外研版初二英语上mod le 1 背景材料stamp collecting
惠州学英语,惠州请家教上惠大家教网www.h  stamp collecting introd ction stamp collecting is f n, relaxing, and pop lar for many reasons. yo can collect stamps at no cost, as they come in yo r mail every day. and even if yo b y new stamps in sets they are q ite inexpensive. another way people get stamps is to swap with friends, or ask friends and relatives to save any special ones they get in the mail. in addition to yo r local post shop, many stationery shops sell inexpensive collectors packs of overseas stamps. there are also special shops that specialise in selling old stamps. the people who r n these shops are called stamp dealers and several of them p blish special catalog es that list all the stamps ever iss ed in new zealand, and the cost of the stamps if yo wish to b y them. one of the easiest ways to start a collection is to get an old collection. perhaps a relative or friend have one they no longer want. if yo can t find a spare collection, yo can b y a stamp collectors beginner s pack from a large stationery store or new zealand post. in this pack yo get an economy stamp alb m, stamp hinges, some stamps, possibly a stamp catalog e, a beginner s g ide and a stamp identifier. or yo can b y a modern stock sheet stamp alb m, a packet of stamps, and join the local stamp cl b where yo will find lots of people willing to show yo how to sort o t where each stamp comes from and exactly where it sho ld be mo nted. yo ll have many ho rs of f n in the hobby of philately, as stamp collecting is called, seeking o t stamps； sorting o t where they come from； placing them in yo r stamp alb m； and caref lly noting nderneath the stamp what it is, where it comes from and anything else interesting yo know abo t the stamp. b ying stamps it is a good idea to decide to spend a small amo nt each week on stamps so that yo can get stamps reg larly. j st a few dollars a week will soon b ild p a very impressive collection. recent stamp iss es are available from any post shop or yo can b y stamps iss ed over the last 12 months by mail order from the new zealand post stamps centre. recent and older stamps can also be p rchased from stamp dealers. joining a cl b a great way of learning abo t stamp collecting is to join a stamp cl b. most big towns and cities have a stamp cl b. stamp cl bs s ally have reg lar meetings at which information abo t stamps is exchanged and stamps themselves are swapped. the cl bs also often p t o t newsletters and magazines which have a lot of stamp information in them. stamp cl bs hold stamp competitions and exhibitions and cl b members love to show off their stamp collections at these events. by listening to what the j dges say abo t the collections shown at these competitions, yo can often get new ideas for improving yo r own collection. what sort of stamps when they start saving stamps, most people start saving what is called a general collection - a collection of all sorts of stamps from all sorts of co ntries. b t, since the co ntries of the world every year iss e between five and eight tho sand new stamps, a general collection can soon become m ch too large for comfort. that is partly the reason why many collectors become interested in one type of stamps and start a one co ntry collection or a thematic collection. one co ntry collection one co ntry collections are where the collector collects as many stamps as possible from one co ntry only. many people who decide to start a one co ntry collection don t think abo t collecting their own co ntry s stamps. yet the least expensive one co ntry collection for a new zealander to have wo ld be a collection of new zealand stamps. each year new zealand post sells a collector s folder which contains all the stamps iss ed in new zealand in the past year. this special pack is sold for no more than the cost of the stamps. many people who collect stamps from j st one co ntry also collect s ch things as plate blocks, perforation and watermark varieties, flaws, missing colo rs, paper and printing changes, and other things of interest. thematic collection when the stamps that yo collect are all on one s bject, s ch as space, paintings, transport, sports or animals, this is called thematic collecting. and yo can specialise even more than this. for example, sports is s ch a big s bject that some collectors only collect stamps on certain sports s bjects s ch as the olympic games, water sports, or ball games. people who are interested in a partic lar s bject only collect stamps on that s bject. keen gardeners often collect flower stamps, motorcyclists collect motorcycle stamps, and car fans collect stamps with cars on them. other people specialize more in things connected with stamps. some people collect cinderellas - stamps that are not official stamps iss ed by a co ntry s postal administration. others collect postal stationery, postmarks and postal markings of a co ntry. in order to do this, these collectors m st also know q ite a bit abo t the postal system of the co ntry or gro p they are collecting from and this req ires a lot of st dy. some real enth siasts pinpoint their st dy to a small area of a co ntry - the wairarapa in new zealand for example - and find o t as m ch as they can abo t the postal services and anything else to do with the mail in that area. these collectors will know the names of all the local postmasters from the past and the present day post shop managers), when the post offices changed their date stamps, made certain deliveries, sed stamps in error, and h ndreds of other