113 學年度學測英文 第 18 題

The modern worker rolls out of bed, groans, and turns off an alarm clock before reluctantly getting up for the day's work. But how did people get to work on time before alarm clocks were widely used?

During the second Industrial Age, people toiled at unusual hours in mines or factories and often had to get up for work early in the morning. They 16 alarm clocks because adjustable alarms had been invented by the mid-19th century. But the new device was still relatively expensive and unreliable. British workers thus relied on a human alarm clock known as a "knocker-up." 17 sticks or pea shooters, the human alarms would tour the streets, tap on windows, or blast them with dried peas, trying to wake paying customers in time for work.

Whether they wielded rods or pea shooters, knockers-up became 18 throughout the United Kingdom. Every morning, these people, often older in age, were seen in big streets and small alleys, waking up their customers professionally. They usually would not leave people's houses until they were sure their customers were awake.

While the practice continued in some parts of the country until the 1970s, it 19 as alarm clocks became more widespread and affordable. Today, beeping alarm clocks and smartphones that play morning music are surely simpler and more convenient. However, they cannot 20 the personal attention coming from the distinctive tap of a pea shooter.