Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interest is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive designs. There are 100,000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a blank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.
The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later the first British card appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards mainly because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4,000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28,000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors’ magazine.
40 The passage is mainly about ___
A. the disadvantages of phone cards B. phone card collecting as a hobby
C. reasons for phone card collecting D. the great variety of phone cards.
41. When did people in Britain begin to use phone cards?
A. In 1971. B. In 1975. C. In 1976. D. In 1981
42. The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that ___
A. they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep
B. they like to have something from different countries
C. they want to make money with cards
D. they think the cards are convenient to use
43. The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that ___
A. card collecting is popular among young people
B. French and Japanese cards are the most valuable
C. people can make money out of card collecting
D. card collectors’ magazines are very useful