Today we take for granted that the mail will be delivered__1__ daily at our door. But many years ago it might havebeen placed in a tree trunk and underneath a rock. In the early__2__ days of the mail no one could be sure about where orwhen it will arrive. __3__ At the southern tip of Africa there wasonce a post office under a rock. At the old days the route fromEngland to __4__ India was around the Cape of Good Hope.The journey was　stormy and danger. It took six long months. Sailors often __5__ wished tosend mail home, but they seldom met ships bound　back to England. So at the cape the sailorswould go on ashore. They headed for a certain large stone. On the __6__ stone scratched thewords “Look here under for letters.” __7__ They would leave their letters there, knowing that the　next homeward ship would stop and pick it up. __8__ There was another post office like this atthe southern tip of South America. During the golden rush days, boats __9__ sailed around CapeHorn to California. At Cape Horn was　a keg(小桶) nailed to a post. Boats coming from the eastcoast would send some sailors to this post office. They　picked up any letters in the keg. At thesame time they　mailed letters home that boats sail east could pick up. __10__
    參考答案及解析:
    1.take for granted 改為take it for granted. take it for grantedthat: 想當(dāng)然認(rèn)為…，在該結(jié)構(gòu)中，it為形式賓語，that引導(dǎo)的從句才是真正賓語。如：Don’t take it for granted that you arebond to win. 別想當(dāng)然地以為你注定會贏。
    2.and 改為or,根據(jù)句意知，此處應(yīng)是選擇關(guān)系，而非并列關(guān)系。
    3.will改為would。根據(jù)句中In the early days和could 知此句主句時態(tài)為一般過去時，故其賓語從句中的將來時應(yīng)為過去將來時，用would。
    4.At改為In。at表時間點(diǎn)，如幾時幾刻：at five o’clock, at 10∶30表一段時間用in, 如：in twoyears, in a week, in a few days,自然此處the old days 前應(yīng)用in。
    5.danger 改為dangerous. 由于本句是系數(shù)結(jié)構(gòu)，故應(yīng)用形容詞;況且從修辭上看既然stormy有“風(fēng)暴的”是形容詞，后面and 并列的詞性也應(yīng)是形容詞。故應(yīng)將danger 名詞改為其形容詞dangerous。
    6.go on ashore 改為go ashore 或go on shore, ashore 是副詞，意為“上岸，在岸上”。此處“上岸”可用go ashore或go on shore來表達(dá)。
    7.scratched 改為were scratched或they scratched。若用were scratched，則此句為倒裝句，主語是words,用過去時和被動語態(tài)。若用they scratched，則words是賓語，該句缺主語，根據(jù)上下文，加上they即可。
    8.it改為them。句中的pick it up 中“it”指的是主句中的letters。根據(jù)單復(fù)數(shù)一致的原則，應(yīng)用them指代letters。
    9.golden改為gold。golden 是形容詞，意為“金色的”，“黃金般的”，gold 作名詞，意為“黃金”，作形容詞，意為“全制的”。故“淘金熱”應(yīng)為“gold rush”。
    10.sail 改為sailing。根據(jù)boats sail east could pick up 中could為謂動詞，到sail 應(yīng)變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)在分詞，作定語，修飾boats。若無字?jǐn)?shù)限制，改成boats which sailed east 這樣的定語從句也可以。