However, they cannot 20 the personal attention coming from the distinctive tap of a pea shooter.
答案:(C) match
match 在此是「比得上、匹敵」,本句指現代鬧鐘再方便,也比不上敲窗人帶來的那份個人化關懷;forget(忘記)、change(改變)、regret(後悔)的主詞都必須是人,鬧鐘與手機做不到這些動作。
答對率 22%。
match 你記得的大概是名詞「火柴、比賽」與動詞「配對」(match the words with the pictures),很少學到它作及物動詞時的「比得上、匹敵」——通常用於否定句:cannot match(比不上)、be no match for(不是…的對手)。
這一格必須把前後兩句合起來讀:前一句 Today, beeping alarm clocks and smartphones that play morning music are surely simpler and more convenient.(今天的電子鬧鐘與播放晨間音樂的手機確實更簡單、更方便)先讓一步,承認新科技的優點;本句以 However 轉折,說它們 cannot ___ the personal attention coming from the distinctive tap of a pea shooter(比不上敲窗人用豆槍輕敲窗戶那份專屬的關照)。有讓步才有轉折,缺了前一句就判不出方向,屬於跨句題。
forget、change、regret 三個動詞的主詞都必須是有意識的人——鬧鐘不會忘記、不會後悔,也談不上改變別人的關懷。看到主詞是無生命的東西,先檢查動詞需不需要「意識」,是很快的篩選法。
國中學過 No one can match him in chess.(下棋沒人比得過他)與 He is no match for her.(他不是她的對手),兩句用的都是同一個「匹敵」義。
cannot match(比不上)、be no match for(不是…的對手)、match A with B(把 A 與 B 配對)、a perfect match(絕配)、live up to(不辜負)。
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.