【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[听力原文]
Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week.
The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a "forever stamp", it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2- or 3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp.
As the name implies,
"forever stamps" will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service"s (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases.
The May increases will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation, competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including health care, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from the sales of the "forever stamp" and the savings from not printing as many 2- or 3-cent stamps. "It"s not your grandfather"s stamp," says Mr Saunders. "It could be your great grandchildren"s stamp."
Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he"s interested in the public"s reaction. "This is an entirely new class of stamps." Mr Schilling says. He adds that he"ll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich—the volume printed will be too large for collectors. "We won"t be able to send our kids to college on these," he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission"s decision, but tends to follow its recommendations.
No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps.
What is the main purpose of introducing a "forever stamp"?
[解析] 选项均以“to+动词原形”开头表明，本题考查行为目的。短文中提到The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service"s (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases.，即出台“永久邮票”是为了回应人们对邮费频繁增长的抱怨，故答案为C。
问题中的introducing a "forever stamp"是听音的关键。C是对短文中提到的answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases的同义转述。
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[听力原文]
Which is true according to the passage?
[解析] 选项均为意义各异的完整句子，结合其中重复出现的forever stamps可知，本题可能考查和forever stamps相关的事实细节。短文中提到，加拿大、英国和芬兰已经在使用类似的邮票，故排除A；短文中提到the savings from not printing as many 2-or3-cent stamps，这表明2、3美分的邮票并不是停印，而是印量减少，故排除B；短文中通过引用有50年集邮史的唐·席林的话说明收集“永久邮票”并不会给人们带来丰厚的回报，故排除D。短文最后提到，目前还没有公布“永久邮票”的设计情况，故答案为C。