little details abo t the post in that area. the main thing to remember when deciding what to collect and when is that it sho ld be what yo want to do. stamp alb ms while almost anything will do as a stamp alb m when yo first start collecting, if yo get serio s abo t stamp collecting yo will want to do it the way the professionals do. most large stationary shops and bookshops have stamp alb ms for sale. the old type of stamp alb m was a bo nd book where the pages are bo nd together by sewing or staples as in a normal book. these books had a separate page for the stamps of each important co ntry. the pages co ld not be removed from these alb ms and the stamps were st ck into the book with stamp hinges. the next type of alb m is the loose-leaf alb m. this is a folder type of alb m and yo can take the pages o t of these alb ms so that yo co ld work on them easier. the pages are held in these alb ms in a n mber of ways b t most have two or three rings that go tho gh holes in the pages to hold them in the book. the advantage of these ring binders, as they are called, is that they allow the pages to lie flat when opened. it is possible to b y pages for these alb ms that have the names of vario s co ntries printed at the top, as with a bo nd alb m. it is also possible to b y blank pages headed with titles s ch as fish , or ships , or space for collectors who are concentrating on collecting one type of stamps in a thematic collection. if yo decide to collect the stamps of j st one co ntry, in a "one co ntry" collection, yo may even be able to b y some blank pages already printed with that co ntry s name. these pages have a space for each stamp iss ed by the co ntry and the space often holds a pict re of the stamp. information abo t the stamp is also printed on the pages. all yo have to do is collect a stamp for each space and mo nt it in the correct place. today, many collectors are sing stock sheet alb ms. these are loose leaf folders with special plastic pages in them. each plastic page has several strips of plastic r nning across it. these strips make a n mber of wide pockets into which yo slip yo r stamps. the plastic is a special sort of plastic that doesn t go yellow and sticky in the s nshine and protects yo r stamps sho ld yo accidentally spill anything over yo r stamp alb m. there are two sorts of plastic page. one is single sided, having pockets on one side only while the other is do ble sided - it has pockets on both sides of the page. preparing yo r stamps soaking whenever yo to ch a stamp, yo sho ld always remember that, one day, it may be rare and worth a lot of money. so yo sho ld always handle yo r stamps caref lly. when yo first start stamp collecting yo will probably get most of yo r stamps from pieces of envelopes. firstly, when c tting the piece off the envelope, take care not to c t the stamp. once a stamp is c t, torn or damaged it is almost worthless. the easiest part to damage on a stamp (and the most important part not to damage) is the perforations aro nd the edge of the stamp. to get the stamp off the piece of envelope yo soak them off. to do this, yo place the pieces of envelope with the stamp facing pwards on the s rface of a bowl of warm water or on a cloth dampened with warm water. leave the stamps on the water or the cloth ntil yo can slide the stamp gently off the envelope. never be in too m ch of a h rry or try to force the stamp off the envelope. if the stamp won t slide off easily, p t it back in the water or on the cloth and try it again later. when yo have got the stamp off the envelope, dry the stamp by placing it face p on a clean and dry piece of blotting paper. remember, never h rry the job. if yo damage the stamp it will be worthless and yo may never find another like it. when the stamp is dry, it is ready for placing in yo r stamp alb m. very old and rare stamps are best left on the envelope they came on as they are likely to be worth more on the envelope, even if the envelope is torn or dirty. handling the stamp a basic r le of stamp collecting is try to avoid holding the stamp in yo r hand. this is beca se holding a stamp in yo r hand makes the stamp dirty, and the grease and sweat on yo r hand can damage or mark the stamp after a while. the best way to hold stamps is to se stamp tweezers. these have wide pinchers (thin ones will crease and damage the stamp) and are small eno gh to be comfortable to se. try not to fold the stamp as this may make a crease on the paper and this makes the stamp less val able. checking the stamp once yo have the stamp yo will want to st dy it more caref lly and see the fine detail of the stamp design. to do this yo will need a good magnifying glass. there are a wide range of magnifying glasses available and if yo visit a stamp dealer, stationery shop, or book shop yo can choose the one that s its yo best. perforation ga ge the jagged edge of a stamp is called the perforation. some stamps look the same b t they have a different size of perforation. a perforation ga ge meas res the perforation on the stamp. perforation is meas red by the n mber of holes in every 2 cm of perforation. if there are 14 holes in 2 cm then the perforation is said to meas re 14. beca se it wo ld be annoying to have to co nt the n mber of holes each time yo want to know the perforation of a stamp, yo can b y a perforation ga ge which yo can match p against the perforations on the stamp yo are looking at and find the perforation meas rement. the ga ge has on it rows of black dots. each row has a different size of black dot. when