Before the postage stamp, it was difficult to send a letter to another country. The sender paid for the letter to travel in his or her own country. Then the person in the other country paid for the other part of the trip. If a letter crossed several countries, the problem was bigger.
Rowland Hill, a British teacher, had the idea of a postage stamp with 5 gum on the back. The British Post Office made the first stamps in 1840.
They were the Penny Black and the Twopence Blue. A person bought a stamp and put it on a letter. The post office delivered the letter, or took the letter to the person. When the person got the letter, it was prepaid That is, the sender paid for it earlier.
10 Postage stamps became popular in Great Britain immediately. Other countries started making their own postage stamps very quickly.
However, there were still problems with international mail. Some countries did not want to accept letters with the stamps of other countries. Finally, in 1874 a German organized the Universal Postal 15 System (the UPS). Each country in the UPS agreed to accept letters with prepaid postage from the other members. Today the offices of the UPS are only in Switzerland. Almost every country in the world is a member of this organization. It takes care of any international mail 20 problems.
Today post offices in every country sell beautiful stamps. Collecting stamps is one of the most popular hobbies in the world, and every stamp collector knows about the Penny Black and the Twopence Blue.
A. Guess the meanings of the words.
1. 'delivered' (line 7) a) Clue:
b) The expression "delivered the letter" means . 2. 'prepaid' (line 8)
a) Clue:
b) The expression "it was prepaid" means B.
1. Line 6, 'They' refers to
2. Line 19, 'this organization' refers to
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C. Mark the statements as True (T) , False (F) or No Information (Nl).
1. Before postage stamps, two people paid for letters to travel in two countries.
2. A German first thought of the postage stamp.
3. The United States was the second country to make postage stamps.
4. There are UPS offices in almost every country in the world.
D. Find the sentences in the passage that give the following information and write them down.
1. There were countries which refused to deliver letters with other countries' stamps.
2. A lot of people all over the world collect stamps.
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VOLCANOES
Earthquakes and volcanoes frighten people but they also give them great pleasure. Although volcanoes are mostly beautiful mountains, thev have destroyed cities, forests and farmland throughout history.
The word volcano comes from the name of the island of Vulcano, just 5 north of Sicily. In classical times, people thought k was the home of
Vulcan - the god of destruction. Science has improved greatly.
However, we still know very little about volcanoes.
A volcano is a kind of chimney, or vent. This chimney goes down to a liquid deep in the earth, called 'magma'. Three types of material 10 come out of this vent: a hot liquid (lava'), pieces of rock and great
quantities of gas. The lava and rock often collect around the vent and form the volcano's 'cone'.
Scientists often classify, i.e. group, volcanoes according to the type of vent and kind of explosion.
A. Write the meaning of each word.
1. 'Vulcan' (line 6):
2. 'vent' (line 8):
3. 'magma' (line 9):
4. 'lava' (line 10):
5. 'classify' (line 13):
1. Line 1, them' refers to 2. Line 3, 'they' refers to 3. Line 5, 'if refers to
C. Mark the statements as True (T) or False (F).
1. Although science has developed greatly, we still do not know much about volcanoes.
2. 'Magma' comes out of a volcano's 'vent'.
3. Pieces of rock and large quantities of gas form the volcano's 'cone'.
4. The type of volcano depends on the kind of vent and explosi*.
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CONTAINERS
We can find containers in our homes, schools, and places of work.
For example, food and nonfood products are sold in containers. A favourite container of students and teachers is the wastebasket. Of course, containers are an important part of many professions: painters, 5 doctors, biologists, photographers, chemists, and others use many
kinds of specialized containers.
In this short article, it is not possible to discuss all kinds of containers. Therefore, let us look at some of the simple and basic 10 containers. We will name them, identify their shapes and the materials
they are made of, and say a few words about lids and tops.
Cans
A can is a metal container. It is usually cylindrical in shape, and may have a paper label on the outside. The name of the product is printed on 15 the label or on the metal itself. Cans open in different ways, depending on the product. We need a can opener to open some cans; this utensil cuts the metal. Paint cans have lids. Beverage cans have a pop top or a ring top. Spray cans have a push-button top. Cans are durable containers. In other words, they are strong and long-lasting.
20 Boxes and Cartons
Boxes and cartons are similar containers. Cartons are usually made of card-board (heavy paper) and, as a result, are not very durable. Boxes can be made of cardboard, paper, wood, metal, or plastic. Boxes and cartons have rectangular or square sides. Some of these containers, 25 such as jewelry boxes and egg cartons, have tops that open and close with hinges. Other boxes and cartons have removable tops (i.e.,*you can take these tops off).
Jars
A jar is a glass or ceramic container. It has a wide mouth (top opening) 30 and no neck. Some jars have tops or covers called screw-on-lids and others have lids that fit inside the mouth. Some jars (e.g., jars you see in supermarkets) are very practical because they hold many different products, and because we can clean them and use them again. Jars are durable but breakable. In other words, they are easy to break by 35 accident.
Bottles
A bottle, like a jar, is a container that is usually made of glass. These days, however, plastic bottles are also very common. Bottles are different from jars in one important way: a bottle has a small mouth and
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40 a neck, but a jar has a wide mouth and no neck. Bottles have caps or tops which either screw on or snap on. Bottles hold beverages (juice, soda, etc.) and other liquid food such as soup. They are also used to contain photographic, industrial, and medical chemicals.
B a g s
45 A bag is a flexible container. That is, it is soft and movable. Many bags are made of paper, foil, or thin plastic. Such bags are not durable containers - we usually throw them away. We close bags in several ways, for example, by folding them, by tying them with something, and, in the case of plastic bags, by knotting them. Bags come in many 50 sizes and contain many different products.
The containers mentioned in this article are just a few of many hundreds of different containers. We have not talked about tubes, tubs, bins, baskets, vats, vases, casks, drums, flasks, trays, or tanks. We have not mentioned containers that we use in cooking and serving food.
55 We have not talked about containers by profession: painters use cans for paint; photographers use bottles and trays for chemicals; chemists use beakers and test tubes. What containers do you have around you in your everyday life? What containers do you use in your profession?
Can you imagine a world without containers?
A.
1. Line 10, 'them' refers to . 2. Line 16, 'this utensil' refers to . 3. Line 3 1 , 'others' refers to other .
4. Line 42, 'They' refers to . 5. Line 46, 'Such bags' refers to bags which are .
B. Guess the meanings of the words.
1. Line 18, 'durable' means . 2. Line 22, 'card-board' means . 3. Line 26, 'removable tops':
If a top is removable, . a) it belongs to an egg carton
b) you cannot open or close it c) you can take it off the box d) it is very strong
4. Line 30, 'Some jars have tops or covers, called screw-on-1 ids...':
A screw-on-lid is a kind of .
r
5. Line 42, 'soup' is a type of . 6. Line 45, 'flexible'
Something flexible is . C.
1. What are the types of cans mentioned in the passage? (Write two of them.)
a)
b) 2
2. Why are jars easy to break?
D. Mark the best choice.
1. This passage is mainly about . a) containers in supermarkets
b) five basic containers
c) containers used by chemists and photographers d) glass containers
2. According to the passage bottles are usually made o f . a) paper or plastic
b) glass or cardboard c) metal or wood d) glass or plastic
3. Boxes, jars, and bottles open and close with different.
a) materials b) containers c) tops
d) necks
4. One important difference between a jar and a bottle is a) the material it is made of
b) the size of the mouth c) the label
d) the size of the container