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 |
A spiraling (呈螺旋形的) tower made from thousands of books in dozens of languages is the later landmark in Buenos Ares, named the World Bok Capital this year.
Called the Tower of Babel, the 25-metrehigh tower by Argentine artist Marta Minujin is made from 30,000books, donated by readers, libraries and more than 50embassies.
Climbing up its seven floors, visitors to the tower hear music composed by Minujin and the voice of the artist repeating the word “book” in scores of languages.
“Building this tower is really a wonder,”Minujin said, standing before the structure as curious passers-by looked at a downtown city square. “A hundred years from now, Peple will say 'there was a Tower of Babel in Argentina... and it didn't need translation because art needs no translation'.”
Minujin, who worked with US artist Andy Warhol, built a full-scale mode of the Parthenon in Buenos Aires in1983, using books banned by the military dictatorship(专政) that ended that year.
This year's book tower marks Buenos Aires' naming as the 2011 · World Book Capital by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“We've been laying books for 10 days straight,” said Sebastian Atienza, 26, who works for the company that built the tower under Minujin's command. “But it's worth it. It's where all languages come together.”
When the exhibit ends later this month, Minujin said literature lovers will be allowed to come and pick one book each. The rest will be brought down to start a new archive (档案馆) that has already been named The Library of Babel, the name of a story by Argentina's most famous author, Jorge Luis Borges.According to the passage, the Tower of Babel _____.
| A．is made from 30,000 books from nearly 50 countries |
| B．is designed by American artist Marta Minujin |
| C．will hold the book exhibition for 10 days |
| D．has a height of twenty-five metres |
After the book exhibition, most books will be _____.
| A．handed out among visitors |
| B．donated to UNESCO |
| C．sent to Argentina’s new archive |
| D．bought by Jorge Luis Borges |
The passage is probably taken from a(n) _____.
| A．advertisement |
| B．tourism guide |
| C．textbook |
| D．newpapers |
The research carried out by the University of Bari in Italy could help prove hospitals who are accused of wasting money on art and decoration as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients ease discomfort and pain.
A team headed by Professor Marina de Tommaso at the Neurophysiopathology Pain Unit asked a group of men and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered most ugly and most beautiful from a selection of 300works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. They were then asked to look at either the beautiful paintings, or the ugly paintings, or a blank panel while the team zapped(照射) a short laser pulse at their hand, creating a sensation as if they had been stuck by a pin. He subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with when looking at the ugly paintings or the blank panel. Electrodes measuring the brain's electrical activity also confirmed a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings.
While distractions, such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital patients, Professor Marina de Tommaso says this is the first result to show that beauty plays a part.
The findings, reported in New Scientist, also go a long way to show that beautiful surroundings could aid the healing process.
“Hospitals have been designed to be functional, but we think that their artistic aspects should be taken into account too,” said the neurologist. “Beauty obviously offers a distraction that ugly paintings do not. But at least there is no suggestion that ugly surroundings make the pain worse.” “I think these results show that more research is needed into the field how a beautiful environment can alleviate suffering.”
Pictures they liked included Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Pictures they found ugly included works by Pablo Picasso, the Italian20thcentury artist Antonio Buenoand Columbian Fernando Botero.“ These people were not art experts so some of the pictures they found ugly would be considered masterpieces by the art world,” said Professor Marina de Tommaso.The underlined word “alleviate” in Paragraph 5 probably means “_____”.
| A．cure | B．ease |
| C．improve | D．kill |
How many artists have been mentioned in the passage?
| A．4. | B．5. |
| C．6. | D．7. |
Which of the following is TRUE about the view of Professor Marina de Tommaso’s?
| A．Beautiful surroundings could help to heal sufferings completely. |
| B．Hospitals must take their artistic aspects into consideration first. |
| C．Ugly surroundings will surely make the pain worse. |
| D．Both music and beauty can reduce pain in hospital patients. |
From the last paragraph, we know that _____.
| A．some artists’ paintings were beautiful, so they were masterpieces |
| B．only art experts could judge whether they were masterpieces or not, though ugly |
| C．the artists mentioned above were not really art masters |
| D．some of them were art masters, while others were not |
Which of the following is the most suitable title for the passage?
| A．Beautiful surroundings can ease pain. |
| B．Ugly paintings could be masterpieces. |
| C．More paintings should be done in the field. |
| D．Latest environmental research |
Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear (鞋类) in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at he Footwear Museum you can see exhibits (展品) from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars.
