Thursday, September 3, not Thursday, September 14! But this story is true. The people of Britain went to sleep on September 2. When they woke up, the date was September 14!

This strange date change was the result of a British Act of Parliament. This act was called the “British Calendar Act of 1751”.

Voice 2

Why did the British Parliament do this? In 1752 the official calendar of Britain was behind the official calendar of Europe by 11 days. So, in the United Kingdom, the date was September 2. But in Europe, it was September 13.

Voice 1

A calendar is very important for measuring days and months, keeping religious holidays, and observing the seasons. Britain had been following an old version of the calendar. In 1752 they finally began to use the calendar accepted by the rest of the world. This helped them trade with other countries and celebrate religious holidays at the same time as the rest of Europe.

Voice 2

Calendars are very complex. They depend on careful measuring. And they affect many parts of the world. Today’s Spotlight is on the history of the most used calendar in the world: the Gregorian calendar.