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. 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 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 had to move 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 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．live with many neighbors |
What's the author's attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. | C．Supportive. | D．Objective. |
Climbers at the top of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, will now be able to make video calls and surf the Internet on their mobile phones, a Nepalese (尼泊尔的) telecom group claims.
Ncell, a branch company of Swedish phone giant TeliaSonera, said on Thursday it had set up a high-speed third-generation (3G) phone base station at an altitude of 5,200 metres in the Everest region.
“Today we made the world’s highest video call from Mount Everest base camp successfully. The coverage (覆盖范围) of the network will reach up to the peak of Mount Everest,” Ncell Nepal chief Pasi Koistinen told reporters in Kathmandu.
The installation (安装) will also help tens of thousands of tourists and hikers who visit the world’s highest mountain every year.
Climbers who reached its 8,848-metre peak previously depended on expensive satellite phones and a voice-only network set up by China Mobile in 2007 on the Chinese side of the mountain.
“This is a great milestone for mobile communications as the 3G high speed Internet will bring faster, more affordable telecommunication services from the world’s tallest mountain,” said Lars Nyberg, chief executive of TeliaSonera, which owns 80 percent of Ncell.
The 3G services will be fast enough to make video calls and use the Internet, said the company, which also claimed the world’s lowest 3G base at 1,400 metres below sea level in a mine in Europe.
Despite the installation in Mount Everest, telecom services cover less than one-third of the 28 million people of Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.
TeliaSonera said it planned to invest $ 100 million in the next year to ensure that mobile coverage increases to more than 90 per cent of the Himalayan nation’s population.
The 3G network on Mount Everest puts TeliaSonera ahead of state-controlled Nepal Telecom, Indian-owned United Telecom and China Mobile.
Around 3,000 people have climbed to the Everest summit since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to conquer the peak in 1953.Who are most likely to benefit from the 3G services at Mount Everest?
| A．The telecom firm. | B．The local residents. |
| C．Travelers to Nepal. | D．Mount Everest explorers. |
According to Lars Nyberg, the 3G services they provide __________.
| A．are fast and convenient | B．are a little expensive |
| C．can make voice-only calls | D．offer free emailing |
What do we know about TeliaSonera?
| A．80 percent of it is owned by Ncell |
| B．It belongs to Nepal Telecom. |
| C．It is in the charge of Pasi Koistinen |
| D．It provides services for Pasi Koistinen. |
What is the best title of the text?
| A．Telecommunication in Nepal |
| B．3G services reach Mt. Everest summit |
| C．TeliaSonera takes lead in communication |
| D．Good news for hikers and climbers |
To help make the most of your experience at Auckland Zoo we suggest:
Plan Your Day:
Plan your day to learn more about your favorite zoo animals.
Don’t forget your camera – the best way to capture your visit forever.
Keep Safe at the Zoo:
Children aged 12 years and under need to be accompanied (陪同) by a caregiver.
To keep the safety of our animals, any throwing games are not permitted in the zoo grounds.
The zoo animals are not trained. Do not enter any enclosure (围场), or put any part of your body into an enclosure.
There are a number of natural waterways at the zoo, so please take care of your children at all times.
General Information:
Check out the weather before you come. In winter we suggest you bring a jacket and an umbrella, and in summer, be sure to bring sunscreen and a hat.
Every zoo animal enjoys its own specific: well-balanced food. We hope that you enjoy some great food treats on your zoo visit, but please do not feed any of our animals. Our keepers work strictly on this.
Feel free to take personal photos and make videos. However, any commercial photography or filming needs written permissions from zoo management.
Not all animals are permitted in the zoo grounds. We welcome people with guide dogs, but they must contact us ahead of time about their visit. Please phone the Zoo Information Center on +64(0)9-360-3805.
Smoking is not permitted in covered areas.
Auckland Zoo does not allow entry to any unaccompanied children 12 years and under. If the children are found by themselves, the staff do have the right to call the police.When visiting Auckland Zoo, parents should tell their children that _________.
| A．they could play throwing games |
| B．they couldstay close to the animals |
| C．the zoo animals have been well-trained |
| D．it’s dangerous to play near the waterways |
The underlined word “this” in the part of “General Information” refers to the fact that ____.
| A．zoo animals enjoy their well-balanced food |
| B．visitors are not allowed to feed animals |
| C．visitors enjoy their own food treats |
| D．children offer food to the zoo animals |
The main purpose of the passage is to _________.
| A．give people some tips on visiting Auckland Zoo |
| B．introduce Auckland Zoo animals |
| C．ask people to stop polluting Auckland Zoo |
| D．attract people to the zoo |
A winter wonderland on the outskirts of Quebec City has become one of Canada's hottest attractions and most sought out accommodations. Guests stay close for warmth in sleeping bags on beds of ice, hats pulled over their ears to prevent frostbite, while sipping cocktails (鸡尾酒) in glasses also made of ice.
