最新版英语听力教程 Model Test9-part a

　　[00:03.50]Section I Listening Comprehension 1

[00:08.25]Part A  Directions:

[00:12.23]For Questions1-5,you will hear an interview about

[00:17.37]the history of postal 2 transport in Britain.

[00:22.10]While you listen,

[00:24.97]fill out the table with the information you've heard.

[00:29.44]Some of the information has been given to you in the table.

[00:34.69]Write only 1 word or number in each numbered box.

[00:39.84]You now have 25 seconds to read the table below.

[00:45.61]W:Mr.Gibbon,the other day you kindly 3 told me something about your hobby

[00:53.94]stamp collecting

[00:57.18]I wonder if you could

[01:00.06]tell me now something about the development or history of postal transport

[01:06.93]...the way letters are carried?

[01:10.87]M:Of course.I'll be pleased to.

[01:15.23]To start with,you should remember that there were developments in two directions:

[01:21.40]in the way that letters were carried and delivered inside Britain...

[01:27.04]and in methods that were used in carrying letters abroad to other countries.

[01:33.31]W:Perhaps you could begin by describing the methods used inside Britain?

[01:39.47]M:Right..from the earliest times messages were carried on foot

[01:45.85]by messengers 4 for kings and other important people.

[01:50.71]Then in the 13th century there was the first development...

[01:56.48]horses were used to carry letters for the king.

[02:01.23]It wasn't until much later that ordinary people,the public,

[02:06.59]also used horses to carry their letters.

[02:11.63]While this was happening inside the country,

[02:15.99]sailing 5 ships were being used in the 17th century

[02:21.04]to carry letters from Britain to European countries.

[02:26.21]The next development in carrying letters abroad wasn't until 1819

[02:33.26]when steam ships were used instead of sailing ships.

[02:38.41]W:You mentioned that horses were used in Britain...I remember reading

[02:44.18]somewhere that coaches and horses were used as well.

[02:49.33]M:Yes...that was the next bit of progress.That started in 1784.

[02:56.46]Four horses were used to pull the coach...and the postman sat on the top.

[03:02.62]It was certainly a much faster method than using just one horse.

[03:07.90]But then,in 1830,

[03:11.35]there was something faster still--railways.

[03:16.00]It was in that year that steam trains were used for the

[03:20.99]first time to carry the Royal Mail.

[03:25.04]Trains were used between towns for carrying letters and parcels 6.

[03:30.81]Later,in the country districts,bicycles were experimented with

[03:36.97]the first ones were used in 1880,

[03:41.36]and they helped postmen who had a long way to walk.

[03:45.80]W:So far,everything you've said took place before 1900.

[03:51.37]Thanks a lot.That's most interesting.