人教全日制普通高中英语（必修）高三UNIT1-3

Starting a stamp collection is easy and not very expensive. Before you start, you need to decide what kind of stamps you want to collect. Most people collect stamps that have something to do with what they are interested in: a certain country, a type of animal, a famous person or even a sport. Whatever you choose, you will find that there is a world of knowledge in stamps: you will learn about people, geography, architecture, history and culture.
 
      Once you know what you want to collect, there are a few things you need. First of all, you need stamps, of course. Luckily, it is easy to get hold of them. You can collect stamps that come to you in the mail, ask your friends to let you have their old stamps, or you can buy used stamps. When you get a letter with a stamp on it, carefully cut out the stamp. Leave lots of room around the stamp so that you will not damage it. Put the stamp in water and wait until the water has dissolved the glue so that you can safely remove the stamp. Carefully lift the stamp off the paper and place it on a clean sheet of paper to dry. A stamp can get wrinkled¹ and ugly when it dries, so place the wet stamp between two clean sheets of paper and put some books on top.
 
       You do not need much equipment to collect stamps, but it is necessary to have a pair of tweezers² and a magnifying³ glass. The tweezers will help you to handle stamps and the magnifying glass helps you see details and discover tiny faults. It is also important to have a good album to put the stamps in.
 
       For most collectors, the joy of collecting and learning⁴ about the items is the most important, but collections can become worth a lot of money. A collection becomes valuable if it is complete, that is, if it includes all the items in a series, or if it contains rare items. Stamps can also become valuable if there is something wrong with them. A Swedish stamp, issued in 1855, was printed on yellow paper instead of the green paper that should have been used. As a result, a stamp that had only cost a few pennies became worth millions of dollars. The only existing copy of the stamp was found by a young boy looking through his grandfather's collection. The stamp was sold to a collector in 1996 for $2.3 million!
 
       Collecting coins is not quite as easy as collecting stamps, but beginners can start by going through the change in their pockets, that is, collect coins which are in circulation⁵. Someone who wants to start a collection can also contact a club for coin collectors or ask a relative or a friend who collects coins. Experienced⁶ collectors usually have more than one coin of a certain kind and will not mind sharing the extra ones. They can also provide helpful advice about where to buy old or rare coins. Most collectors begin by collecting coins from their own country. A collection can be built around any theme, but coin collectors often arrange their collections based on where and when the coin was made.
 
       As with stamps, you do not need a lot of special tools or equipment. You do need a safe place to store the coins. There are inexpensive albums that will protect your coins while still allowing you and your friends to enjoy them. You can hold the coins with your bare hands, but you should wear gloves if it is a valuable coin. Never touch the face or back of a coin. The dirt on your fingers will destroy the surface of the coin. Nor should you ever clean an old coin -- if you do, the coin will lose its value. You can clean ordinary coins if you wish: copper⁷ coins can be cleaned with vegetable oil and silver coins with common soap. After cleaning the coins, wipe them with a clean cloth. Never use any strong or dangerous chemicals.
 
       Perhaps the most valuable coin in the world is the 1933 "Double Eagle". The coin was first issued in 1850 and was made of gold from California. The coin was changed in 1907 and was used until 1933, when the American government decided⁸ to take the country off the gold standard. People were no longer allowed to own the coin, and all the coins were brought back to the bank, where all but two were destroyed. The two coins that were left were kept in a museum. Some coins were stolen, but all of them were found by the police -- except for one! The last "Double Eagle" remained missing⁹ until 1996, when police officers managed to get the coin back in a secret operation. The government allowed the coin to be privately¹⁰ owned and it was sold to a collector for 7.5 million dollars.

1 wrinkled   

adj.有皱纹的v.使起皱纹( wrinkle的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指皮肤）起皱纹

参考例句：

• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth. 她把起皱的桌布熨平了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A wrinkled purse,a wrinkled face. 手中无钱，愁容满面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tweezers   

n.镊子

参考例句：

• We simply removed from the cracked endocarp with sterile tweezers.我们简单地用消过毒的镊子从裂开的内果皮中取出种子。
• Bee stings should be removed with tweezers.蜜蜂的螫刺应该用小镊子拔出来。

3 magnifying   

放大的

参考例句：

• Fame is a magnifying-glass. 名誉是放大镜。
• It is unusual for people to press their differences by magnifying them. 对人们来说，以夸大差异的方式强调差异是不正常的。

4 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

5 circulation   

n.循环，流通，传播，发行，发行量

参考例句：

• There is a large circulation in the musical public.在音乐界销路很广。
• The ideas have been in circulation for some time.这些想法已经流行了一段时间。

6 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

7 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

10 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。