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 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 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.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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
According to the writer, it is to keep up with the Joneses.
| A．correct | B．interesting | C．impossible | D．good |
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge's new son will be named George Alexander Louis, the royal family says. A statement from William and Catherine's settlement Kensington Palace said the baby, third in line to the throne(王位), would be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.
On Wednesday the royal couple took their son to Catherine's parents' house in Berkshire, following a half-hour visit by the Queen. All three names had been among the favourites listed by British bookmakers and the announcement was relatively quick by royal standards. It took a month for the name ofPrince Charles, the heir to the throne, to be announced, and a week for William, his eldest son.
George has been the name of six British kings. The last, George VI, was the father of Queen Elizabeth II and reigned from 1936 to 1952. Alexandra, the female form of Alexander, is one of the Queen's middle names and was also the name of the Queen mate of King Edward VII at the start of the last century. Louis is one of William's middle names and was the given name of Prince Charles's tutor and great-uncle Louis Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA in 1979.
The choice of name, relatively short by royal standards, does not necessarily mean the baby will eventually become King George VII. The Queen's father was named Albert, but chose to be crowned as George VI.
"It's interesting that they chose to go with just three names," historian Suzannah Lipscomb told Sky News. "It's almost as if the royal family is coming down with ordinary people, who tend to have fewer middle names than monarchs(君主).It is a name that none can find any problems with. George itself can't be shortened in any obvious offensive way. They've probably gone for something that is safe."Which of the following statements can best sum up the passage ?
| A．New royal baby named George Alexander Louis |
| B．The royal couple gave birth to their eldest son. |
| C．The choice of name was interesting and complicated . |
| D．The new baby, third in line to the throne . |
From the passage we can know the father of the new royal baby is ____.
| A．Catherine | B．George. | C．Charles | D．William |
Which of the following is True based on the whole passage ?
| A．Prince Charles was the third heir to the British throne. |
| B．George Alexander Louis was the third heir to the British throne. |
| C．The announcement of the new loyal baby’s name is slow by royal standards. |
| D．All three names , George Alexander Louis, were unpopular with British bookmakers. |
The underlined word “reign” in paragraph 4 probably refers to ______
| A．resign | B．boom | C．govern | D．retire |
From what Suzannah Lipscomb told Sky News , we can infer in Britain _____
| A．the name of an ordinary person is simple but meaningful . |
| B．George itself can't be simplified in any obvious offensive way. |
| C．a monarch or a prince has usually more names in the middle than the ordinary people. |
| D．a person with more middle names must be a monarch or a prince . |
Global financial big dogs are no match for China's "Da Ma", or housewives, who have crowded into gold stores across China, buying up 300 tons of gold over the past two weeks. No wonder gold prices have steadied after taking a dive.
During the May Day holiday, gold stores were crowded with mostly female customers. Most of them are middle-aged "Chinese housewives". This group of buyers has risen to fame recently. They are big spenders and are desperate to get their hands on a bargain. "I bought some gold jewellery and kept them as a gift for my son when he gets married," said a buyer from Shanghai.
The gold business is skyrocketing. "Our sales are growing by the day. Yesterday we sold more than ten million yuan of gold products," a gold store salesperson said. The gold rush in China started about two weeks ago thanks to a decline in global gold prices. Media reports suggest that Chinese housewives have spent about 100 billion yuan, or about 16 billion US dollars, purchasing 300 tons of gold since mid-April. That has helped support gold prices.
"Gold prices depressed since the middle of last month but have risen gradually. That is mainly due to the strong demand from Asian markets," said foreign trader Zhang Chen from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. "Some people even joked that Chinese housewives have beaten Wall Street analysts." For Chinese people, with limited investment options, the only thing better than buying gold is buying gold at discount prices.What does the author indicate in the first sentence of the 1st paragraph?
| A．The global big dogs can’t match with Chinese housewives. |
| B．China's "Da Ma" help a lot to support the global economic crisis . |
| C．Chinese housewives spend a great deal of money on gold |
| D．Chinese housewives have a better consumption idea than global financial big dogs |
The whole passage mainly developed_______ ?
| A．by comparison | B．by contrast |
| C．by quotation | D．by time order |
We can infer about the gold rush in China from the passage?
| A．The Chinese housewives are most willing to spend money in buying gold .. |
| B．China's "Da Ma" crowded into stores to get gold as the best gifts for sons when they get married. |
| C．China's "Da Ma" are bigger spenders and cleverer than global financial big dogs. |
| D．China’s "Da Ma" become the largest gold buyers due to a decline in global gold prices. |
In the writer’s view, Chinese housewives are desperate to get their hands on a bargain because_____.
A. it is worthy to buy gold.
B .they have a strong demand
C. they have unlimited investment options
D it is at discount prices.The author’s description about the passage is ______.
| A．objective | B．subjective | C．doubtful | D．negative |
Confucius said, “In a group of three people, there is always something I can learn. Choose to follow the strengths of others, and use their shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves.”
As you can see from what Confucius said, everyone that we come across can teach us something useful. As long as we reflect on the lessons learnt from and by other people, we can continuously improve ourselves. But take note that when you reflect on these lessons, you apply some wisdom to each lesson because each situation is unique although they share some common principles.
We can learn a lot from everyone. We always tend to think that we can only learn from those who are higher in status or have more knowledge than us, but that is not really the case. We learn from those who are lower in status than us as well, because the experience and knowledge of each person is very different.
