第一张邮票 你曾给朋友寄过信吗？如果寄过，那你一定在寄信之前在信封上贴上了邮票。那在邮票发明过去人们不使用邮票和信封。当人们想寄信时，他们会在信纸上盖封口章。收到信的人得付钱而且费用非常昂贵。正因如此，有些寄信的人通常在信外面标上特殊的记号，收信人会读懂这个特殊的记号，然后他就拒绝收信，免付邮费。 1837年，罗兰希尔先生在英国倡导了“邮政改革”。他提出只要付一便士，信就可以寄到英国任何地方。费用由寄信人通过在信上粘贴一张黑色小纸支付。这样世界上第一张邮票就诞生了，人们昵称它为“黑便士”。

Lesson26 The First Stamp
Have you ever mailed letters to your friends? If so， you must have put stamps on the letters before you sent them． So how did people receive letters before stamps were invented， and who came up with the idea of using stamps?
In the past， stamps and envelopes were not used． When people wanted to send a letter， they would close the paper with a seal． The person who got the letter had to pay for it and the cost was very high． Because of this， some senders would often place secret marks on the outside of the letter． The person who was sent the letter would read the secret message． Then， he would refuse to accept the letter so as to avoid the payment．
In Britain， Sir Rowland Hill introduced the “Post Office Reforms” in 1837． He decided that letters could go to any place in the country for a penny． The cost was to be paid by the sender by placing a small piece of black paper on the letter． Thus was born the first stamp in the world and was known for its nickname “Penny Black”．
seal ／si:l／ n 图章