【填空答案】

1. onhorseback: riding a horse 騎著馬

2. ferry: n.［C］a boat that carries people or goods across a river or a narrow part of a sea 渡船；渡輪

3. carrier: n.［C］a company that moves goods or passengers from one place to another 運輸公司

4. inland: adv. in a direction away from the coast and towards the center of a country 向內陸，在內地

5. stagecoach: n. ［C］a closed vehicle pulled by horses that in former times carried passengers who paid to go to a particular place（舊時的）驛站馬車

6. bynomeans: definitely not 決不

7. ingenious: adj. an ingenious plan, idea, invention etc is the result of clever thinking and new ideas, and works well （計劃、主意、發明等）巧妙的，精妙的

8. route: n.［C］the way from one place to another, especially a way that is regularly used and can be shown on a map（尤指經常使用，可在地圖上顯示的）路線

9. reindeer: n. ［C］a large deer with long wide horns 馴鹿

10. discontinue: v. to stop doing or providing something that you have regularly done or provided until now 中止，中斷，終止

11. disagreeable: adj. not at all enjoyable or pleasant 令人不快的，不合意的，討厭的；unfriendly and bad-tempered 不友好的，脾氣壞的

12. temperament: n. ［C,U］the emotional part of someone’s character, especially how likely they are to be happy, angry etc 氣質，性情，性格，稟性

13. replica: n. ［C］a very good copy, especially of a painting or other work of art（尤指藝術）復制品

14. bulkmail: the posting of large amounts of mail for a smaller cost than usual 大宗郵件寄送

15. impressive: adj. something that is impressive seems very good, large, important etc so that you admire it 給人深刻印象的

16. philatelic: adj. of or relating to philately or of interest to philatelists 集郵的

【聽力原文】

Let's proceed to the main exhibit hall and look at some of the actual vehicles that have played a prominent role in speeding up mail delivery. Consider how long it used to take to send a letter across a relatively short distance. Back in the 1600's it took two weeksonhorsebackto get a letter from Boston to New York, a distance of about 260 miles. Crossing a river was also a challenge.Ferryservice was so irregular that acarrierwould sometimes wait hours just to catch a ferry. For journeysinland, there was always thestagecoach, but the ride wasby no meanscomfortable because it had to be shared with other passengers. The post office was prettyingeniousabout someroutes. In the nineteenth century, in the Southwestern desert, for instance, camels were brought in to help get the mail through. In Alaska,reindeerwere used. This practice wasdiscontinuedbecause of thedisagreeabletemperamentof these animals. We'll stop here a minute so that you can enter thisreplicaof a railway mail car. It was during the Age of the Iron Horse that delivery really started to pick up, in fact, theUnited Statestransported mostbulkmailby train for nearly 100 years. The first airmail service didn't start until 1918. Please take a few moments to look around. I hope you'll enjoy your tour. And as you continue on your own, may I suggest you visit ourimpressivephilateliccollection. Not only can you look at some of the more unusual stamps issues, but there is an interesting exhibit on how stamps are made.

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