A cool place to host a memorable wedding or for a romantic getaway, the Quebec Ice Hotel has attracted 600,000 curious tourists, including 30,000 who stayed overnight, since opening seasonally 11 years ago. Like Victoria and Jeremy Martin, dozens of couples will exchange vows (誓约) this winter in a temporary church next to the hotel, made entirely from blocks of ice with seats covered in furs.
Average temperatures fall below minus 20 degrees C (minus four F) in winter, but inside the hotel's 36 rooms it is relatively comfortable. Thick walls of packed snow and ice act as an insulator, trapping body heat inside. Each room is uniquely decorated, using designs created by Quebec architecture students. Two hotel bars also sell special cocktails in ice glasses.
First-time guests of the hotel, however, are recommended to stay only one night as sleeping in sub-zero temperatures is not very refreshing. This year for the first time the ice hotel has teamed up with a brick and concrete Quebec City hotel to offer packages(全套服务) for one-night accommodations at each. Prices for one night only at the ice hotel start at 200 US dollars per person.
The 3,000-square-metre (32,300-square-feet) buildings take six weeks starting in December to build, using 15,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice, at a cost of some 750,000 US dollars. Eleven weeks after its seasonal grand opening, the hotel will close on March 27 and then melt away with the arrival of spring.What is true with the ice hotel?
| A．630,000 people have visited it. |
| B．Its rooms all look alike. |
| C．It stays open for two months each year. |
| D．Wedding ceremonies are often held there. |
The underlined word “insulator” in Paragraph 3 possibly refers to something that ______.
| A．stops heat passing through it | B．collects and reflects light and heat |
| C．makes things become very cold | D．works like an air-conditioner |
First-time guests are advised to stay there only one night because _______.
| A．they may not be able to stand the cold |
| B．their other night is with an ordinary hotel |
| C．new guests have no advantages over old ones |
| D．they may find the beds made of ice too hard to sleep on. |
Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.
People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.A good title for this reading passage is______.
| A．Popeye the Sailor | B．The Truth About Spinach |
| C．A Mistake with Numbers | D．Folic Acid Makes You Strong |
Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
| A．They thought spinach made them strong. |
| B．They thought Popeye was funny. |
| C．Spinach had a lot of iron. |
| D．People liked folic acid. |
A research group told people that spinach______.
| A．made Popeye strong |
| B．was a green vegetable |
| C．had less iron than other green vegetables |
| D．had more iron than other green vegetables |
The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
| A．iron | B．folic acid | C．spinach | D．exercise |
Notice
Dear Degree-doing International Students,
According to the University’s regulations governing the Curriculums (课程) of General Education, the curriculum-choosing procedures (程序) are as follows:
Who
All degree-doing international students are required to choose the curriculums related to Chinese Language and Culture. Refer to Item 3 for different arrangements for undergraduate students (本科生) ,master and doctor students.
What curriculum to choose
You are required to choose two curriculums related to Chinese Language and Culture that suit your own level and program. The curriculum consists of Elementary Chinese, Intermediate （中级的）Chinese, and Chinese Culture (Taught in Chinese and English ). Please refer to Attachment 1 for details.
How many credits
You are required to complete 6 credits for each curriculum within a term.
When and How
A. Undergraduate students: you are required to complete the curriculum selection process (The system will be reopened next week) by 5:00 p.m. on June 22, 2013. About how to choose the courses, you can refer to Attachment 2 (It is in Chinese; turn to your Chinese friends or teachers for help if you cannot follow the procedures of the attachment) for the instructions.
B. Master and Doctor Students: you won’t have to complete the curriculum selection until early September; please wait for further notice on the arrangement.
Your cooperation will be highly appreciated.
Attachment 1: Chinese Language & Culture for International Students
Attachment 2: Handbook for Curriculum Selection
School of International Education
Chongqing University
June 13, 2013This notice is mainly about _______.
| A．course selection | B．how to study elective courses |
| C．regulations of learning Chinese | D．Learning arrangements for elective courses |
The courses which can be chosen don’t include _______.
| A．Chinese Culture | B．Advanced Chinese |
| C．Elementary Chinese | D．Intermediate Chinese |
According to the arrangement, who must finish choosing curriculums in June?
| A．Doctor students | B．Master students |
| C．Undergraduate students | D．International students |
You can learn the instructions in the course selection from_______.
| A．your friends | B．your teachers | C．Attachment One | D．Attachment Two |