雅思听力

🎧 Listening Transcript

Today we're going to discuss the history of the postal service. In the 19th century, the introduction of the penny post in Britain was a major breakthrough. Before that, the recipient, not the sender, had to pay for the mail, which often led to refusal. The reformer Rowland Hill proposed a uniform low rate, paid by the sender, using adhesive stamps. This made mail affordable for ordinary people and dramatically increased the volume of letters. Interestingly, the first stamp, the Penny Black, featured a portrait of Queen Victoria and was issued in 1840. It remained valid for only one year because the red cancellation mark was hard to see on it, so it was replaced by the Penny Red.