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 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 neighbours．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．
64．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
65．It can be inferred （推断） 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
66．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 neighbour’s name D．not a good name
67．According to the writer, it is ________ to keep up with the Joneses．
A．correct B．interesting C．impossible D．good
Many people will remember the flight of the space shuttle （航天飞机）Challenger , in June, 1993．The achievement of Sally Ride, America’s first woman astronaut to fly into space, made this flight especially memorable．Students from two high schools in Camden, New Jersey, however, are likely to remember Norma rather than Sally whenever they think about the flight．
Norma didn’t travel alone．She brought about 100 companions along with her．Norma was an ant, a queen ant who, with her subjects, made up the first ant colony （群体） to travel into space．The ants were part of a science experiment designed by the students to test the effects of weightlessness on insects．
The equipment designed by the students for their colony functioned perfectly throughout the long space trip．The young scientists and their teachers were very sad to find that their insect astronauts had all died at some point before the container was returned to the school and opened．The problem did not occur in space, but on the ground after Challenger had landed．The container remained in the desert for nearly a week before the ant colony was removed．The hot, dry desert air dried out the colony’s container and the ants died from lack of moisture （水分）．
The project was termed a success because it did provide useful information．Students will continue their efforts to find out exactly what went wrong．They will try to prevent the same difficulties from recurring （再发生） on future missions ．They don’t want to be discouraged either by the death of the ants or by the $10,000 shuttle fare they will have to pay to send the next colony of ants into space．The story is mainly about．
| A．Sally Ride’s first ride |
| B．space equipment for insects |
| C．a space experiment with ants |
| D．going to school in New Jersey |
The project wasn’t a failure because．
| A．some important things were learned |
| B．dead ants are better |
| C．everything went as expected |
| D．students wrote about it |
The ants died because．
| A．weightlessness harmed them |
| B．space caused too much pain |
| C．no one fed them in space |
| D．they dried out in the desert |
On the next space trip , ants．
| A．will be sent without people |
| B．should not be left in the desert too long |
| C．will have to pay double fare |
| D．will escape the trip completely |
Western New Bridge Library Announcement
2008-3-10
| Shortened Library Hours for Spring Break |
| Library Hours have been shortened to 7 hours a day（9∶00 a．m．-4∶00 p．m．） for Spring Break from March 24 to March 30． |
| Coming Events |
| ●On Monday, March 24,at 10∶30 a．m．, Scott Sutton, a children’s writer, will tell stories to kids over seven．Sutton’s attractive style will surely inspire everyone present! ●At 1∶00 p．m．on March 26, the Georgetown Musicians will present an Irish Folk Concert, which will be entertaining for the entire family．Come for the music and stay to check out（完成手续拿走） some relevant（相关） books for the rest of the week! ●On Thursday, March 27,at 2∶00 p．m．, the annual Children’s Gathering will take place in Room 201,the second floor ．Pick up an invitation in the Children’s Room and return your RSVP（回复） to reserve （预定）your seat at the table by 3∶00 p．m．on Tuesday, March 25．Only children are allowed in the Gathering． ●At 10∶30 a．m．on Friday, March 28, Enzo Monfre of the hit kids’ science show, ENZOology, will bring Fossils Live! Surely Enzo will take the audience back in time, deep beneath the surface of the earth, to uncover the mysteries of killer dinosaurs, and more．Enzo recently appeared on the Ellen De Generes Show—come and see him at the library! |
| Please note： In case of emergency, please call the Help Desk at 926-3736 and follow the procedures outlined on the voice message．The call-down service is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for emergencies．The Help Desk supplies service to you all the year round! For questions about all these, please contact hld@wnbl．org． |
| Come for the great fun; Stay for the relevant books! |
To attend the annual Children’s Gathering, one has to ________．
| A．buy a ticket | B．apply in advance |
| C．make a reservation | D．contact the call-down service |
According to the passage, Enzo Monfre will ________．
| A．show the children around a zoo |
| B．tell stories to children over seven |
| C．be present at the science show in person |
| D．lead the children to the Ellen De Generes Show |
The Help Desk in this library supplies service ________．
| A．only during the daytime | B．in case of emergency |
| C．till the end of the Spring Break | D．after 22∶00 p．m．every day |
We can learn from the passage that children can ________．
| A．attend all the activities with their parents． |
| B．borrow some relevant books for the activities． |
| C．participate in the activities from 8∶00 a．m．to 4∶00 p．m． |
| D．choose only one of the activities according to their interests． |
After a 15-year ban on the sale of fireworks in Beijing, Kang Guoliang, 51, was able to start his old trade again yesterday．
As a salesman in Xinhui store in Dongcheng District, he is happy about the increasing number of buying fireworks wrapped in red paper — a color standing for happiness and good luck．
“Fireworks are available for the first time in town for more than a decade,” Kang said happily．“People will buy them．”
The store has 300 boxes of fireworks piled up and is open 24 hours at the moment．Residents are buying the fireworks and firecrackers for the upcoming Spring Festival, which falls on February 18．
Citywide, 2,116 registered stores and retailers, 585 in the centre and 1,600 on the outskirts are trading fireworks in the Chinese capital．Sales of fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road started yesterday and will last until March 4, Xinhua reported．Among the stores, 117 stores are permitted to operate 24 hours．About 600,000 boxes of firecrackers worth more than 100 million yuan have been carried to registered stores．
The Chinese capital began a ban in 1993 to reduce fireworks-related deaths and fires during the holiday season．Last September the ban was removed in response to residents’ fondness for fireworks when celebrating Spring Festival．
According to new rules, Beijing residents are allowed to set off fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road all day on Lunar New Year’s Eve and Lunar New Year’s day, from 7 a．m．to midnight every day from February 19 to March 4．
“Spring Festival without fireworks is not Spring Festival,” said Sheng Hefei, who was buying fireworks in the store．“It was fun to light the firecrackers when I was little,” he said．“The sound and view of fireworks make a real holiday．” However, not all residents welcome the return of firecrackers because of injuries, pollution and noise．“My child is scared of the sudden sound of firecrackers, and it is annoying to hear it all night long,” complained Lu Jun, a local resident．
（China Daily02/11/2008）The passage is likely to belong to a（n）__________?
