雅思听力

🎧 Listening Transcript

Today we're going to discuss the history of the postal service. In the early 19th century, letters were delivered by horseback riders, which was slow and unreliable. The first major improvement came in 1837 when the Penny Post was introduced in Britain, making it affordable for ordinary people to send mail. Later, in 1860, the Pony Express in the United States reduced delivery time across the continent to just 10 days. However, it was short-lived due to the invention of the telegraph. By the early 20th century, airmail began, but it wasn't until the 1970s that automated sorting machines revolutionized the speed of mail handling.