In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about, It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment(公寓房间) in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life--style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series (系列) of short stories, He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’ Keeping up with the Joneses’ came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
1.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.
A. want to be as rich as their neighbours
B. want others to know or to think that they are rich
C. don’t want others to know they are rich
D. want to be happy
2.It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________. A. live outside New York City B. live in New York City
C. live in apartments D. have many neighbours
3. The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ________.
A. a person who lives near another B. people living in an area
C. an area near the place referred to D. an area in another town or city
4.According to the writer, it is ________to keep up with the Joneses.
A. correct B. interesting C. impossible D. good
1.The actress bought a house in the centre of the city because _______.
A. she liked to live in the busiest place
B. she didn’t like to live in the country
C. her home was far away from where she worked
D. she didn’t want to go back to her hometown any longer
2.In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress ________. A. gave him two tickets for her show
B. sang and danced for him for hours
C. paid him 3 pounds
D. decided to pay him 15 shillings an hour
3.The actress got the painter’s bill ______.
A. to ask for the money of his painting work
B. to ask to pay for his watching her show
C. in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
D. in which he expressed his dissatisfaction
4.It can be learned from the text that one pound is __________ shillings.
A. 10 B. 12 C. 20 D. 15
5. What kind of man was the painter?
A. He was a careful man.
B. He was a poor man.
C. He was not friendly to others.
D. He knew little about music and dances.
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下列短文，从短文后所给各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑
One day a wealthy family went on a trip to the countryside. The father wanted to 36 his son how 37 people live, 38 they spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor 39 .When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, “My dear son, how was the 40 ?” “very 41 , Dad!” answered the boy. “Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked. “Yeah!” answered the son. “And what did you learn?” asked the father. The son answered, “I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a 42 that reaches to the middle of the garden and they have a stream that has no 43 . We have imported lamps(进口灯具) in the garden and they have the 44 . Our patio(天井) reaches to the front yard, 45 they have a whole horizon(旷野).” When the little boy was 46 , his father was speechless.
His son 47 , “Thanks Dad 48 showing me how 49 we are!” Isn’t it true that it all depends 50 the 51 you look at things? If you have love, friends, humor and a positive attitude(乐观的态度) 52 life you’ve got everything! You can’t buy 53 of these things, 54 still you can have all the material possessions(财富) you can imagine, provisions(储备) for the future, etc. But if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing! Attitude is 55 ! Make a decision to have a good, positive and productive attitude every day!
1.A.show B. give C. send D. tell
2.A.happy B. sorrow C. rich D. poor
3.A.thus B. so C. therefore D. when
4.A.house B. home C. family D. room
5.A.journey B. trip C. stay D. travel
6.A.bad B. good C. well D. badly
7.A.river B. lake C. canal(运河/沟渠) D. pool
8.A.endless B. ending C. end D. ended
9.A.sun B. stars C. planet D. electricity light
10.A.yet B. however C. so D. though
11.A.finished B. finishing C. completed D. completing
12.A.adding B. added C. saying D. said
13.A.for B. of C. with D. about
14.A.poor B. rich C. glad D. happy
15.A.in B. on C. for D. about
16.A.method B. manners C. way D. means
17.A.of B. for C. towards D. at
18.A.nothing B. any C. some D. everything
19.A.then B. but C. though D. so
20.A.anything B. nothing C. everything D. something
The stadium was named ____ the club’s first chairman , who had high fame .
A. in case of B. in honor of C. in search of D. in place of
We must keep our room clean. Dirt and disease go _____, you know.
A. from time to time B. hand in hand C. step by step D. one after another
I thought you ____ like something to read, so I have brought you some books.
A. may B. might C could D. must
