Howcanasmallstampbeworth$16,800? Anymistakemadeintheprintingofastampraisesitsvaluetostampcollectors.Amistakeonatwo-pennystamphasmadeitworthamillionandahalftimesitsfacevalue. Doyouthinkitimpossible?Well,itistrue.Andthisishowithappened. ThemistakewasmademorethanahundredyearsagointheformerBritishcolony(前英国殖民地)ofMauritius(毛里求斯岛),asmallislandintheIndianOcean.In1847anorderforstampswassenttoLondon.Mauritiuswasabouttobecomethefourthcountryintheworldtoputoutstamps. BeforetheorderwasfilledandthestampsarrivedfromEngland,abigdancewasplannedbythecommander-in-chief(总司令)ofallthearmedforcesontheisland.ThedancewouldbeheldinhishouseandlettersofinvitationwouldbesenttoalltheimportantpeopleinMauritius.Stampswerebadlyneededtoposttheletters.Therefore,anislander,whowasagoodprinter,wastoldtocopythepatternofthestamps.Hecarelesslyputthewords“PostOffice”insteadof“PostPaid”,twowordsseenonstampsatthattime,ontheseveralhundredthatheprinted. Today,thereareonlytwenty-sixofthesemisprintedstampsleft---fourteenOne-pennyRedsandtwelveTwo-pennyBlues.BecausetherearesofewTwo-PennyBluesandbecauseoftheirage,collectorshavepaidasmuchas$16,800foroneofthem. 小题1:Whenamistakeismadeintheprintingofthestamp,thestamp___________. |
A.willbethrownaway |
B.increasesinvalue |
C.isnotworthbuying |
D.isworthnomorethanitsfacevalue |
小题2:WhydidMauritiusprintsomestampstoo?Because__________.
A.Londonstampswerenotwellprinted |
B.Londonwouldnotprintthem |
C.invitationstoabigdancehadtobepostedquickly |
D.Mauritiushadaverygoodprinter |
小题3:“PostPaid”means___________.
A.thesameas“PostOffice” |
B.thePostOfficeistheplacetobuystamps |
C.moneyhasbeenpaidforthestamp |
D.thelettermustbeposted |