In a small village in England about 150 years ago, a mail coach (邮车) was standing on the street.  Around the coach many people were talking to one another about it.  Mail coach did not come to that village so often in those days.  People had to pay a lot of money to get a letter.  The person who sent the letter did not have to pay.  The person who got the letter had to pay the postage (邮资).  “Here?s a letter for Miss Alice Brown,” said the mailman.  Everyone turned to a girl of about eighteen who was standing by the coach.  “I?m Alice Brown,” she said in a low voice.  The mailman gave her the letter.  Alice looked at the envelope for a minute, and then handed it back to the mailman.  “I’m sorry I can?t take it,” she said.  “I don?t have enough money to pay the postage. ” The people standing around were very sorry for the girl.  They were silent for a while.  Then a gentleman came up to the mailman and paid the postage for Alice’s letter.  When the gentleman gave her the letter, she said with a smile, “Oh, thank you very much, sir.  This letter is from the young man I’m going to marry.  His name is Tom.  He went to London to look for work.  He has to get enough money for our marriage (结婚).  I’ve waited a long time for this letter, but now don’t need it.  I don’t have to open the envelope because there is nothing inside. ” “Really?” the gentleman said in surprise.  “How do you know that?” “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 very good news. ” The gentleman was Sir Rowland Hill.  He did not forget Alice and her letter.  “The postage to be paid by the receiver has to be changed,” he said to himself.  He thought and thought for many years.  At last he had a good plan.  “The postage has to be much lower,” he said.  “What about a penny (便士) for a letter? And the person who sends the letter pays the postage.  He has to buy a stamp and put it on the envelope. ” “A good idea!” people said when they heard of his plan.  The Government decided to adopt (采纳) the plan.  The first postage stamp was put out in 1840.  It was called the “Penny Black”.  It had a picture of the Queen on it

1. 1.

   The first postage stamp was made ________

   1. A.
      in England
   2. B.
      in America
   3. C.
      by Alice
   4. D.
      in 1910
2. 2.

   The girl handed the letter back to the mailman because ______

   1. A.
      she did not know whose letter it was
   2. B.
      the letter had already told her what she wanted to know
   3. C.
      she could not pay the postage
   4. D.
      the gentleman promised to pay the postage for her
3. 3.

   When the girl returned the letter to the mailman _________

   1. A.
      the people around her felt sorry for her
   2. B.
      the people thought that the girl was too poor
   3. C.
      none of them wanted to pay the postage for her
   4. D.
      the people was angry with the girl
4. 4.

   Alice knew how Tom was getting from the signs on the envelope because _________

   1. A.
      Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving for London
   2. B.
      Alice was clever and could guess the meaning of the signs
   3. C.
      Alice had put the signs on the envelope herself
   4. D.
      Tom had put the signs as Alice had told him to
5. 5.

   The idea of using stamps was found by ______

   1. A.
      the government
   2. B.
      Sir Rowland Hill
   3. C.
      Alice Brown
   4. D.
      Tom

 阅读下面的短文，然后根据汉语或英语首字母提示写出所缺英语单词的正确形式。（共10个小题，每小题1分）

Dear grandma，

    How's it going? I hope that grandpa is well now, I was sorry to 1.h   that he had a cold last week I hope you are in good  2.h   .

    Things are fine here, I3. f   my end-of-year exams last week and got my report 4.c   today. I always get 5. 紧张  when I see me envelope from school in the mail. put luckily I did OK this time. I had a hard time with science this semester and I wasn't surprised to find that my worst report was from my science teacher She said I was 6. 懒惰. which isn't true it's just that I find science really difficult. 7. 另一个disappointing result was in history. My history teacher said I could do 8. 更好 The good news is that my 9.数学   teacher said I was hard-working. And my Spanish teacher said my listening was good

    Well, that's about all the news I have for now. Mom and I  10. D    send their love

                                                 Love

                                                     Alan

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。

When I was nine years old, I used to go to the post office with my mother, sending greeting cards to my aunt in Singapore. To me, these trips were really   16   memories. And receiving mail through a mailbox outside our gate was just as exciting. My small hands could   17   get the mail without using a key! I always couldn’t wait to see how much I was   18   . Oh, a letter! From Singapore! I would run back home and show it to my   19   . When there was a letter for me, I wouldn’t run—I would open it right there.

After my family moved back to Singapore, I    20   going to the post office. Years later, my company sent me to Shanghai, and the post office found me again. Two years ago I celebrated my  21   with five friends on top of the mountain in Longsheng, China. At sunrise we   22   up to a beautiful view from the mountain top. Later in the afternoon, as we were going   23   the mountain and returning from the sunrise viewing place, a    24    shop caught our attention. It only sold noodles, coffee and had a China    25   sign.

We asked the owner if she could really send mail. She happily said yes. It seemed hard to believe,   26   we were at the highest top of the mountain. I picked one postcard out and asked my friends to write   27    a birthday note. We bought a stamp, wrote some notes and gave the shop owner the postcard.

Three weeks later, I arrived home and   28   my mailbox: Hello, postcard! I broke into a big smile.

That birthday postcard attracted me again to the post office and all its delights. I had   29  the post office all these years. Today I   30   send postcards to friends. And every time I am at the post office buying stamps, I cannot help but smile—how one postcard will make its way across the world and brighten up someone’s day.

1.A. bad             B. poor              C. good               D. short

2.A. easily           B. simply             C. hardly             D. specially

3.A. weighing        B. getting             C. selecting           D. accepting

4.A. friend           B. aunt               C. mother             D. owner

5.A. enjoyed         B. stopped            C. hated               D. considered

6.A. wedding         B. return             C. success             D. birthday

7.A. broke           B. woke              C. grew               D. stood

8.A. around          B. over               C. up                 D. down

9.A. cold            B. dirty               C. small              D. modern

10.A. Traffic          B. Life               C. Police              D. Post

11.A. because         B. though             C. while              D. when

12.A. him            B. me                C. her                D. them

13.A. bought          B. repaired            C. painted            D. opened

14.A. missed          B. influenced          C. studied             D. visited

15.A. just             B. seldom             C. still                D. never

Hi, I’m Brian. This is the photo of my family. My grandfather is with glasses. He has little hair. The one standing next to him is my uncle. He is wearing a cap. My grandmother has gray hair. She is a kind woman. She is holding my younger brother. He has short curly hair. The woman standing behind me is my mom. She has straight brown hair. There is a little girl sitting on the table. Her name is Cathy. She is my sister. She is wearing a green T-shirt and a pair of green socks. It’s her favorite color. Which one is my father? Well, he is wearing glasses, too. He is in brown shorts and brown shoes. His name is Sam. Now, do you know where he is?
【小题1】How many people are there in the passage?