奇速英语

丹麦红色邮筒谢幕，终结百年信件递送（语法填空）

Denmark’s bright red mailboxes are an iconic sight, beloved by visitors and residents alike. Now, ____1____, the colorful vessels are disappearing from street corners as PostNord prepares to end its letter ____2____ (deliver) service in the country.

“We have been the Danes’ postal service for 400 years, and therefore it is a difficult decision to put a bow on that part of our story,” says Kim Pedersen, CEO for PostNord Denmark. Yet the Danes have become more and more digital, ____3____ means that there are very few letters left for us ____4____ (handle) today. Danes hardly receive any letters anymore. The number of letters sent in Denmark has decreased by more than 90 percent since 2000, ____5____ (fall) from more than 1.4 billion to less than 200 million, and the downturn continues so clearly that the market for letters is no longer ____6____ (profit).

Letter-writers in Denmark will still be able to send mail via the delivery company Dao. But they’ll either have to take their post to a Dao shop directly, or pay a fee to have their mail ____7____ (collect). Dao already operates in Denmark and plans to expand ____8____(it) footprint this year, expecting to go from 30 million to 80 million.

Denmark may be the first European country to end ____9____ state-run letter delivery — but it likely won’t be the last. Postal services in other countries around the world are also struggling, including those in Greece, Canada and the United States, ____10____ (report) the Economist.