【题文】In a small village in England about 150 years ago, a mail coach ( 邮车 ) was standing on the street . It didn’t come to that village often . People had to pay a lot to get a letter . The person who sent the letter didn’t have to pay the postage (邮资 ) , while the receiver had to .
“Ｈere’s a letter for Miss Alice Brown , ” said the mailman .
“ Ｉ’m Alice Brown , ” a girl of about 18 said in a low voice .
Alice looked at the envelope（信封） for a minute , and then handed it back to the mailman .
“ Ｉ＇m sorry I can’t take it , I don’t have enough money to pay it＂, she said .
A gentleman standing around were very sorry for her . Then he came up and paid the postage for her .
When the gentleman gave the letter to her , she said with a smile , “ Thank you very much ,This letter is from Tom . I’m going to marry him . He went to London to look for work . I’ve waited a long time for this letter , but now I don’t need it , there is nothing in it .”
“ Really ? How do you know that ? ” the gentleman said in surprise .
“ He told me that he would put some signs on the envelope . Look ,sir ,this cross in the corner means that he is well and this circle means he has found work . That’s good news .”
The gentleman was Sir Rowland Hill . He didn’t forgot Alice and her letter .
“ The postage to be paid by the receiver has to be changed ,” he said to himself and had a good plan .
“ The postage has to be much lower , what about a penny (便士 ) ? And the person who sends the letter pays the postage . He has to buy a stamp and put it on the envelope .” he said .
The government accepted his plan . Then the first stamp was put out in 1840 . It was called the “ Penny Black “ . It had a picture of the Queen on it .
【小题1】The first postage stamp was made ___________ .
| A．in England | B．in America |
| C．by Alice | D．in 1910 |
【小题2】The girl handed the letter back to the mailman because ______________ .
| A．she didn’t know whose letter it was |
| B．she had no money to pay the postage |
| C．she received the letter but she didn’t want to open it |
| D．she had already known what was written in the letter |
【小题3】We can know from Alice’s words that _________________ .
| A．Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving |
| B．Alice was clever and could guess the meaning of the signs |
| C．Alice had put the signs on the envelope herself |
| D．Tom had put the signs as Alice had told him to |
【小题4】The idea of using stamps was thought of by __________________ .
| A．the government | B．Sir Rowland Hill |
| C．Alice Brown | D．Tom |
【小题5】From the passage we know the high postage made _____________ .
| A．People never send each other letters |
| B．lovers almost lose every touch with each other |
| C．people try their best to avoid(避免) paying it |
| D．receivers refuse to pay the coming letters |
