Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week.
The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a “forever stamp,”it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or 3-cent stamps to make up postage diffcrences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-elass stamp. As the name implies, “forever stamps” will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new “forever stamp” is the United States Postal Service’（USPS） answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increase will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation （通货膨胀），competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a Spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the “forever stamp” and the savings from not printing as many 2-or 3-cent stamps. “It’s not your grandfather’s stamp,” says Mr. Saunders. “It could be your great-grandchildren’s stamp.”
Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, he’s interested in the public’s reaction. “This is an entirely new class of stamps,” Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he’ll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich-the volume printed will be too large for collectors. “We won’t be able to send our kids to college on these,” he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet o accept the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps.

这周邮递员将传递出好消息和坏消息。

坏消息就是昨天邮政监管委员会宣布邮资将由五月的2分上调至41分。好消息则是随着“永久邮票”的面世，美国人不必再为弥补邮资差而使用讨厌的2分和3分邮票了。

从5月起，人们就可以按照一等邮票的普通费率购买20枚一册的“永久邮票”。“永久邮票”名符其实，不论将来邮资费率是否上提、如何上提，它都永远等价于一等邮件的邮资。

新的永久邮票是美国邮政管理局鉴于公众对频繁的资费增长而进行的投诉所采取的应对措施。五月份的邮资上调已经是这十年来第5次提价了。美国邮政管理局发言人马克·桑得斯说：“通货膨胀，网上缴费的挑战，以及包括医疗保险在内的员工福利成本的提高，都导致了邮政资费的上调。”

美国邮政管理局希望能从“永久邮票”的销售中获利，还期待停止印制2分和3分邮票后能省下一笔钱。桑得斯先生说：“这不是你祖父使用的邮票，但它可能成为你曾孙辈们使用的邮票。”

包括加拿大、英国和芬兰在内的其他国家也使用类似的邮票。

集邮50年的Don Schilling先生对公众反应很感兴趣。他说：“永久邮票是邮票的一种全新种类。”他补充道他会买些永久邮票，但并不是因为这些邮票可以增值、让他暴富——毕竟这些邮票对于集邮者来说印刷发行量太大了，真正的购买原因还在于这些邮票可以长期使用。他笑道：“我们将来可没法打发我们的孩子来收集这些。”

美国邮政管理局理事会尚未批准邮政监管委员会这一决定，但很可能会接受这一建议。目前还没有宣布任何关于“永久邮票”票面设计的计划。


注：purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp这句话不甚理解，望指教，谢谢。