第二部分：阅读理解 (共20小题；每小题2分,满分40分)

 阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中,选出最佳选项。

A

　 When you send a letter or a postcard, you have to put stamps on the envelope or on the card. When did people first begin to use stamps? Who was the first to think of this idea? 

　 In the early nineteenth century, people did not use stamps. They had to pay postage when they received letters. They were unhappy about this, especially when they paid for a letter which they did not wish to receive at all. The postage was high at that time, because the post offices had to send many people to collect the postage. 

　　Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster in England, was the first to put forward(提出) a proposal(提议) to use stamps in the 1850s. He thought it would be much easier for people to use stamps to cover postage. They could go to the nearby post office to buy stamps and put them on envelopes before they sent the letters. The post office could simply put seals on the stamps so that people could not use the stamps again. In this way, the post office did not need to send postmen to collect postage. It only needed to send fewer postmen to deliver letters. That was a good idea and the government finally accepted it.  福建高中学业水平考试试题  http://www.yggk.net/xueye/fujian/shiti/