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.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 |
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 neighbors |
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 |
According to the writer, it is ________ to keep up with the Joneses.
| A．correct | B．interesting | C．impossible | D．good |
Learning a Second Language
Some people learn a second language easily. Others have trouble learning a new language. How can you help yourself learn a new language, such as English? There are several ways to make learning English a little easier and more interesting.
The first step is to feel positive about learning English. If you believe that you can learn, you will learn. Be patient. You do not have to understand everything all at once. It is natural to make mistakes when you learn something new. We can learn from our mistakes. In other words, do not worry about taking risks.
The second step is to practice your English. For example, write a diary every day. You will get used to writing it in English, and you will feel comfortable expressing your ideas in English. Several weeks later, you will see that your writing is improving. In addition, you must speak English every day. You can practice with your classmates outside class. You will all make mistakes, but gradually you will become comfortable communicating in English.
The third step is to keep a record of your language learning. You can write this in your journal. After each class, think about what you did. Did you answer a question correctly? Did you understand something the teacher explained? Perhaps the lesson was difficult, but you tried to understand it.
You must be positive about learning English and believe that you can do it. It is important to practice every day and make a record of your achievements. You will enjoy learning English, and you will feel more confident in yourself.To feel positive about learning English means _______.
| A．if you are patient, you will learn |
| B．you can understand everything all at once |
| C．if you make mistakes, you can learn from your mistakes |
| D．if you believe you can learn, you will learn |
When you learn English, you do not need to ______.
| A．be patient | B．make mistakes |
| C．express your ideas in English | D．understand everything all at once |
What is not helpful for you to enjoy learning English?
| A．To communicate in English. |
| B．To worry about taking risks. |
| C．To think about what has been done after each class. |
| D．To make a record of the achievements. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．It is very important to learn a second language. |
| B．Some people learn a second language easily while other people do not. |
| C．There are ways to help you learn a second language more easily. |
| D．Don’t worry about taking risks when learning a second language. |
What does the underlined word “journal” in the 4th paragraphmean?
| A．Diary | B．Composition | C．Poem | D．Newspaper |
Your body, which has close relations with the food you eat, is the most important thing you own, so it needs proper treatment and proper nourishment (营养).The old saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away ”is not as silly as some people think. The body needs fruit and vegetables because they contain vitamin C. Many people take extra vitamins in pill form, believing that these will make them healthy.
But a good diet is made up of nourishing food and this gives all the vitamins you need. The body doesn’t need or use extra vitamins, so why waste money on them?
In the modern western world, many people are too busy to bother about eating properly. They throw anything into their stomachs, eating hurriedly and carelessly. The list of illnesses caused or made worse by bad eating habits is frightening,“Your body has close relations with the food you eat.” It really means that ______.
| A．all kinds of food you eat can be made into your body |
| B．your body is made up of the food you eat |
| C．what you eat has great effect on your health |
| D．the more you eat, the fitter you will feel |
The old saying referred to in the passage tells us that ______.
| A．eating apples regularly does lots of good to our health |
| B．the apple is the best among all kinds of fruits |
| C．apples can take the place of doctors |
| D．an apple is a sure cure for illness |
In the second paragraph, the writer tries to let us know ______.
| A．our bodies need food or we can’t live |
| B．often eating apples is a good habit |
| C．taking extra vitamin pills is completely useless |
| D．a good diet is of great importance for our health |
In the modern western countries ______.
| A．people don’t want to pay more attention to their eating |
| B．lots of people’s illnesses are caused or made worse by bad eating habits |
| C．people throw everything into their stomachs without chewing |
| D．people are only too busy to cook meals for themselves |
From the passage we can draw a conclusion that if we want to keep healthy, we should ______.
| A．only eat an apple a day |
| B．eat properly |
| C．take as many vitamin pills as possible |
| D．throw something into our stomachs slowly and carefully |
IS IT TIME TO GET － MP3
Your computer has been playing music for years, one CD at a time．Now hundreds of songs can be stored in your PC if they’re in the MP3 format．
What is it?
