外语天地
来源:本网
1. TIME
1000 milliseconds = 1 second (sec)
60 seconds = 1 minute (min)
60 minutes = 1 hour (hr)
24 hours = 1 day
7 days = 1 week (wk)
28, 30 or 31 days = 1 month (mth)
12 months = 1 year (yr)
365 days = 1 year
BUT every 4th year = 366 days (a leap year)
Also note:
52 weeks = 1 year (approximately)
People often use the following terms:
48 hours (2 days)
72 hours (3 days)
2. DISTANCE
There are two systems for measuring distance in the English-
speaking world:
a) metric
10 millimetres (mm) = 1 centimetre (cm)
100 centimetres = 1 metre (m)
1000 metres = 1 kilometre (km)
b) imperial/US
12 inches (in) = 1 foot (ft)
3 feet = 1 yard (yd) (approximately 1 metre)
1760 yards = 1 mile (approximately 1.6 km)
3. AREA
Area is the extent of a surface. It is 2-dimensional. Area
is often expressed using the word "square" + the distance.
For example, if a room is 10 metres long and 5 metres wide,
it is 50 square metres (50 sq. m). But we can also use the
distance + the figure 2. Then we would write 50m2.
Here are two examples:
My table is 3 metres long x 2 metres wide:
area = 6 sq.m, or
area = 6m2
My town is 3 miles x 4 miles:
area = 12 sq. miles
We often measure the area of land using:
hectare = 10,000 square metres
acre = 4,840 square yards
Warning!
There is a difference between "square metres" and "metres
square". If my room is 10 feet x 10 feet, it is 100 square
feet but 10 feet square. We can only say this when the
length and the width are the same.