Auctions(拍卖) are public sales of goods, conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asked the crowd to gather in the auction room to bid for various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the goods. This is called “knocking down” the goods, for the bidding ends when the auctioneer bangs a small hammer on a raised platform.
The ancient Romans probably invented sales by auction and the English word comes from the Latin "autic", meaning "increase". The Romans usually sold in this way the spoils taken in war; these sales were called "sub hasta", meaning "under the spear", a spear being stuck in the ground as a signal for a crowd to gather. In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries goods were often sold "by the candle"; a short candle was lit by the auctioneer and bids could be made while it was burning. Practically all goods can be sold by auction. Among these are coffee, skins, wool, tea, cocoa, furs, fruit, vegetables and wines. Auction sales are also usual for land and property, antique furniture, pictures, rare books, old china and works of art. The auction rooms at Chritie’s and Sotheby’s in London and New York are world famous.
An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full particulars of the articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by the buyers. If the advertisement cannot give full details, catalogues are printed, and each group of goods to be sold together, called a "lot", is usually given a number. The auctioneer need not begin with lot one and continue the numerical order; he may wait until he notices the fact that certain buyers are in the room and then produce the lots they are likely to be interested in. The auctioneer’s services are paid for in the form of a percentage of the price the goods are sold for. The auctioneer therefore has a direct interest in pushing up the bidding.
An auction catalogue gives buyers______.

According to the record in the inscriptions(题字，碑铭), ancient China Post originated in the Yin-Shang Dynasty, prosperous (繁荣)in the Zhou Dynasty, popular in the Spring-Autumn and the Warring States Periods (770-221 B. C). Confucius said, "The propagation (传播) of moral is as rapid as post delivery", which described the popularity of the post.
Paragraph Two:Ancient Chinese post system was the special communication organization for govern ment, which only delivered official documents and not private letters. Public communication which was organized by individuals developed slowly. By the coddle stage of Ming Dynasty, with the progress of productive forces and the increase of the requirements for public communication, private-owned post offices were created. By late Qing, the number of private owned post offices had exceeded several thousands, forming their own communication network, which became the public communication organization in parallel with official posts.
Paragraph Three:
The spread of modem post to China appeared in the form of so called "Guest Post", which was the post organization set up by western powers which violated (侵犯) Chinese sovereignty (主权). The invasion of "Guest Post" to China originated from the trading of western merchants in China after the discovery of shipping line on seas.
Paragraph Four:After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China Post entered a new development period. China Post was created on the basis of the post in the liberated area and the Chinese Postal Administration which had been taken over and transformed. After the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was founded, it undertook to establish new management system, restore and develop postal network, unify the service categories and the standards of postage, pose the service principle as Speed, Accuracy, Security and Convenience, and establish and perfect the business management system. By doing so, the postal cause in China gained an initial development.
Paragraph Five:
In the early 1960s, with the vigorous upsurge (高潮、上升) of the national independence movement in Africa, China established direct postal relations with many newly independent African countries. By the end of 1965, 77 countries and regions in all the continents of the world had established the direct postal relations with China, which was a two time increase compared to that of 26 in 1949. African countries increased from 2 to 18.
Now match each paragraph to the appropriate title.
Note: there are two extra titles.
Titles

• [A] The Relationship between China Post and Overseas post office
• [B] Origin and Characteristics of Post
• [C] Modification and Reorganization of Post
• [D] The Development of the Ancient Public Communication
  
• [E] Appearance of Special Public Communication
  
• [F] Invasion of "Guest Post"
  
• [G] Establishment and initial Development of Post in P.R. China

A．close
B．shut
C．stop
D．comfort