高等考試
111年
[一般行政] 法學知識與英文(包括中華民國憲法、法學緒論、英文)
第 47 題
📖 題組：
Before there were alarm clocks, how did people wake up at a specific time they wanted to in the morning? Since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1780s, people had been finding ways to make sure they got to work on time. Back then, a knocker-up, also known as a “knocker-upper,” started as a profession to wake people up by knocking on their doors or windows.
Even though alarm clocks had been invented in 1787 by American inventor, Levi Hutchins, they were not yet available to the general public in Britain or Ireland. It was common for people in these places to hire knocker-ups to wake them up in the morning. Half a century after the invention of alarm clocks, Frenchman Antoine Redier patented an adjustable alarm clock in 1847. Still, mechanical alarm clocks were not cheap or widely available. Well into the 1920s, most workers in Britain would rather hire knocker-ups.
Knocker-ups used a variety of methods to wake up their clients. Some used a baton, or a short, heavy stick, to knock on the client’s door. Some used a long and light stick made of bamboo to reach the client’s window on a higher floor. Still others used a pea-shooter, through which small objects can be blown, to shoot dried peas at their clients’ windows. Their job was to rouse the sleeping clients, and they certainly came up with creative ways to achieve this goal. Knocker-ups would not leave a client’s door or window until they made sure that the client had been awaken.
There were large numbers of people carrying out the job, especially in large industrial towns such as Manchester. Knocker-ups were generally elderly men and women, but sometimes police officers would take on the job to earn extra income by performing the task during early morning patrols. But who woke the knocker-uppers? A tongue-twister from the time goes like this:
We had a knocker-up, and our knocker-up had a knocker-up
And our knocker-up’s knocker-up didn’t knock our knocker up
So our knocker-up didn’t knock us up
‘Cos he’s not up.
By the 1950s, knocking up had gradually died out in most places due to the wide spread of electricity and affordable alarm clocks. Today, people merely read about anecdotes regarding how knocker-ups woke up their clients creatively or a fun tongue-twister like the one above.
Before there were alarm clocks, how did people wake up at a specific time they wanted to in the morning? Since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1780s, people had been finding ways to make sure they got to work on time. Back then, a knocker-up, also known as a “knocker-upper,” started as a profession to wake people up by knocking on their doors or windows.
Even though alarm clocks had been invented in 1787 by American inventor, Levi Hutchins, they were not yet available to the general public in Britain or Ireland. It was common for people in these places to hire knocker-ups to wake them up in the morning. Half a century after the invention of alarm clocks, Frenchman Antoine Redier patented an adjustable alarm clock in 1847. Still, mechanical alarm clocks were not cheap or widely available. Well into the 1920s, most workers in Britain would rather hire knocker-ups.
Knocker-ups used a variety of methods to wake up their clients. Some used a baton, or a short, heavy stick, to knock on the client’s door. Some used a long and light stick made of bamboo to reach the client’s window on a higher floor. Still others used a pea-shooter, through which small objects can be blown, to shoot dried peas at their clients’ windows. Their job was to rouse the sleeping clients, and they certainly came up with creative ways to achieve this goal. Knocker-ups would not leave a client’s door or window until they made sure that the client had been awaken.
There were large numbers of people carrying out the job, especially in large industrial towns such as Manchester. Knocker-ups were generally elderly men and women, but sometimes police officers would take on the job to earn extra income by performing the task during early morning patrols. But who woke the knocker-uppers? A tongue-twister from the time goes like this:
We had a knocker-up, and our knocker-up had a knocker-up
And our knocker-up’s knocker-up didn’t knock our knocker up
So our knocker-up didn’t knock us up
‘Cos he’s not up.
By the 1950s, knocking up had gradually died out in most places due to the wide spread of electricity and affordable alarm clocks. Today, people merely read about anecdotes regarding how knocker-ups woke up their clients creatively or a fun tongue-twister like the one above.
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
- A The alarm clock was patented by an American inventor in 1787.
- B People continued to hire knocker-ups even after the alarm clocks were invented.
- C In Britain and Ireland today, knocker-ups are still doing their jobs in industrial towns.
- D During their morning patrols, police officers would watch out for knocker-ups’ safety.
思路引導 VIP
如果要判斷每個選項的真偽，你會利用哪些「關鍵字」（例如年代、專利、警察）回到文章中去定位資訊呢？特別是關於「鬧鐘發明」與「敲門人行業」兩者重疊的時間點，文章第二段的敘述傳達了什麼樣的歷史情況？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
答對了？別太得意，這只是基本功！
恭喜你選對了 (B)，但先別急著沾沾自喜，這不過是考場上最基本的細節判斷題。你能從第二段精準定位到關鍵：即便美國發明家 1787 年就搞出了鬧鐘，但因價格高昂，直到 1920 年代英國勞工仍依賴「敲門人（knocker-ups）」。這只是最基礎的資訊檢索，若連這都錯，你大概也不用考了。
睜大眼睛！別掉進這種陷阱
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