yo place the stamp on the rows yo can see which row of dots fit into the perforation holes on the stamp and the n mber beside the row of black dots on the ga ge tells yo what the stamp s perforation meas rement is. on some stamps the perforations on the side of the stamp and the top of the stamp are different sizes and a perforation ga ge will help yo check this. watermark detector on some stamps yo can see a design by holding the stamp p to the light and looking thro gh it. this design is called the watermark. sometimes, altho gh a stamp has a watermark, it is diffic lt to see even if yo hold the stamp p to the light and look thro gh it. a better way of seeing watermarks is to place the stamp face down on a black tray and add a drop or two of benzine to the back of the stamp. the benzine shows p the watermark of the stamp for a short time ntil the benzine evaporates away. the liq id to se is benzine. do not se benzene by mistake！ special black trays and benzine droppers can be bo ght from any good stamp dealer. color g ide color g ides help yo match the description of a stamp given in a stamp catalog e. these g ides are partic larly important if a stamp has been printed in more than one shade of a partic lar color. color g ides contain h ndreds of different colors and shades and their names to help identify a stamp and its color. they can be bo ght from any good stamp dealer. condition of the stampany stamp that is clean, not torn, badly creased, or made thin by having a stamp hinge or piece of paper badly torn off the back of the stamp, is said to be a stamp in good condition. a collector also j dges how good a stamp s condition is by how good the postmark is (it sho ld not cover p most of the stamp s design), and how good the perforations are. a stamp in good condition is more val able than a stamp in poor condition. sometimes yo will get a stamp that yo have been looking for b t it is not in as good a condition as yo wo ld like. what yo sho ld do is p t the less perfect stamp in yo r collection ntil yo can find a better example. sometimes a stamp has brown spots on it and many new collectors think that, beca se of this, the stamp is in too bad a condition to be sed. these spots are ca sed beca se the stamp has been moist for too long or there has not been eno gh light in the place the stamp has been stored. in stamp collecting these spots are called r st. sometimes it is known as foxing. if yo look thro gh yo r stamp alb m every month or so, yo r stamps sho ld not get r st marks on them as t rning the pages will air the stamps. however, if yo have any stamps with r st on them, yo can se some special chemicals to clean them p. many collectors think that they have r st on their stamps b t the marks on the stamps are either j st dirty or the stamps have a water stain on them. dirty stamps sho ld be cleaned with a very soft r bber, while stamps with an old water stain can be cleaned with plain water. stamp catalog es stamp catalog es are very sef l for a stamp collector. a world stamp catalog e lists all the stamps that have been iss ed thro gho t the world, while a one-co ntry catalog e lists all the stamps that have been iss ed for a partic lar co ntry. using a catalog ewhen looking in a catalog e for a partic lar stamp, yo look p the listings for the co ntry which iss ed the stamp. next, yo look thro gh that co ntry s listings ntil yo find a pict re of a stamp similar to the one yo are trying to identify. most catalog es will not have a pict re of every single stamp iss ed as this wo ld be an impossible task, b t one stamp in each set is s ally shown. yo sho ld find it easy eno gh to identify any stamp from the basic ill stration in the catalog e. once yo ve fo nd the partic lar stamp listing, yo will find more information listed abo t the stamp. most stamps are iss ed in sets and the catalog e will list all the stamps which were iss ed in the set yo r stamp comes from. it will also tell yo why the stamps were iss ed (to hono r a famo s person or to commemorate an event, for example), the year the stamps were iss ed, the denomination of the stamps in the set, and the colo r of each stamp in the set. some catalog es will give yo even more information, incl ding the name of the person who designed the stamps, the name of the printer, and how the stamp was printed. also listed may be information abo t watermarks and perforations on the stamps. sometimes catalog es will not list any reason for the iss e of the stamps. this is s ally beca se the stamps are "definitive" stamps. these stamps are on sale for many years, nlike special iss es s ch as commemorative or scenic iss es which are sold for a limited time. prices an important piece of information a catalog e gives is the price. a catalog e s ally gives two prices for each stamp. the first price is the cost of the stamp in an un sed condition, in other words, one witho t a postmark. the next price is for a sed stamp. a sed stamp is one that has been thro gh the mail and is s ally postmarked. sometimes there is another price in a catalog e for a stamp in mint condition. a mint stamp has all its original g m intact as when it was first sold. sometimes a catalog e has different listings - uhm, m, and u. uhm stands for unhinged mint. the stamp is in the condition it was in when first p rchased. m stands for hinged mint. the stamp has previo sly been mo nted in a collection. u stands for used. the stamp is postmarked b t not heavily. the prices in the book tell yo what the stamp will cost to b y. they are not what