In the United States, when one became 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 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 ‘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, keeping up with the Joneses is ________.
| A．correct | B．interesting | C．impossible | D．good |
When a child is told he is "uncool", it can be very painful. He may say he doesn't care, and even act in ways that are opposite of cool on purpose. But ultimately, these are simply ways to handle sadness by pretending it's not there.
Helping a child feel better in school had to be careful. If you say, "Why are you worried about what other children think about you? It doesn't matter!" children know that it does matter. Instead, an active way may be best. You could say, "I'm going to do a couple of things for you to help you feel better in school."
If a boy is having trouble making friends, the teacher can help him. The teacher can arrange things so that he has chances to use his abilities to contribute to class projects. This is how the other children learn how to value his good qualities and to like him. A teacher can also raise a child's popularity in the group by showing that he values that child. It even helps to put him in a seat next to a very popular child, or let him be a partner with that child in activities, etc.
There are things that parents can do at home, too. Be friendly when your child brings others home to play. Encourage him to invite friends to meals and then serve the dishes they consider "super". When you plan trips, picnics, movies, and other shows, invite another child with whom your child wants to be friends.
What you can do is to give him a chance to join a group that may be shutting him out. Then, if he has good qualities, he can start to build real friendship of his own.A child who has been informed of being "uncool" may _____.
| A．care nothing about it |
| B．develop a sense of anger |
| C．do something uncool purposely |
| D．pretend to get hurt very much |
A teacher can help an unpopular child by _____.
| A．seeing the child as the teacher's favourite |
| B．asking the child to do something for partners |
| C．forcing other children to make friends with the child |
| D．offering the child chances to show his good qualities |
How can parents help their child fit in better?
| A．By cooking delicious food for him. |
| B．By being kind to his schoolmates. |
| C．By forcing him to invite friends home. |
| D．By taking him to have picnics in the park. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Children don't care about others' comments on them. |
| B．It's only a teacher's work to make children popular. |
| C．Parents should take their children out for picnic and shows more often. |
| D．Inviting children's friends to family activities is good for them to make friends. |
D
As thousands of communities in the USA — especially in the South — became booming gateways for immigrant families from Central and South America during the 1990s and the early years of the new century, public schools struggled with the unfamiliar task of serving the large numbers of English learners arriving in their classrooms.
Education programs needed to be built from scratch. “We had no teaching resources suitable for English learners here before. We had to develop them all ourselves,” a Texas principal said. Throughout the country, districts had to train their own teachers to teach English to non-native speakers or recruit (招聘)teachers from elsewhere. School staff members had to figure out how to communicate with parents who spoke no English.
But even as immigration has slowed or stopped in many places, and instructional programs for English-learners have matured, serving immigrant families and their children remains a work in progress in many public schools, especially those in communities that are skeptical, or sometimes unwelcoming, to the newcomers. One of the biggest challenges educators face, is communicating effectively with parents who don’t speak English — an issue that, in part, has contributed to recent complaints of discrimination by Latino students in some cities.
“The parents’ role is very important for the success of these students, but it's also one of the most difficult things we’ve had to tackle(处理),” said Jim D. Rollins, the president of the Springdale school district, where the 19,000-student school system has gone from having no English-learners 15 years ago to more than 7,500 now. “You have to make it a priority and work on it, work on it, and work on it.”
Aside from the practical challenges, such as finding bilingual (会说两种语言的) staff members, guiding districts through such dramatic changes requires school leaders to bridge difficult political and cultural divides. For school leaders in the South, especially in the last few years, this difficult job has been made harder still by the negative attitudes of some locals towards immigrants.According to the passage, what is the problem that public schools are facing?
| A．Handling more cases from the immigrant Mexican communities. |
| B．Offering services to immigrant families in the southern states. |
| C．Offering enough communicative lessons to immigrant parents. |
| D．Providing education for non-native English learners. |
The underlined part “built from scratch” (in Paragraph 2) probably means “________”.
| A．completely new |
| B．painful to make |
| C．based on past experience |
| D．constructed gradually |
What do we know about the immigrant parents?
| A．Many of them cannot speak English. |
| B．Most of them think education is not important. |
| C．Some of them feel skeptical about the local community. |
| D．Few of them have attended American schools. |
C
Imagine having an idea, drawing it on paper, bringing it to a store and seeing it turned into a physical object．This is now possible with the help of 3D printers．Such machines were once used just by universities and big companies．But now, stores with 3D printing services are appearing around the United States．
Bryan Jaycox and his wife opened The Build Shop LLC in Los Angeles two years ago．The store is filled with tools like a laser cutter, an industrial sewing machine and 3D printers．Bryan Jaycox requires $ 15 an hour to print an object．He also charges a fee depending on the size of the object and up to $ 50 an hour for design and labor services．
The Jaycoxs also offer 3D printing classes for anyone who is interested．One of the students in a recent class was Ki Chong Tran．He plans to open a 3D printing business in Cambodia．"The demand has been amazing．It's been much more than I would have imagined," said Ki Chong Tran．
"I think 3D printing is going to be huge． It's going to make a huge impact on society as a whole," he added．
Mr Jaycox predicts that within five years, 3D printing technology could become
more consumer friendly．
But Ki Chong Tran says even current technology can make a difference in a developing country like Cambodia．"With 3D printing you can give them tools, and you put it in their hands so they are responsible more for their own development．
They learn skills beyond just learning English and becoming a tour guide or something like that or working at a bank．You can actually create things that give value to the world," said Ki Chong Tran．
He says it's not just Cambodia but anywhere where there is a 3D printer, it can turn a good idea into reality．We learn from Paragraph l that 3D printing_________．
| A．is now available to ordinary people |
| B．first appeared in the United States |
| C．can turn your every dream into reality |
| D．is now only used by universities |
Bryan Jaycox opened The Build Shop LLC to__________．
| A．sell 3D printers and different kinds of tools |
| B．produce all types of printing machines |
| C．offer 3D printing classes and services |
| D．design different types of 3D printers |
In Mr Jaycox's opinion, within five years 3D printing will_________．
| A．make it easier to do business |
| B．be accessible to all consumers |
| C．change the way of social contact |
| D．bring about more profits to the sellers |
How will 3D printing technology benefit developing countries according to the text?
