[00:08.28]Bruce and Zhou Lan are talking on the telephone about stamps.
[00:13.84]Hello.Can I speak to Zhou Lan, please?
[00:18.31]This is Zhou Lan speaking.
[00:21.66]Hello,Zhou Lan.This is Bruce.
[00:25.73]Excuse me for ringing you so late in the evening,but I've only just got home.
[00:32.29]That's OK.
[00:35.13]I would like to ask you about some stamps.
[00:39.29]Do you still have the cock year stamp?You had it when I last saw you.
[00:45.45]I'm afraid I don't have it any more.I sold it last week.
[00:51.10]Oh!What a pity!
[00:54.54]I'm sorry.I didn't know you wanted it.What a shame!
[01:00.29]It doesn't matter.I only decided to get one today.
[01:05.57]It's a pity I didn't think of it earlier.
[01:09.72]Do you want me to find one for you?
[01:14.08]Yes,please.That would be kind of you.
[01:18.34]I've been working
[01:21.08]so hard recently that I haven't had any time for collecting new stamps.
[01:27.46]OK.I'll ring you if I have any news.
[01:32.00]Thanks very much.Bye.Goodbye.
[01:36.26]Lesson 22 2 Reading comprehension
[01:48.12]COINS
[01:50.89]The earliest coins in the world were used in China from about the year 650 BC.
[01:58.83]They were called bei money.
[02:02.49]Later,another type of coin was used,with holes in it,
[02:08.34]and these were used for the next 2,000 years,that is,from 221 BC until 1916.
[02:19.39]Coins may be of different sizes,weights,shapes,and of different metals.
[02:26.76]They may have different designs on the two sides.
[02:31.72]It is common to have the head of a famous person on one side.
[02:37.68]Today the coin is usually pressed with the name of the country,
[02:43.45]the value of the coin and the date.
[02:48.10]However,in the past the date was not always included.
[02:53.95]Before coins appeared,seashells,rings,bamboo sticks,
[03:01.21]wood and pieces of cloth were all used for money.
[03:06.67]Coins can be made of different kinds of metal mixed together.
[03:12.31]The earliest coins in the west were made of gold mixed with silver.
[03:19.26]The new Chinese panda coin is made of 99.99% gold.
[03:27.31]Sometimes people discovered collections of coins that had been buried.
[03:33.47]One such collection was found in England in 1978.
[03:39.64]It contained 54,951 coins dating from the years 260-275 AD.
[03:53.30]The largest collection ever found in England was one of about 200,000
[04:00.85]silver pennies all of them over 600 years old.
[04:07.09]These collections of coins sometimes tell a story that has been forgotten.
[04:13.54]In 1978 a person was looking round an old gold-mining town in northern Australia.
[04:21.80]He discovered in the ground a pot containing 32,000 Chinese metal coins.
[04:29.56]The coins included examples of almost all the types of Chinese coin that had been made
[04:36.82]between the 7th century and the late 1870s.
[04:42.78]How had they got there?
[04:46.01]It is known that thousands of Chinese
[04:50.27]worked in the gold mines in the late 19th century.
[04:55.63]It is possible that one of them kept a kind of bank
[05:00.67]where the workers could keep their money safe.
[05:05.14]Possibly this person died without anyone knowing where the coins were hidden.
[05:11.67]Lesson 23 1 Reading comprehension
[05:22.01]COLLECTING STAMPS
[05:25.17]If you are just starting to collect stamps,
[05:29.43]here is some advice for you to follow.
[05:33.19]1.At the beginning,collect as many stamps as you can.
[05:39.36]The ones which you decide not to keep can be traded with other people.
[05:44.92]Never throw stamps away.
[05:48.26]2.Don't keep the envelope,unless it is unusual.
[05:53.31]However,
[05:55.97]do keep the envelope if it is the first date when that particular stamp is used.
[06:02.81]Some people are very interested in these "first day covers".
[06:08.46]3.Sooner or later you will decide that you want to collect a certain kind of stamp
[06:15.90]It may be stamps from a particular country,or stamps of a particular kind
[06:22.35]like stamps with a bird design on them,for example.
[06:27.08]This will make your collecting much more interesting.
[06:31.34]You can then look for new ones to add to your collection.
[06:36.09]4.Do join a group.There is a lot to learn about stamps and others can help you.
[06:44.35]Also it is great fun.
[06:47.90]You will soon learn which stamps other people are collecting
[06:52.87]and they will start to trade stamps with you too.
[06:57.23]5.Go to stamp sales and buy whatever you can afford.
[07:03.18]You can often pick up packs of used stamps very cheaply.
[07:08.83]6.Old stamps that have not been used are usually more expensive than used stamps.
[07:16.90]Perhaps at the beginning you may only afford used stamps.
[07:22.46]7.Sooner or later,you will find something unusual.It may even be valuable.
[07:30.51]Finally,remember that stamp collecting is fun.
[07:35.58]It can be exciting to get stamps which you do not have yet.
[07:40.30]Also,many stamps have unusual and beautiful designs,so enjoy them!
[07:47.36]Words and expressions Unit 6
[07:53.13]cock shame coin shape
[07:56.60]n.公鸡 n.遗憾的事 n.硬币 n.形状,外形
[08:00.08]seashell ring silver collection
[08:03.81]n.海贝 n.环型物 n.银 n.收藏品
[08:07.55]penny (pence) look round=look around mine
[08:12.87]n.便士 仔细查看 vt.开采
[08:18.18]bank material possibly hide(hid,hidden)
[08:23.26]n.银行 n.材料 adv.可能的 vt.&vi.隐藏
[08:28.34]hand out here and there whenever trade
[08:32.13]分发 各处,处处 conj.每当,无论何时 vt.用…交换
[08:35.92]envelope sooner or later whatever afford
[08:40.05]n.信封 迟早 凡是…的事物 vt.担负的起,提供
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