| A．description | B．argument | C．advertisement | D．news report |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Beijing fireworks sales start after a 15-year ban． |
| B．People go to buy fireworks and firecrackers every where in Beijing． |
| C．Beijing residents all welcome the return of firecrackers． |
| D．Many stores began to sell fireworks and firecrackers． |
We can learn from the passage that ____________．
| A．every Spring Festival falls on February 18 |
| B．Beijing residents can set off fireworks everywhere ． |
| C．fireworks are allowed to be sold because people like them． |
| D．from February 19 to March 4, Beijing residents can set off fireworks twenty four hours every day． |
What is the writer’s attitude towards the sales of fireworks in Beijing?
| A．Negative | B．Not mentioned | C．Positive | D．Satisfactory |
Xinhua Sept．25,2008
JIUQUAN, Gansu---China launched successfully its third manned spacecraft on Thursday with three astronauts on board to attempt the country’s first-ever space walk．
The spaceship Shenzhou VII blasted off（发射） on a Long March II-F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province at 9：10pm．after a breathtaking countdown to another milestone on China’s space journey．
On board pilots Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng are expected to orbit the earth for three days, when one of them will float out of the cabin about 343 kilometers above the earth．
When they make it, China will become the third country in the world who is able to conduct extravehicular activity （EVA） in space following the former Soviet Union and the United States．
President Hu Jintao watched the historic moment at the launch center, joined by Chinese experts and other work staff．
Hu briefly met the trio astronauts before they entered the spacecraft Thursday afternoon, wishing them “a complete success in this glorious and sacred mission”．
“During the mission, you will carry out China’s EVA with homemade EVA space suit, which is a great leap for China’s space technology．” said Hu．
Other tasks of the Shenzhou VII crew include the release of a small monitoring satellite and a trial of the data relay of the satellite Tianlian-I．
If successful, the mission would be of great significance to the country’s future plans to build a space lab and a space station, said ZhangJianqi, deputy chief commander of the manned space project．In which section would the passage be seen in a newspaper?
| A．Science and Technology． | B．Entertainment． |
| C．Sports report． | D．Advertisement |
Which one is NOT true according to the report?
| A．China launched its third manned spacecraft． |
| B．The pilots on board are expected to orbit the earth for three days |
| C．The spaceship Shenzhou VII blasted off three astronauts on board． |
| D．One of the three astronauts will float out of the cabin above the earth． |
What is the great leap for China’s space technology during the space journey?
| A．The spaceship Shenzhou VII blasted off successfully． |
| B．The astronauts will carry out China’s EVA with homemade EVA space suit． |
| C．Three astronauts are expected to orbit the earth for 3 days． |
| D．The spaceship Shenzhou VII will release a small monitoring satellite． |
The tasks of the Shenzhou VII crew include the following EXCEPT ________．
| A．the release of a small monitoring satellite |
| B．a trial of the data relay of the satellite Tianlian-I |
| C．carrying out China’s EVA with homemade EVA space suit |
| D．building a space lab and a space station |
Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it? Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind．How can you use this to increase your brain power? Start writing．
By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic （逻辑） behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand．Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding．In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power.”
Try this experiment．Explain how you’ll increase your brain power, even if you have no idea how right now．Just start with anything, and create an explanation．For example, start with “I’ll learn chess,” or “I’ll read an article on the mind every week.” Explain how that will help．You’ll be surprised how often this becomes a workable plan, and if you actually do this, you’ll have a better understanding of your brain twenty minutes from now．
Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember．Many, if not most, highly productive people are always taking notes．You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success．
Want to understand a topic? Write a book about it．That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better．Want to invent something? Write an explanation of the problem, why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re half-way there．
Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand．Often, they write about something because they want to understand it．You can do the same．Writing will help bring you to an understanding．Give it a try.What would be the best title for the text?
| A．A Way on How to Write |
| B．Increase Your Brain Power through Writing |
| C．Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing |
| D．How to Start Your Writing |
According to the text, writing can help you a lot in the following ways EXCEPT ______.
| A．the increase of your brain power |
| B．the ability to remember |
| C．the development of your interest in study |
| D．the better understanding of a topic |
If a writer writes something, it means that he or she _______.
| A．has understood it very well |
| B．needs to understand it better |
| C．wants to remember it in his or her mind |
| D．is exercising his or her “explain power” |
The underlined sentence “you’re half-way there” in the fifth paragraph implies that ______.
| A．you are already successful |
| B．you still need to work hard |
| C．writing can help you walk half way |
| D．writing is important to solve problems |
What’s the main purpose of the writer writing the text?
| A．To advise readers to start their writing ． |
| B．To explain the importance of writing. |
| C．To persuade readers to become writers． |
| D．To increase readers’ brain power. |