📖 原文
(1) In the early days of the United States, postal charges were paid by the recipient, and (2) charges varied with the distance carried. In 1825, the United States Congress permitted (3) local postmasters to give letters to mail carriers for home delivery, but these carriers (4) received no government salary and their entire compensation depended on what they (5) were paid by the recipients of individual letters. (6) In 1847 the United States Post Office Department adopted the idea of a postage (7) stamp, which of course simplified the payment for postal service but caused grumbling (8) by those who did not like to prepay. Besides, the stamp covered only delivery to the post (9) office and did not include carrying it to a private address. In Philadelphia, for example, (10) with a population of 150,000, people still had to go to the post office to get their mail. (11) The confusion and congestion of individual citizens looking for their letters was itself (12) enough to discourage use of the mail. It is no wonder that, during the years of these (13) cumbersome arrangements, private letter-carrying and express businesses developed. (14) Although their activities were only semilegal, they thrived, and actually advertised that (15) between Boston and Philadelphia they were a half-day speedier than the government (16) mail. The government postal service lost volume to private competition and was not (17) able to handle efficiently even the business it had. (18) Finally, in 1863, Congress provided that the mail carriers who delivered the mail (19) from the post offices to private addresses should receive a government salary, and that (20) there should be no extra charge for that delivery. But this delivery service was at first (21) confined to cities, and free home delivery became a mark of urbanism. As late as 1887, (22) a town had to have 10,000 people to be eligible for free home delivery. In 1890, of the (23) 75 million people in the United States, fewer than 20 million had mail delivered free to (24) their doors. The rest, nearly three-quarters of the population, still received no mail (25) unless they went to their post office.
❓ 试题解析
问题 33： What does the passage mainly discuss?
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
✅ 正确答案： B）The development of a government postal system
📝 解析： 全文讨论美国邮政系统的发展：收件人付费、邮票引入、私人竞争、免费送货政策。
💡 解题技巧： 主旨题看时间顺序和制度变化。
问题 34： The word “varied” in line 2 could best be replaced by
A. increased
B. differed
C. returned
D. started
✅ 正确答案： B）differed
📝 解析： “charges varied with the distance carried” — varied = 因…而变化。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：vary = differ = change according to。
问题 35： 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 mail delivery.
C. It was difficult to affix to letters.
D. It was easy to counterfeit.
✅ 正确答案： A）It had to be purchased by the sender in advance.
📝 解析： “caused grumbling by those who did not like to prepay” — 不喜欢预付的人抱怨。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“grumbling”的原因。
问题 36： Why does the author mention the city of Philadelphia in line 9?
A. It was the site of the first post office in the United States.
B. Its postal service was inadequate for its population.
C. It was the largest city in the United States in 1847.
D. It was commemorated by the first United States postage stamp.
✅ 正确答案： B）Its postal service was inadequate for its population.
📝 解析： 费城有15万人口，人们仍需去邮局取信，说明邮政服务不足。
💡 解题技巧： 例证题看例子要说明的问题（confusion and congestion）。
问题 37： The word “cumbersome” in line 12 is closest in meaning to
A. burdensome
B. handsome
C. loathsome
D. quarrelsome
✅ 正确答案： A）burdensome
📝 解析： “during the years of these cumbersome arrangements” — cumbersome = 繁琐的/麻烦的。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：cumbersome = burdensome = awkward。
问题 38： The word “they” in line 15 refers to
A. Boston and Philadelphia
B. businesses
C. arrangements
D. letters
✅ 正确答案： B）businesses
📝 解析： “private letter-carrying and express businesses ... they thrived, and actually advertised” — they 指 businesses。
💡 解题技巧： 代词题找前一个名词（businesses）。
问题 39： The private postal services of the nineteenth century claimed that they could do which of the following better than the government?
A. Deliver a higher volume of mail.
B. Deliver mail more cheaply.
C. Deliver mail faster.
D. Deliver mail to rural areas.
✅ 正确答案： C）Deliver mail faster.
📝 解析： “advertised that between Boston and Philadelphia they were a half-day speedier than the government mail” — 更快。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“speedier”。
问题 40： In 1863 the United States government began providing which of the following to mail carriers?
A. A salary
B. Housing
C. Transportation
D. Free postage stamps
✅ 正确答案： A）A salary
📝 解析： “Congress provided that the mail carriers ... should receive a government salary”。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“receive a government salary”。
问题 41： The word “confined” in lines 20-21 is closest in meaning to
A. granted
B. scheduled
C. limited
D. recommended
✅ 正确答案： C）limited
📝 解析： “this delivery service was at first confined to cities” — confined = 限制于。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：confine = limit = restrict。
🌐 中文翻译
在美国早期，邮费由收件人支付，费用随运输距离而变化。1825年，美国国会允许 local postmasters 将信件交给邮递员进行上门投递，但这些邮递员没有政府 salary，他们的全部 compensation 取决于 individual 信件收件人支付的费用。 1847年，美国邮政部门采用了邮票的想法，这当然简化了邮政服务的支付，但引起了一些不喜欢 prepay 的人的抱怨。此外，邮票只覆盖到邮局的 delivery，不包括将其投递到私人地址。例如，在费城，有15万人口，人们仍然不得不去邮局取信。个人寻找信件的混乱和拥挤本身就足以阻碍人们使用邮政服务。难怪在这些 cumbersome 安排的年代，私人信件携带和快递业务发展起来。尽管他们的活动只是 semilegal，但他们 thrived，并且 actually 做广告说，在波士顿和费城之间，他们比政府邮件快半天。政府邮政服务在私人竞争下失去了业务量，甚至无法有效处理自己已有的业务。 最终，在1863年，国会规定，将邮件从邮局送到私人地址的邮递员应获得政府 salary，并且该投递不应收取额外费用。但这项投递服务起初 confined to 城市，免费上门投递成为 urbanism 的标志。直到1887年，一个城镇必须有10,000人口才有资格获得免费上门投递。1890年，在美国7500万人口中，只有不到2000万人享受到免费上门投递。其余近四分之三的人口，除非去邮局，否则仍然收不到邮件。
🏷️ 标签：#托福阅读 #真题解析 #备考资料
