4.Alice knew how Tom was getting from the signs on the envelope because ______.
　　A.Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving for London
　　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

　　5.The idea of using stamps was found by ______.
　　A. the government B. Sir Rowland Hill C. Alice Brown D. Tom

　　【答案与解析】
　　这是一篇关于付资邮票起源的历史小故事。故事发生在一百多年前的英国。当时的情况是，写信人不用付邮资，收信人在收到信件时才付邮资，且邮资十分昂贵。一位小姐收到男友的来信，看了看信封又交给了邮差。她说自己付不起钱。这时一位名叫Sir Rowland Hill的绅士替她付了钱。接下来，这位小姐便给大家讲了自己不拆开信的缘由和一个很感动人的故事。Sir Rowland Hill.从这件事上很受启发。他决定改变这种状况。后来政府采纳了Sir Rowland Hill.的建议，于是世界上第一枚付资邮票从些便产生了。
　　1. A 文末"The first postage stamp was put out in 1840."一句只是讲了第一枚邮票是1840年发行的，并未说出发明人是谁。考虑到故事发生在150年前的英国，故唯有A才符合题意。
　　2. B 姑娘将信递给邮差发生在Sir Rowland Hill帮她付邮资之前，故选项D不对。根据姑娘所做的解释，答案显然非B莫属。
　　3. A 答案就在"The people standing around were very sorry for the girl."之中。
　　4. A 由"He told me that he would put some signs on the envelope."一句及下面的说明，不难想象这是在小伙子离开伦敦时就告诉过姑娘的。
　　5. B Sir Rowland Hill从姑娘所讲的故事中受到启发，决定改变一下由收信人付费的方式。选项A有较大的迷惑性，但考虑到"The Government decided to adopt the plan."可予以排除。
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