Many people outside the US find this hard to believe, but twice every year, most Americans–some 300 million people–all change their clocks! In November, we move our clocks BACK one hour. In March, we move our clocks FORWARD one hour. Since November is in the fall and March is in the spring, we remember this with the saying, “Spring Forward, Fall Back.” Nowadays, our smartphones update the time automatically, but for regular clocks in your home or car, you have to manually change them. The actual time change happens at 2:00 am Sunday morning. The change happens then because most people are asleep at 2:00 am, and Sunday is not a work day so if people forget to make the change (and many people always forget!), then at least they will not be an hour early or late to work on Monday morning. Also, since the actual time change is at 2:00 am Sunday, most people change their clocks on Saturday night, right before they go to bed.
Why do we do this?
Because most of the US is far north of the equator, hours of daylight in the winter are short but in the summer they are long. So, this time change basically “moves” an hour of daylight from the early mornings into the evenings, when more people can use and enjoy the extra sunlight. For example, in Virginia USA in early March, the sun sets around 6:20 pm. However, after the time change–presto!–the sun now sets at 7:20! Granted, the mornings suddenly become darker after the March time change, but the evenings get more light, so that makes more time for outdoor activities like sports, taking walks, cook-outs, etc.
Unfortunately, by moving the clocks forward one hour in March, many people lose an hour of sleep. Each year, for the first few days after the spring time change, the number of heart attacks and car accidents goes up! It seems, when a whole country loses an hour of sleep, bad things happen! However, after a few days, most people get used to the new time. In November, the opposite happens. We move our clocks BACK one hour, so we get back the hour of sleep we lost in March! After the November time change, the mornings have more sun but it gets darker in the evenings earlier.
*************
Below is a story about how we changed our clocks on the first Sunday of March:
This past weekend, we set our clocks forward an hour for Daylight Savings. That means, we “lost” an hour of our Sunday. This time change officially occurred on Sunday at 2:00 AM. So when the clock read 1:59:59, the next second would become 3:00 in the morning. Therefore, many people felt tired when they woke up because they had lost one hour of sleep. They had to wake up an hour earlier than usual to be on time for church. This practice doesn’t come without complaint each spring but it’s life in America!
夏时制
在上个周末，我们美国有个夏时制。 这意味着，我们在周日“减少”了一个小时。也就是提前了一个小时。 这个时间正式更改在凌晨2:00， 因此，当时钟读取为1:59:59时，下一秒变为凌晨3:00。 因此许多人醒来时感到疲倦，因为他们失去了一个小时的睡眠。 他们必须比平常早起一个小时才能准时上教堂。 每年春天这种做法并非没有遭到抱怨，但这就是美国的生活！
Since 2010, based in the friendly USA State of Virginia, DreyerCoaching.com has been providing customized, high-quality, real-time language instruction via the internet to a global audience in their home, school, or office. Think how comfortable, confident and successful you or your child will feel, receiving personalized guidance from college-educated teachers who are native speakers and have bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees plus decades of teaching experience. Whether you are looking for help with the ABCs or the SATs, or college admissions to conversational English to business writing, we serve all ages and levels to help our students make dreams come true. Discover the Dreyer Difference. Take the first step and visit DreyerCoaching.com, send Scott an email, or schedule a free consultation to get started.
自 2010 年以来，DreyerCoaching.com 总部位于友好的美国弗吉尼亚州，一直通过互联网向全球观众在家中、学校或办公室提供有制度的、高质量的实时语言教学。 想想您或您的孩子会感到多么自在、自信和成功，从受过大学教育的教师那里获得个别的指导，这些教师都是以英语为母语，拥有学士、硕士和博士学位，以及数十年的教学经验的教师。 无论是从 英语ABC的基础课程 或 SAT 的帮助，就读美国高中，大学入学申请，还是从会话英语到商务写作，我们都为所有年龄和水平的学生提供服务，帮助我们的学生实现梦想。 发觉 Dreyer 的不同之处。 迈出第一步，游览 DreyerCoaching.com网站，向 Scott 发送电子邮件，可开始安排一个免费咨询。