| A．It helps the people work efficiently at a bank． |
| B．It will promote the learning of English |
| C．It will accelerate the development of tourism． |
| D．It offers them a new way of development． |
B
Well, parents, surprise! Lots of us are using Twitter and Facebook to thumb rides, and not just to school. It’s awkward to be refused when you call a friend and ask for a ride. But with Twitter, you just look for other people heading the same way.
It may sound risky, so many teens stay within their own social circles to find rides, and don’t branch out beyond friends when asking on Twitter just like me, but to some young people, especially those taking longer trips, stranger danger is less of a concern.
“I think the digital connection of young people is really key, because younger generations grew up sharing things on line, sharing files, photos, music, etc, so they’ve been very used to sharing,” said Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College.
The sharing economy got big during the recession (经济衰退), allowing people to access more goods, services using technology and even to share costs. And that technology, for me, is what the car was for my mom, a gateway to more freedom, like what my friend Earl says, “The symbol of freedom isn’t the car any more because there’s technology out there connecting you to a car.”
According to the researchers at the University of Michigan, 30 years ago, eight in ten American 18-year-olds had a driver’s license compared to six in ten today. So it’s not that surprising that on my 16th birthday I wasn’t rushing to get a license but an iPhone.
“Driving, for young people, does mean they have to disconnect from their technology, and that’s a negative. So if they could sit in the passage side and still be connected, that’s going to be a plus.” Schor continued. www..com
To me, another plus is that ridesharing represents something, something much bigger than trying to save money. I see it as evidence that people still depend on each other. My generation shares their cars and apartments the way neighbors used to share cups of sugar. For the system to work, some of us still need our own cars. But until I get my own version of the silver Super Beetle, you can find me on Twitter.The American teens like the author, prefer to possess an iPhone as a birthday gift because _______.
| A．it is most fashionable and cool |
| B．they are bored with driving cars |
| C．they are fond of being connected |
| D．it is much cheaper than a car |
We can learn from the text that _______.
| A．Twitter is a website for teens to make friends and achieve goals |
| B．ridesharing can be seen as a sign that people still count on each other |
| C．driving cars for teens means a plus and connecting with technology |
| D．having a car and cost-sharing symbolize more freedom for the author’s mother |
Professor Juliet would agree that _______.
| A．young people will sit waiting to be contacted by reading a passage |
| B．sharing economy is bound to be responsible for the recession |
| C．young people tend to share a car with strangers by means of Twitter |
| D．being connected via technology comes first for young people |
The best title for the passage is probably _______.
| A．Twitter, an Awesome Website |
| B．Cars or iPhone |
| C．Teens Use Twitter to Thumb Rides |
| D．Cool Teens on the Go |
Room for Rent by East Jefferson Hospital in Metairie
Room for rent for $ 500．00 per month and $500．00 damage deposit, You will have use of the refrigerator （I have two:） and the washer and dryer and the kitchen and the in-ground swimming pool．There is a one-year rental agreement but can be changed to a month-to-month after six months with a 30-day notice．There is parking in front of the house which is on a slot dead end street,．You can contact by phone at 5044551499 0r you can email me at marrt/n286@aol com．My name is Jerry．
LOW'PRICE : 2 bedrooms for rent $499 with furniture9 swimming pool
Any student attending university during the spring 2014 who wants to live on campus in a safe, gated community at a discounted rate: please respond．2 bedrooms/ 2 bathrooms / 1 living room．If a student is ir．retested in renting both rooms, the rate will be $479 per room, instead of- $499 （water all included）．The original amount for the rent is $599, and with our discounted rate （less $100．00 a month） it is an affordable way to engage in on-campus life．Located near the swimming pool, public barbecue pit and laundry room．Ruminates are great, very friendly and trustworthy,
Phone: 5049948139 Email: jguol@uno.edu Located:2000 Lakeshore Drive, UNO campus
Roommate Wanted
I live in an apartment with 2 bedrooms and l bathroom: on Lake Pontcbartrain surrounded by breath-taking scenery．The rent is $17000 per month and electric runs around $12．0．I am 27 years old and my husband is currently sending in Afghanistan．I am looking for a roommate to share rent and electric: woodlot $．550 per month．If interested, contact me at 9856074708．Text or call．My name is Ashley．
Roommate Wanted in Slidell
Roommate wanted for a 5-bedroom house in great location. Backroom is famished or unfurnished．All utilities (公用设施）indeed WiFi cable w／d（无线区域网）and full use of house．Must like I'm Julie．pets, Outside smokers are OK．9857189738．If someone wants to live in the room by EAST Jefferson Hospital, he .
| A．must pay $1,000,00 first |
| B．can't cook or wash in the room |
| C．has to park his car far away |
| D．must contact the owner by telephone only |
A young girl desiring a good view around her rented house should call .
| A．5044551499 | B．5049948130 |
| C．985607470t9 | D．9857189738 |
We can know that .
| A．the house in UNO campus has a swimming pool |
| B．the rent is $ 998 if a student rents two rooms in UNO campus |
| C．the person will enjoy free electric if she lives with Ashley |
| D．one who likes surfing the Internet should rent the room in Slidell |