The History of British Letter Boxes|英国邮筒的历史

The History of British Letter Boxes

by Marcus Maurice

Some simple things have a long history.

　　Postal systems worldwide took a long time to become as efficient as they are today. In the 1830s, the British postal system was badly mismanaged, too expensive for _(1)_ people, and wasteful. As a matter of fact, when people received a letter, they had to pay for it instead of the sender. Widespread fraud happened _(2)_ because recipients were allowed to look at their letters and reject them to avoid payment. This meant that many messages were just printed on the envelopes. In the late 1830s, Rowland Hill wrote a pamphlet on postal reform and suggested penny postage, letter boxes on the side of roads, and other _(3)_.

　　Even though letter boxes were already _(4)_ use in France, Belgium, and Germany in the 1840s, the first ones in England didn't appear until 1853. Also called post boxes or pillar boxes, they were _(5)_ as ugly by the general public as soon as they were put on the streets. The government then funded more ornately designed boxes. In 1859, two sizes of boxes became standardized―_(6)_ for bigger cities and the other for smaller. The most famous letter box shape was named _(7)_ the architect who designed it, John Penfold. These octagon-shaped Penfolds had crowns on the tops and were _(8)_ in many countries all over the world, such as India, Australia, and New Zealand. New letter box designs were _(9)_ for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. Later, some letter boxes were even attached to lampposts, and in 1932, stamp machines were added to them. Most recently, letter boxes were painted gold in the hometowns of the British Olympians that came away from the 2012 Summer Games _(10)_ a gold medal.

(A) one (B) frequently (C) with (D) regular (E) improvements

(F) after (G) in (H) unveiled (I) criticized (J) copied

 

英国邮筒的历史

某些很简单的东西却有很悠久的历史。

　　全球邮政系统花了很长时间才变得和今天一样有效率。1830 年代，英国邮政系统严重管理不当，对一般人来说太贵又很浪费。事实上，当人们收到了一封信，他们得付邮资，而非由寄件人付钱。诈欺事件屡见不鲜，因为收件人可以查看他们的信件，并将其退回以避免付款。这意味着许多讯息就只要印在信封上即可。1830 年代后期，罗兰．希尔针对邮政改革写了一本小册子，并建议使用便士邮资（编按：源自『黑便士』，它是世界上第一张邮票，作为『邮资已付』的依据。）、设立路旁的邮筒等其他改善措施。

　　虽然邮筒已在 1840 年代于法国、比利时和德国等地使用，但英国的第一批邮筒直到 1853 年才出现。这些邮筒也称作 post boxes 或 pillar boxes，他们当时一被设置在街道上就被大众批评丑到不行。于是政府便为了能有更华丽设计的邮筒而提供资金。1859 年，两种不同尺寸的邮筒成了标准规格 ―― 一种用于较大的城市，而另一种则用于较小的城市。而最有名的邮筒外形是以设计该邮筒的建筑师约翰．奔富而命名。这些八角形的奔富邮筒顶端有皇冠，且在世界各地许多国家都有仿造它的邮筒，如印度、澳洲和纽西兰等。新式的邮筒设计在 1887 年亮相，作为维多利亚女王的登基五十周年纪念。随后，有些邮筒甚至还依附在路灯旁，而到了 1932 年，邮筒还添加了邮票贩卖机。近期，邮筒被涂成金色，出现在 2012 年夏季奥运会夺得金牌的英国奥运选手们的家乡中。

答案： 1. D 2. B 3. E 4. G 5. I

6. A 7. F 8. J 9. H 10. C