Question

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 neighbors.

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 neighborhood 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 neighbors.

It was like a race, but one could never finish his 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 in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series 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 “Joneses” 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 neighbors

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 neighbors

3.Arthur Momand used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because “Jones” is _____.

A．an important name                      B．a popular name in the United States

C．his neighbor’s name                    D．not a good name

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍了在英语中“keeping up with the Joneses”这样熟语的来源和它的具体含义。

1.B 细节题。根据文章1，2行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.说明他们下文别人知道他们有钱，故B正确。

2.A 推断题。根据第二段3,4行He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City.说明富人都住在纽约城外的社区里，故A正确。

3.B 细节题。根据文章倒数第二段倒数第三行“Jones” is a very common name in the United States.说明Jones是一个很普通的也很受欢迎的名字，故B正确。

考点：考查文化类短文阅读