英語閱讀能力是英語學習者語言水平的體現。閱讀對于學習者具有重要的作用，不僅能培養學生英語語感，還能促進詞匯積累，提高寫作水平。對培養學習者的英語綜合能力大有幫助，同時也是學好英語的主要手段和有效途徑。今后 給大家安排了每天500字的小說閱讀，期待大家加入，一起讀英文原創小說。

每天500字閱讀（朗讀更棒），每個月就是1萬5千字，每年的閱讀量就可以達到高達18萬， 這是一個很了不起的閱讀量 。同時，我們把詞匯提取出來，真實語境，更有利于習得詞匯，一起讀起來。

On the corner of a quiet avenue stoodThatcher’s Timepieces, a tinyclock repair shopwhere the walls ticked in layered rhythms.

Lena, a university student majoring in architecture, discovered the shop while sketching buildings for a class project.
Curious about the sound of dozens of clocks ticking in harmony, she stepped in.

Inside, clocks of every shape and size lined the shelves—cuckoo clocks,grandfather clocks,mantel clocks—all ticking, all alive.
Behind the counter stood a young man in suspenders, adjusting the hands of a delicate porcelain wall clock.

“Looking for something specific?” he asked without turning around.

“Not yet,” Lena said, “but I like the sound of this place.”

He looked up and smiled. “I’m Theo.”

Over the next few weeks, Lena kept returning.
Not to buy anything, but to sketch, to listen.
And to talk to Theo.

They spoke of gears and rhythm, of buildings and time.
Sometimes, they sat in silence—surrounded by the heartbeat of mechanical minutes.

Then one day, Lena found apocket watchhidden behind a stack of old clock faces.
Its back was engraved:

“Wait for me. Every day at 4:00. —T”

Lena turned to Theo.
His expression changed.

“My grandfather left that… He used to wait for someone here, every day at 4. She never came back.”

Lena held the watch gently.
“And now?”

Theo smiled.
“Now I wait because I want to.”

That Friday, Lena arrived at 3:59.
The clocks all ticked toward the hour.

When they struck four, Theo was already looking at her.
She smiled.

Time, for once, was perfectly on time.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What first drew Lena into the shop?
   A. She wanted to buy a clock
   B. She needed help with a broken watch
   C. She was sketching buildings nearby
   D. She was looking for Theo

2. What was engraved on the pocket watch?
   A. “Remember me at dusk.”
   B. “Time heals everything.”
   C. “Wait for me. Every day at 4:00.”
   D. “To Lena, with love.”

3. What happened at the end of the story?
   A. Theo closed the shop
   B. Lena waited, but Theo never came
   C. They met at exactly 4:00
   D. The pocket watch stopped working

1. C

2. C

3. C

clock repair shop

鐘表修理鋪

cuckoo clock

咕咕鐘

grandfather clock

落地大鐘

pocket watch

懷表

engraved

雕刻（文字）

heartbeat of mechanical minutes

機械時光的心跳感

struck four

敲響四點

specific

特別的、明確的

sketch

素描、速寫

ticked in harmony

和諧地滴答作響

中文全文翻譯朝你走來的滴答聲

在一條安靜街道的轉角，有一家名叫Thatcher’s Timepieces的鐘表修理鋪，墻上回蕩著各種鐘表層層疊疊的滴答聲。

莉娜是建筑系大學生，在為課堂項目畫街景素描時偶然發現了這家店。
她被幾十個鐘同時滴答作響的聲音吸引，便走了進去。

店內陳列著各種形狀與年代的鐘表——咕咕鐘、落地大鐘、壁爐鐘，每一個都在跳動、都“活著”。
柜臺后，一位戴著吊帶褲的年輕人正小心地調整一只瓷質壁鐘的指針。

“你想找什么特別的嗎？”他沒回頭地問。

“暫時沒有，”莉娜回答，“但我很喜歡這里的聲音?！?/p>

他抬頭笑了：“我叫西奧?！?/p>

接下來的幾個星期，莉娜不斷回來。
不是為了買東西，而是為了畫畫、聆聽，
還有——與西奧聊天。

他們談齒輪與節奏、建筑與時間，
有時候，也會靜靜地坐著，
周圍只有一圈又一圈機械時光的心跳。

直到有一天，莉娜在一疊老鐘面盤后發現了一只懷表。

背面刻著一行字：

“等我。每天四點。——T”

莉娜看向西奧。

他神情微變：“那是我祖父留下的……他曾在這里，每天下午四點等待一個人。但她從未回來。”

莉娜輕輕握住那只表：“那你現在還在等嗎？”

西奧輕笑：“現在的等待，是因為我愿意?！?/p>

那個星期五，莉娜提前一分鐘到達。
鐘表們一起朝著四點滴答作響。

當它們整點敲響時，西奧正望著她。

她笑了。

這一次，時間剛剛好。

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