Whenever you send a letter or a postcard，you have to put stamps on the envelope or on the card．When did people first begin to use stamps?Who was the first to think of this idea?

    In the early nineteenth century，people did not use stamps．They had to pay postage when they receive letters．They unhappy about this，especially when they pay for a letter which they did not wish to receive at a11．The postage was high at that time，because the post offices had to send many people to cotlem the postage．

 RowIand Hill，a schoolnlaster in England，was the first to put forward a proposal to use stamps in the 50s of the nineteenth century．fie thought it would be much easier for people to use stamps to coover postage．They could go to the nearby post office to buy stamps and put them on envelopes before they sent the letters，The post office simply put seals on the stamps so that people could not use the staraps again．In this way，the post office did not need to send postmen to collect postage．It only needed to send fewer postmen to deliver letters．’That was a good idea and the governmern finally accepted it．

It was not until that people began to use stamps．

     A．!he early 19th Century    B．the middle 19th century

    C．the late 19th century    I)．the beginning of the 19th century

Before stamps were used，postage     ．

    A．was paid by the letter—posters  B．was paid by the letter—receivers

     C．was collected by postmen D．BothBand C

After stamps were used，post offices needn’t        

    A．send postmen to collect the postage

    B．send postmen to collect letters

    C．send postmen to deliver jetters

    D．put seals on the used stamps

Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?

   A．When did people first begin to use stamps?

   B．Who was the first to think of using stamps?

   C．Why were postmen sent to collect postage?

   D．How did stamps come Into use?