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 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 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 “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 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 (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 neighbours |
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 |
If a person who keeps up with the Joneses, he would _________.
| A．do as the poor persons around him do |
| B．do everything he likes to do |
| C．do as his neighbours do |
| D．do as the rich people around him do |
“Well, we’re in our new house. Let’s get a new pet to get along with it,” Mrs. Brown said to her husband. “That sounds like a pretty good idea.” Do you want to see the ads in the newspaper?” “Let’s go to the animal shelter. Many pets there need homes. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we can both go,” she said.
Next morning the Browns met Mr. Snow at the animal shelter. “We want to be sure that the pets here go to good homes,” Mr. Snow said, “So I need to ask you some questions.”
After they talked for a while, the Browns decided to get a small dog. It wouldn’t need a big house or a big yard. A small dog would bark and warn them if someone tried to break into their house. After Mr. Snow gave the Browns a book on pet care, they chose one and wanted to take her home right away. But the animal doctor hadn’t checked her yet. So Mr. Snow told them to return on Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon the Browns went to the animal shelter. The animal doctor said, “Shadow has had all of her shots. She will be healthy.” The Browns thanked the doctor and took Shadow home.From the reading we learn that __________.
| A．the Browns have never had a pet before. |
| B．the Browns knew about Shadow from the newspaper. |
| C．Shadow is a small and healthy dog. |
| D．Mr. Brown didn’t quite agree with his wife. |
The word “shelter” in Paragraph 4 means_________.
| A．a place to sell small dogs |
| B．a place to keep homeless animals |
| C．a place to study animals |
| D．a place to sell books on pet care |
Mr. Snow asked the Browns some questions to___________.
| A．see if they had moved to a new house |
| B．find out how rich the Browns were |
| C．know where they would keep their new pet |
| D．make sure they would take care of pets |
It’s clear that _______________.
| A．Shadow will not be easy to get ill |
| B．the Browns were not satisfied with Shadow |
| C．Mr. Snow didn’t check Shadow at all |
| D．Shadow likes barking a lot |
Roger, a young man from China, has taught Chinese in a primary school in England for 3 years. Many children like his class and he enjoys teaching them very much. All the pupils are quite interested in what Roger teaches them. They learn quickly and do everything carefully.
One day he said to the children, “People in a lot of Asian countries wear white clothes at funerals, but the people in America wear white in the weddings because white means purity and happiness. What colour does an English woman wear when she gets married ?”
Mary said, “White, sir. Because she is happy.” “That is good, Mary.” Roger said, “You are quite right. She wears white because she is happy.”
But then one boy in the class put up his hand. “Yes, Dick?” Roger said, “Do you have a question?” “Yes.” Dick said, “Why do men wear black in our country when they get married, sir?”What does Roger do ?
| A．He teaches English in China |
| B．He is a Chinese teacher in China. |
| C．He teaches Chinese in England. |
| D．He teaches English in England. |
An English woman wears white clothes ___.
| A．when she gets married | B．when she is worried |
| C．when she is sad | D．at funerals |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Roger dislikes teaching the children |
| B．Mary was a slow girl. |
| C．People in England wear white when they get married. |
| D．Dick, a clever boy, liked asking questions. |
任务型阅读（本题有5小题，每小题1分，共5分）
暑假即将来临，学校为同学们准备了各种夏令营活动，请帮助下列同学从A、B、C、D、E中选择合适的夏令营。
| A. Summer Camp swim in the sea walk on the beach play cards sing songs cook over a camp fire |
B. Computer Camp learn to use a computer play computer games paint pictures cook over a camp fire |
| C. Photo Camp learn to take photos develop films climb mountains cook over a camp fire |
D. Science Camp learn something about satellites know more about the universe see films about the nature and man cook over a camp fire |
| E. Music Camp listen to the popular songs meet some pop singers learn to sing songs dance party |
Tom wants learn to use Windows XP in summer holidays. He also wants to learn to paint pictures with his good friends.
Mary likes listening to music very much. She often listens to some pop songs over and over in her spare time.
Jack is good at take pictures, and he wants to learn more about it in the summer vacation.
Ann loves to read science books about the space. She often asks some questions about the sky and man-made satellites.
Which of these camps do you want to take part in? Why?
根据短文内容和所给汉语提示写出单词的正确形式，每空限填一词。
There was a famous church in London. It was 110 ____(米) high. The center of the church was _
___(像) a bell. The ceiling of the church was painted by a famous artist. A platform (平台) was __
__(建造) so that the artist could put up a ladder (梯子) on it and paint the ceiling. The platform was about 70 meters over the ground.
One day the artist was working hard and had nearly ____(完成) one popular corner on the ceiling. Also on the platform was his assistant, who was mixing paints. The artist stepped back so that he could see how his work was progressing. To have a better look at his painting, he stepped back again.__
__(突然), his assistant shouted, picked up a small bowl of paint and started to paint the artist’s work on the top. The artist was very mad and rushed forwards to stop him.
“What do you think you are doing?” he shouted _____(生气地). “Are you mad?” His assistant replied, “I saw you _
__(行走) backwards to have a better look at your painting. But you didn’t __
__(注意) that you had reached the very edge of the platform. You were in great __
_(危险). I wanted to make you move forwards. If I had not made you run forwards, you would have
___(跌落) backwards off the edge of the platform.”
The famous fat and lazy cat Garfield is coming to China. In this American movie, Garfield acts with real actors. He makes trouble and dances like a star. He will make you laugh a lot.
Drawn by American Cartoonist Jim Davis since 1978, Garfield has fans all over the world. He likes eating, sleeping and watching TV. He hates doing exercise! “I’m lazy and fat. But I’m proud of it,” he says. Garfield always sits in front of the TV eating lasagna( 意大利面)，his favourite dish. Sometimes, he’s rude to his owner Jon Arbuckle.
One day, Jon brings Odie, a homeless dog, into his home. Odie is cute. He gets all Jon’s love. This turns Garfield’s world upside down. Garfield wants the dog out of the house, and his life. One night, he kicks Odie out of the house. But later Garfield finds that Odie had been kidnapped(绑架) by a TV star! The man wants to use the dog in his shows. Garfield feels sorry for Odie. He sees he has done something wrong. He wants to make up for it. So Garfield gets off his favourite chair to try to save his friend.Which of the following about Garfield is true?
| A．He is a real cat. |
| B．His favourite dish is fish. |
| C．He never gets mad at people. |
| D．He’s smart and funny. |
Garfield wants the dog out of the house because ______________.
| A．he doesn’t like to share lasagna with him. |
| B．the dog makes him upside down. |
| C．he becomes jealous (嫉妒) of the dog. |
| D．he wants the dog to go to a show. |
We can tell from the story that Garfield _____________.
| A．is always rude to friends. |
| B．can never get Odie back. |
| C．will probably save Odie in the end. |
| D．may find another dog to take the place of Odie. |