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Stamp collection has been my hobby for five years now. I am an ___1___
stamp collector and my collection includes postage stamps from
many different countries. Robert who shares my interest too,
dropped by one day. He said, " Dick, I have a few ___2___
and I wonder if you'd like to exchange stamps." I jumped on the
idea for I knew that Robert had quite a good collection even
though he had started collecting only recently.
We were busy looking through each other's collection when
Robert suddenly laughed, "Hey, Dick ! What a funny stamp. Look !
The words are spelt backwards." I went over to his chair.
"Indeed it is !" I exclaimed in surprise. "I've ___3___
it before."
I felt disappointed that one of my stamps was a spoilt one.
Then suddenly I remembered an ___4___
in the newspapers about 'freak' stamps and how valuable they
are.
Both of us decided to take the stamp to Mr Lin, who was an ___5___.
With a magnifying glass, he examined the stamp ___6___.
"It's genuine all right," he murmured, "but I must look at
the records on the issue of this stamp and do a little research
before I can tell you whether it is valuable or not." He
rummaged through the shelves and produced a thick file. He ___7___
through the pages and then read in silence for a few minutes
while we waited with much anticipation.
After what seemed like hours, he ___8___.
Yes ! It is quite valuable !" he announced. "In fact this is the
first stamp of its kind to ___9___.
Collectors will be willing to pay a large sum of money for it."
We thanked him and left after he had agreed to auction the
stamp for me. I was jubilant when Mr Lin informed me later that
the stamp had ___10___ a
high price. I deposited part of the money in the bank. I gave
Robert an album and several sets of stamps. After all, he was
the one who spotted the freak stamp. |