MP3 compresses (压缩) music into small computer—friendly files．You access MP3 music several ways: Tunes can be downloaded from websites that have converted (转变) vast music libraries into MP3．Or you can prerecorded CDs into your PC and convert songs in minutes into MP3．Once MP3 music is on your PC’s hard drive, you can play it through your computer’s speakers, “burn” it onto blank CDs or swap (交换) MP3 files with friends using e—mail．
How much?
Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free．It is preinstalled (预先安装)on most new computers or can be downloaded from many websites, including MP3, com．Some MP3 sites are free．Just type at around $50 and can hold hundreds of songs．A blank CD on which you can record music costs about a dollar．
Advantages
MP3 turns your home PC into a jukebox (自动唱机)．Tiny MP3 players are the size of a deck of cards, making it easy to take hundreds of songs with you．
Disadvantages
You may find that music at many sites is limited．And some only allow you to listen rather than download offerings．Others let you download music that then can’t be copied to MP3 players．And a growing number of new CDs make it impossible to copy songs to a computer．How can you get Mp3 music?
| A．By turning your home PC into jukebox． |
| B．By taking you own music or songs with you． |
| C．By copying songs to a PC through the speakers． |
| D．By downloading from websites which have converted music libraries． |
How much will you pay for a MP3 player?
| A．Free of charge | B．Free downloading |
| C．At least fifty dollars | D．About a dollar |
What is the closest meaning of the underlined word “burn”?
| A．Copy | B．Play | C．Store | D．Change |
If you go to Brisbane, Australia, you can easily get a small book called Discover Brisbane free．Here is something about banks on page 49:
ANZ Banking Group
Cnr．Greek & Queen Sts ………………………………………………238 3228
Bank of New Zealand
410 Queen Street …………………………………………………… 221 0411
Bank of Queensland
229 Elizabeth Street ………………………………………………… 229 3122
Commonwealth Banking Group
240 Queen Street …………………………………………………… 237 3111
National Australia Bank Ltd
225 Adelaide Street ………………………………………………… 221 6422
Westpac Banking Corp
260 Queen Street …………………………………………………… 227 2666
Banking hours are Mon.-Thu．9:30 am to 4 pm．Fri．9:30 am to 5 pm．All banks close Sat．Sun．& Public Holidays.You can find ANZ Banking Group on ________________.
| A．Queen Street |
| B．Elizabeth Street |
| C．the corner of Greek Street and Queen Street |
| D．the corner of Queen Street and Elizabeth Street |
On Saturdays, you can go to _____________ to put your money in or take your money out.
| A．ANZ Banking Group |
| B．Bank of Queensland |
| C．National Australia Bank Ltd |
| D．none of the banks |
In Australia, the banks have their longest service hours on _____________.
| A．public holidays | B．Fridays | C．Saturdays | D．Sundays |
“Cool” is a word with many meanings．Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little bit cold．As the world has changed，the word has had many different meaning．
“Cool” can be used to express feelings of interest in almost anything．
When you see a famous car in the street，maybe you will say，“It's cool．”You may think，“He's so cool，”when you see your favorite footballer．
We all maximize（扩大） the meaning of “cool”．You can use it instead of many words such as “new” or “surprising”．Here's an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used．A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall（瀑布）they had visited．On one student's paper was Just the one sentence，“It's so cool．Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt．
But the story also shows a scarcity（缺乏）of words．Without “cool”，some people have no words to show the same meaning．So it is quite important to keep some credibility（可信性）．Can you think of many other words that make your life as colorful as the word “cool”？ I can．And I think they are also very cool．We know that the word "cool" has had ________.
| A．only one meaning | B．no meanings |
| C．many different meanings | D．the same meaning |
In the passage，the word “express” means “________”.
| A．see | B．show | C．know | D．feel |
If you are _______ something，you may say，“It’s cool.”
| A．interested in | B．angry about |
| C．afraid of | D．unhappy with |
The writer takes an example to show he is ______the way the word is used．
| A．pleased with | B．strange to |
| C．worried about | D．careful with |
In the passage，the writer suggests（暗示）that the word “cool”________．
| A．can be used instead of many words |
| B．usually means something interesting |
| C．can make your life colorful |
| D．may not be as cool as it seems |