yo wo ld receive for the stamp if yo sold it. however, they give yo a general idea of what yo r collection is worth and, when yo are looking to b y a stamp, the price in the catalog e is what yo wo ld have to pay to get the stamp. getting a catalog ethere are lots of catalog es available b t many of the hard-backed ones are very expensive. however, most p blic libraries have copies of the bigger stamp catalog es or yo may be able to b y an o t-of-date catalog e at a very low cost. there are also smaller catalog es available from some new zealand stamp dealers that are very reasonably priced. used sensibly, the stamp catalog e is the most sef l book a stamp collector can have. mo nting yo r stamps when yo p t the stamps in yo r alb m, this is called mo nting the stamps. if yo do have a stamp alb m with plain paper pages, yo will have to se hawid mo nts or stamp hinges to mo nt yo r stamps. hawid mo nts are small plastic pockets in which stamps are placed for mo nting in the stamp alb m. this protects the stamps and is ideal for mint stamps. yo can, however, simply se a good q ality stamp hinge. stamp hinges are tiny pieces of paper with g m on one side only. do not se gl e, tape, or the selvedge from a sheet of stamps to mo nt yo r collection or yo will never be able to get the stamps o t of yo r alb m in one piece. to mo nt a stamp with a hinge, yo fold the top third of the hinge back. make s re the g m is on the o tside. moisten the short side of the hinge. fix it as close to the centre of the top edge of the stamp as possible. next, sing yo r finger to avoid wetting the backing of the stamp, lightly wet the lower half of the larger side of the hinge. now se yo r tweezers to hold both the stamp and the hinge. caref lly place the stamp in the correct position in yo r alb m. gently press the stamp into place sing a piece of paper. remember not to to ch the stamp with yo r fingers. don t forget that if the stamp still has g m on the back and yo have wet it, the stamp will stick firmly by its own g m on to the alb m page and when yo come to remove it, yo will damage the stamp. if the stamp has been mo nted correctly yo will be able to lift it p easily to examine the back of the stamp. if yo ever have to take a hinge off a stamp, never try to peel it off if the hinge is still wet. always let the hinge dry first. if the stamp is a sed one, yo sho ld soak the hinge off b t if the stamp is a mint one yo sho ld very caref lly peel the hinge off once it is dry. mo nting stamps properly is very important if yo wish to keep yo r stamps in good condition and keep their val e. people with expensive collections se a hagner system type of stamp alb m as these protect the stamps the most. hagner system alb ms are the most common type of stamp alb m sold today. arranging yo r stamps many of the stamp alb ms yo can b y have the names of co ntries printed at the top of each page and, often, a black and white pict re of a stamp from that co ntry. also on the pages there may be sq ares printed for each stamp. if this is the case, as yo get a stamp for the co ntry, yo can simply mo nt yo r stamps in one of the sq ares on the page set aside for that partic lar co ntry s stamps. on some alb ms each page has a pattern of tiny sq ares, called a grid. with this sort of alb m where yo p t the stamps is p to yo . the pattern of sq ares is there simply to help yo mo nt the stamp straight p and down. as the grid pattern allows yo to choose yo r own arrangement of stamps on the page yo have to decide how to mo nt them. the main things to remember are not to overcrowd the page with too many stamps, to try to keep together stamps that were iss ed as a set, to keep the stamps in some sort of order according to the date they were iss ed, and to leave eno gh space between stamps to write in the information abo t each stamp. most collectors do not worry too m ch abo t the denomination of each stamp. yo don t need to keep all the 40 cent stamps together. for example, yo r alb m will look nicer if yo concentrate more on the shape and size of the stamps and keeping the shapes and sizes in balance. one way of arranging the page is to place the stamps yo wish to mo nt on the page and move them abo t ntil the page looks good to yo . try to keep the pattern of stamps on the left and right hand side of the page even and yo can vary the n mber of stamps in each row to give yo r page some variety. it is often best to mo nt the longest row of stamps abo t two thirds of the way down the page. don t forget if yo have looked p information abo t the stamps that yo have and discovered that they are part of a larger set, yo will need to leave eno gh room, if yo decide yo want to try and collect the set. if it is a large set and yo only have one or two stamps of the set, it is probably best to keep the stamps yo have in yo r stamp stock book ntil yo get more of the set, than j st mo nt one or two stamps and leave lots of empty spaces on the page. once yo have decided on the layo t of the stamps on the page, make some light pencil marks to show where each stamp will go, to show where to place each stamp when yo mo nt them. don t forget to leave room for the annotation that goes with each stamp. the annotation is the written description the collector p ts into an alb m to describe each stamp, where it came from and how m ch it cost etc. finally, when yo have arranged yo r stamp collection neatly, yo ll have something special to show yo r friends and family and something to give yo lots of f n and pleas re for many years.