| Room 1 The celebrity () footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities' choice of footwear extremely interesting. |
Room 2 Most of our visitors are amazed-and shocked-by the collection of “special purpose” shoes on exhibition here at the Museum of Footwear. For example, there are Chinese shoes made of silk that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much! |
| Rome 3 As well as shoes and boots the museum also exhibits shoe-shaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example, there is a metal lamp that resembles a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that look like legs! |
The Footwear Library People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library. Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear. |
Where would you find a famous singer’s shoes?
| A．Room 1. |
| B．Room 2. |
| C．Room 3. |
| D．The Footwear Library. |
All exhibits in each room _____.
| A．share the same theme |
| B．have the same shape |
| C．are made of the same material |
| D．belong to the same social class |
Which of the following is true according to the text、
| A．The oldest exhibits in Room 1 were made in the 1950s. |
| B．Room 2 is the most visited place in the museum. |
| C．Room 3 has a richer variety of exhibits than the other two. |
| D．Researchers come to the Footwear Library for data. |
The purpose of the text is to get more people to _____.
| A．do research |
| B．design shoes |
| C．visit the museum |
| D．follow celebrities |
The Taj Mahal (泰姬陵) is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the fines example of the late style of Indian architecture. It is at Agra in northern India. It lies beside the River Jumna in the middle of gardens with quiet pools. The Taj Mahal was built by the Mogul emperor (皇帝) Shah Jahan, who ruled India in the seventeenth century. It is in memory of his favorite wife, Arjum and Banu Bagam, known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631.
The building, which was completed between 1632 and 1638,was designed by a local Muslim architect (建筑师) Ustad Ahmad Lahori. Thewhole building, with gardens and gateway structures, was completed in 1643. The Taj Mahal stands at one end of the garden tomb with the marble (大理石) path. The room is softly lighted by the light that passes through double screens of carved marble set high in the walls. The building now is kept in good condition.
The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build. Shah Jahan planned a similar building, but in black instead of white, to lie on the other side of the river. But before it could be built, ShahJahan was imprisoned (监禁) by his son and buried next to his wife in the Taj Mahal.The Taj Mahal was built for _____.
| A．Mumtaz |
| B．Shah |
| C．Either Mumtaz or Shah |
| D．Both Mumtaz and Shah |
Why do you think Shah Jahan was buried next to his wife?
| A．His own tomb hadn’t been built. |
| B．He hoped to be buried there. |
| C．King and Queen should be buried together. |
| D．He liked Mumtaz all his life. |
The passage mainly tells us _____.
| A．why the Taj Mahal was built |
| B．the love story between Mumtaz and Shah |
| C．some information about the Taj Mahal |
| D．the Taj Mahal—the pride of Indians |
From the passage we can learn that _____.
| A．the Taj Mahal looks more beautiful than before |
| B．the Taj Mahal doesn’t exist now |
| C．the Taj Mahal has completely changed |
| D．the Taj Mahal has become a place of interest |
How many years did it take to build the Taj Mahal?
| A．20 years. |
| B．22 years. |
| C．12 years. |
| D．23 years. |
When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called”Brownie”. My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her. One of us would walk her, another would feed her, then there were baths, playing catch and many other games, Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go t whoever was sick ad just be with them. We always felt better when she was around.
One day, as I was getting her food, she chewed up () one of Dad's shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end. I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was wrong. When I looked at her and said “Bad girl”, she looked down at the ground and then went and hid. I saw a tear in her eyes.
Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet; she went everywhere with us. People would stop and ask if they could pet her. Of course she'd let anyone pet her. She was just the most lovable dog. There were many times when we'd be out walking and as mal child would come over ad pulled her hair. She never barked or tried to get away. The funny thing is that she would smile. This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth. Far from the truth, she loves everyone.
Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age. I still miss those days when she was with us.What would Brownie do when someone was ill in the family?
| A．Look at them sadly. |
| B．Keep them company. |
| C．Play games with them. |
| D．Touch them gently. |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that Brownie _____.
| A．would eat anything when hungry |
| B．felt sorry for her mistake |
| C．loved playing hide-and-seek |
| D．disliked the author’s dad |
Why does the author say that Brownie was more than just a family pet?
| A．She was treated as a member of the family. |
| B．She played games with anyone she liked. |
| C．She was loved by everybody she met. |
| D．She went everywhere with the family. |
Some people got frightened by Brownie when she _____.
A.smiled
B.barked
C.rushed to them
D.tried to be funny
Which of the following best describes Brownie?
A.Shy.
B.Polite.
C.Brave.
D.Caring.