The last night watchmen of Europe

四川峨眉第二中學校 王 燕

公元9世紀以來，在歐洲的大部分城市里，一直生活著一些身著黑衣、夜半時分方登場的特殊人物。 他們，被稱為“守夜人”。

題材人物 記敘文體裁 文章詞數 建議用時約345 6分鐘

難詞探意

1.picturesque/?p?kt???resk/adj. 美麗的；別致的

2. medieval /?medi?i?vl/adj. 中世紀的

3. perch /pз?t?/n. 高處

4. attached /??t?t?t/adj. 依戀

Every evening, the night watchman, Renato Haeusler, climbs to the top of the Lausanne cathedral bell tower and gets to work—he shouts out the time each hour, keeping a six-century-old tradition alive.

The night watchman, one of the last in Europe, no longer alerts this Swiss city to fires, but he does help residents to keep track of the time. All year round, from 10：00 pm to 2：00 am,the night watchman, wearing a big black hat and carrying a lantern, steps out to the bell tower railing to serve as a living clock for the people of thispicturesquecity on the shores of Lake Geneva.

The night watchman used to play a far more vital role.Back when fire was seen as a permanent threat tomedievaltowns and cities built in wood, he was an essential part of a network of watchmen, most of whom patrolled the streets. From hisperch, the cathedral watchman was tasked with sounding the alarm at the first smell of smoke. Across Europe,there were thousands of watchmen protecting urban spaces from fire, said Renato Haeusler, who holds the permanent watchman position in Lausanne.

But as technology advanced, the watchmen gradually disappeared across the continent. Today,Lausanne is one of just seven European towns or cities to have maintained the tradition of a yearround watchman, alongside Annaberg, Celle and Noerdlingen in Germany, Ripon in Britain, Krakow in Poland and Ystad in Sweden.

Haeusler admitted that his position no longer served a true practical purpose. “But the city is veryattachedto maintaining this tradition,” stressed the 60-year-old, who had served as a replacement watchman for 14 years before taking on the permanent position. Haeusler meanwhile said he likes his work—a profession serving little purpose at a time when today's reality demands that everything be“profitable and efficient”. Haeusler climbs the 153 worn stone steps to the top of the bell tower to announce the time about four evenings a week. About the salary he said it is “well below” the going rate for nighttime work.

1. What's the night watchman's original duty?

A. To inform the local residents of fires.

B. To protect the Lausanne cathedral.

C. To help the local residents keep track of time.

D. To protect urban spaces from accidents.

2. What makes the watchmen gradually disappear?

A. The low salary of the watchmen.

B. The development of technology.

C. The meaninglessness of the position.

D. The difficulty of the work.

3. What can we know about Renato Haeusler?

A. He thinks badly of his work.

B. He works for two hours every night.

C. He has been a night watchman for fourteen years.

D. He holds the permanent watchman position in Lausanne.

Sentence for writing

The night watchman used to play a far more vital role.

【信息提取】used to do...意為“過去常常……”。

【句式仿寫】湯姆過去常常在早晨散步。