1

As people began to go to more places and do more things, they were more interested in knowing the correct time. By 1900, almost every house had a clock, and nearly every well-dressed gentleman wore a watch on a chain tucked in his vest pocket. Today of course, we have electric clocks that keep giving the right time until they are unplugged or the electricity goes off. Scientists have invented clocks that look like large machines and tell the correct time to a split second. The most modern electric clocks for home use do not have faces or hands. These clocks are called digital clocks, and they tell, the time with a set of numerals which appear in a little window. The seconds are counted off like the tenths of a mile on the odometer of a car. Many electric clocks are combined with radios, which can sometimes be set to turn on automatically. Thus, instead of an alarm ringing in your ear in the morning, you can hear soft music playing when it is time to get up. Some clocks will even start the coffee maker! Although clocks and watches play an important part in people's lives in industrialized countries, time is still regarded in very different ways in different parts of the world.

What does "look like"" mean in this sentence? Clocks are equal in size with large machines. or Clocks are equal in the quality of work with large machine?

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    You will need to provide further context. You should give a source for that quote. Without more context, I can't guess if there is a different meaning from the dictionary definition. Regarding the last sentence: clocks are machines, machines can be very small, and clocks can be very big.
    – James K
    Jul 22, 2017 at 16:50
  • The judgment of "looks-like" is in the eye of the beholder (not necessary logical). Your example needs more context in order to determine if the statement is valid.
    – user3169
    Jul 22, 2017 at 19:22
  • 1
    Where did this text come from? We might talk about "Clocks That Look Like Camera Gear", but a "large machine" could look like anything, so we wouldn't typically use that to describe something else.
    – ColleenV
    Jul 23, 2017 at 12:03

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

A Google search has turned this text up as "Unit 4 Clocks through Time" and appears to be an English learning text.

Scientists have invented clocks that look like large machines and tell the correct time to a split second.

This can be interpreted as meaning that there are large clocks that have the appearance of some machine, where the purpose of the machine is unknown to the person seeing it. Imagine a steam locomotive in the eyes of a technologically primitive person, they may see it as a large beast with hard skin that roars and hisses, and exhales smoke and flame. The author is trying to convey an image to the reader, where the reader will fill in the details from their own imagination and experience.

A clock that tells the correct time to a split second is not quite like that (looks like a large machine), although perhaps the first atomic clocks were.

FOCS 1 (pictured) is a continuous cold caesium fountain atomic clock in Switzerland which started operating in 2004 at an uncertainty of one second in 30 million years. FOCS 1 is one of the most accurate devices for measuring time in the world. It stands in a laboratory of the Swiss Federal Office of Metrology METAS in Bern.

Atomic Clock FOCS-1 (Switzerland). The primary frequency standard device, FOCS-1, one of the most accurate devices for measuring time in the world. It stands in a laboratory of the Swiss Federal Office of Metrology METAS in Bern.

Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_clock#/media/File:FOCS-1.jpg

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .