英语专四 短文听力 Passage 4-2

 短文

Questions 14 to 17 are based on the following passage.

In the early days of the United States, postal¹ charges were paid by the recipient² and charges varied³ with the distance carried. (15) In 1847 the United States Post Office Department adopted the idea of a postage stamp，which of course simplified the payment for postal service but caused grumbling⁴ by those who did not like to prepay. Besides, the stamp covered only delivery to the post office and did not include carrying it to a private address. In Philadelphia，for example，with a population of 150,000, people still had to go to the post office to get their mail. The confusion and congestion⁶ of individual citizens looking for their letters was itself enough to discourage the use of mail. It is no wonder that, during the years of these cumbersome⁷ arrangements，private letter- carrying and express businesses developed. (16) Although their activities were only semi-legal，they thrived, and actually advertised that between Boston and Philadelphia they were a half-day speedier than the government mail. The government postal service lost volume to private competition and was not able to handle efficiently⁸ even the business it had. (17) Finally，in 1863, Congress provided that the ail⁵ carriers who delivered the mail from the post offices to private addresses should receive a government salary，and that there should be no extra charge for that delivery.

 

题目

Passage 4

Now, listen to the passage.

14. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The increased use of private mail services.

B. The development of a government postal system.

C. A comparison of urban and rural postal services.

D. The history of postage stamps.

15. Which of the following was seen as a disadvantage of the postage stamp?

A. It had to be purchased by the sender in advance.

B. It increased the cost of mall delivery.

C. It was difficult to affix⁹ to letters.

D. It was easy to counterfeit¹⁰.

16. The private postal services of the nineteenth century claimed that they could do which of the following better than the government?

A. They could deliver a higher volume of mail.

B. They could deliver mail more cheaply.

C. They could deliver mail faster.

D. They could deliver mail to rural areas.

17. In 1863 the United States government began providing which of the following to mail carders?

A. A salary.

B. Housing.

C. Transportation.

D. Free postage stamps.

 

答案解析

14. B主旨大意题。根据短文内容和文中关键词United States Post Office Department (美国邮政部KCongress(国会）可断定正确答案为B(政府邮政系统的发展）。选项 A(私人邮递服务使用的增加）；选项C(城市和乡村邮政服务的对比）；选项D(邮票 的历史）只是原文提到的细节，不能代表全文主旨。

15. A细节题。文中提到：在1847年，美国邮政部采纳了邮票的思想，但引起了不愿 提前支付邮资的人们的抱怨。故选项A(它必须被发信人提前购买）正确。

16. C细节题。文中提到：尽管私人的信件投递和快递业务只是半合法的，但他们获 得了成功，并宣传自己在波士顿和费城之间的邮递业务比政府快半天。故选项C 正确。

17. A细节题。文中提到：最终在1863年，国会提出将信件从邮局分送到私人地址的 邮递员应获得一份政府薪金，并且投递不应收取额外的费用。故选项A正确。选 项B、C、D短文未提及。

1 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

2 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

3 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

4 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

5 ail   

v.生病，折磨，苦恼

参考例句：

• It may provide answers to some of the problems that ail America.这一点可能解答困扰美国的某些问题。
• Seek your sauce where you get your ail.心痛还须心药治。

6 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

7 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

8 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

9 affix   

n.附件，附录 vt.附贴，盖(章)，签署

参考例句：

• Please affix your signature to the document. 请你在这个文件上签字。
• Complete the form and affix four tokens to its back. 填完该表，在背面贴上4张凭券。

10 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。