The best thing about this type of learning, reflecting other people’s strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves, is that we do not pay for the mistakes that are made. The only cost to us is the time that is needed to learn about and reflect on these lessons from other people’s lives.
As we all know, some mistakes can be ones which people cannot afford to make, for instance, a broken friendship or a financial loss. Thus constantly using other people’s strengths and shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves makes us realize the costs of these mistakes and reduces the possibility that we will make similar mistakes.
What can we do now to learn from others? By keeping our eyes and ears open. Be observant and able to realize what strengths and shortcomings other people have. A lot of people in this world like to complain about their lives. Listen to them and make you own assessment and from your own assessment, reflect upon your life and make improvements where necessary.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Confucius thought we should learn from strengths of others. |
| B．Only from those who have more knowledge than us can we learn. |
| C．It is by reflecting on the lessons learnt by others that we can improve ourselves. |
| D．Reflecting upon other people’s strengths and shortcomings can help us make fewer mistakes. |
The underlined part “this type of learning” in the fourth paragraph probably refers to_______.
| A．learning from other people’s mistakes |
| B．learning from others’ experiences |
| C．finding what strengths and shortcomings other people have |
| D．reflecting others’ strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves |
From the fifth paragraph, we learn that _______.
| A．sometimes we can afford the costs of a broken friendship |
| B．our reflection will necessarily reduce our mistakes |
| C．some reflection will help to improve ourselves |
| D．reflection will stop us from making any mistakes in life |
The passage is probably taken from __________.
| A．a magazine about life | B．a book about travel |
| C．an advertisement | D．a research report |
What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．How to improve oneself. |
| B．How to use the shortcomings of others to reflect upon ourselves. |
| C．How to reduce the mistakes in one’s life. |
| D．How to learn from other people’s strengths and shortcomings. |
President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today—that business institutions have more prestige（威望）in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?
One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.
Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly（垄断）of power. In contrast to one all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers’ dollars, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.
A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy（民主）in preserving freedom.
Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic（贵族的）idea of inherited privilege.The statement “The business of America is business” probably means ________.
| A．America is a great power in world business |
| B．Business is of primary concern to Americans |
| C．The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce |
| D．Business problems are of great importance to the American government |
Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only _______.
| A．by protecting their individual freedom |
| B．when given equality of opportunity |
| C．by way of competition |
| D．through doing business |
Who can benefit from business competition?
| A．People with ideals of equality and freedom. |
| B．Both business institutions and government. |
| C．Honest businessmen. |
| D．Both businessmen and their customers. |
Government is believed to differ strikingly from business in that government is characterized by ________.
| A．its role in protecting basic American values |
| B．its absolute control of power |
| C．its democratic way of exercising leadership |
| D．its function in preserving personal freedom |
It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes ___________.
| A．in many countries success often depends on one’s social status |
| B．businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in America |
| C．American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries |
| D．Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries |
Monitoring global warming usually requires a Ph. D. and enough maths to glaze your eyes. But that Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant track（记录）what climate change is doing to five different plants in Tucson, Arizona and they are only in the second grade.
“We are collecting data because the weather is changing and the plants are blooming,” Ruby explained.
Scores of other students at Borton Primary Magnet School and Sunnyside High School in Tucson are heading outdoors to be part of a new scientific push to figure out how the biological timing of the earth is changing. It’s a research project that the average person, even a kindergartner, can join in.
The National Phenology（生物气候学）Network is calling on volunteers to help track early spring blooms and eventually changes in animals caused by global warming. It’s called Project Budburst. When it was first open to the public last year, thousands of people participated in 26 states.
“All people can contribute to it by tracking the timing of flowering events or leaf-out events for plants and animals in their backyard,” said Phenology Network director Jake Weltzin. He calls the volunteers “citizen-scientists.”
The idea is that tracking flowers blooming—especially lilacs（丁香）; which everyday people have helped track for decades—is fairly simple. The Website http://www.Windows.ucar.edu/ citizen_science/budburst/index.html gives directions on what to look for in different parts of the country.
University of Maryland professor David Inouye said it’s so easy to figure out what’s blooming that a lack of special knowledge isn’t a problem.
University of Arizona ecology graduate student Lisa Benton coordinated（协调）the Tucson high school students as they looked at plants five minutes from their high school. Each student has specific guidelines and she’s been happy so far with the data she is getting. For his part, second-grader Francisco said he had fun helping out.
“I like going out in the desert,” he said. “I want to be an Einstein.”Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant are monitoring global warming by __________.
| A．watching early spring blooms and changes in animals |
| B．studying the biological timing of earth |
| C．collecting data of the local weather |
| D．tracking the early spring blooms of some local plants |
Those who participate in Project Budburst are mostly ___________.
| A．ecology college graduates | B．high school students |
| C．common people | D．experts |
What David Inouye says suggests that ____________.
| A．the study carried out by students is convincing |
| B．the students still need special training to study climate change |
| C．it is difficult to study climate change |
| D．to figure out what’s blooming needs special knowledge |
Who is primary school student joining in the Project Budburst?
| A．Lisa Benton. | B．David Inouye |
| C．Francisco Lopez. | D．Jake Weltzin. |
We can conclude from the passage that _______.
| A．changes in animals caused by global warming happen earlier than those in plants |
| B．the biological timing of earth is changing because of climate change |
| C．the effect of climate change in Tucson, Arizona can be hardly noticed |
| D．all the plants in Tucson, Arizona are blooming earlier because of climate change |