45. If you are a member of a stamp club, you can ______.

A. become rich by collecting stamps

B. have a meeting every day

C. get more stamps without anything

D. exchange stamps with the other member

C

Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an old couple who were also paying for gas.

I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend's. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.

I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.

Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池)was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.

"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.

"Thank you" - two powerful words. They're easy to say and mean so much.

44. To soak used stamps in water is the best way to ______.

A. get rid of the print

B. make the stamps clean

C. get stamps off paper

D. increase the value of stamps

43. The writer suggests that you should ______.

A. ask your friends to write to you as often as possible

B. ask your friends to write to each other as often as possible

C. tell your pen pals to write to you as often as possible

D. get used stamps from all kind of people you know

42. Which of the following is true?

A. Collecting stamps is a bad habit

B. Collecting stamps is a hobby for rich people.

C. Used stamps are all worth collecting.

D. Collecting used stamps can save your money.

41. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “positive”?

A. certain　　　 B. Interesting　　　　 C. Impossible　　　 D. Clear

40. The underlined phrase in the last paragraph probably means ____ .

A. playing a less important part in　　 B. controlling and directing

C. pushing ahead　　　　　　　　　 D. building up

B

If you have recently started collecting stamps, or thinking about starting, you may be wondering if the hobby is expensive.

Can you enjoin it with limited money? What if you have no money at all for the hobby?

The answer is an absolute positive one.

Not all collections consist mainly of unused stamps that you buy in the post office. Used stamps are worth saving., have value and they may cost you nothing. In fact, many stamp collectors save only used stamps!

The first place to search for stamps, then, is your own mailbox. You can ask people who write to you to use commemorative(纪念性的)stamps on their mail.

Also, if you write away for offers that require a self-addressed stamps envelope, you can put commemoratives on your return envelopes, knowing that they will come back to you later.

Neighbors, friends, and relatives are another good source of stamps. A majority of people are only to happy to save the stamps on their mail for someone who will appreciate them. You may even know someone who works in an office that gets a lot of mail. Many businesses get a lot of foreign mail and regularly throw away stamps that may have interest or value to a collector. And don’t forget to ask parents if they have any old letters which may still have stamps on the envelopes.

Now that you have stamps on paper, what do you do with them? The most common way to get stamps off paper is to soak them in water, then dry them on paper. To understand more about soaking stamps, it is best to find a handbook on stamp collecting at the library.

Stamp club are another place to get stamps. A club may offer stamps as prizes, or have inexpensive stamps you can offer to buy.

If you don’t have a stamp club around you, try to start one with a few others. All it takes are four or five other stamp collectors who are interested in getting together to learn about and trade stamps and ideas.

Obtaining a pen pal(笔友)in another country is a good way to get stamps from that country. His or her extra stamps may seem really common in that country, but over here they are much scarcer.

39. From the passage, we can conclude that at home _____ .

A. Beckham listens to his wife

B. Victoria listens to her husband

C. Beckham and Victoria discuss and do everything together

D. Beckham has no mind of his own

38. Which of the following is best supported by the fourth paragraph?

A. People still like Victoria better than Beckham.

B. People liked to see Beckham and Victoria get together.

C. To a large degree, Beckham owes his popularity to Victoria.

D. Sports experts used to think little of Beckham.

37. Before meeting Victoria Adams, Beckham ______ .

A. had become world-famous　　　　 B. was absolutely unknown

C. was an ordinary football player　　　 D. was not so influential

36. Which of the following might be the best title of the text?

A. The Posh Power

B. A Perfect Couple

C. Who Is More Influential-Beckham or Victoria?

D. "Posh and Becks" Project