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(仆人) 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 make themselves 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 |
According to the writer, it is_______ to keep up with the Joneses.
| A．correct | B．interesting | C．impossible | D．good |
Which of the following activities probably does not belong to the rich people?
| A．holding a race | B．riding horses |
| C．holding parties | D．hiring a servant |
I have a love-hate feeling with 8 o’clock classes. I like to get started that early, but most students don’t. They usually came in late and looked sleepy at that hour.
One day I was really angry at it. I was excited about the history lesson, but no one else seemed to be. I wrote things on the blackboard. I moved around the room. I told stories. I tried humor. It was useless. Their looks didn’t seem to change. I was frustrated(挫败). I forgot to keep time. I was going to talk more when I looked down at my watch. It was already two minutes past the end of class. So I just ended suddenly and soon the students began to pick up their book bags and rushed out the door on their way to another class.
While I was watching them leaving, I put away my own books, notes and papers. I took them up and stepped out into the hall. I was tired and a bit sad. I had put everything I knew into that class and it had not seemed to work. Then, as I started across the hall to my office, a student came out the back door of the classroom and caught up with me.
Randy sat at the back of the classroom. I thought he wanted to ask why I didn’t correct their exam papers or maybe he wanted to ask for leave or… It was none of that. With his eyes sparkling (闪烁), Randy said, “Mr Green, this is the first time I’ve not wanted a college class to end.”
The tiredness disappeared. I had done better than I thought. I don’t know if Randy will ever understand how much he did for me that day.Do most students want to get started early?
What did the writer do to make his class more interesting?
Why did the writer stop the class suddenly?
What did the writer feel after the class?
What did Randy’s words mean to the writer?
Most kids hate doing housework. However, not all hope is lost. There are some things that you can do to get your kids to help you clean your house. If you are struggling with the chores (家务杂事) and need your kids to help you, take a look at some of the creative ways in this article.
If you are dealing with older kids, you may want to try the allowance deal. You can give your kids a list of chores that need to be done each week. If they complete these chores, you can give them some money. You can also break the list down and tell them they will get so much for each chore that is finished. Older kids, who like to do things on weekends or buy things like video games, will work hard to complete their chores and earn their money. This is also teaching them duty. This is teaching them that they must work for what they want.
If you are dealing with younger kids, you may want to go with the rewards chart (奖励图表). This is where you design a chart and list their chores on the chart. For each chore they complete, you can put a red flower beside it. For the rewards, you also can do a number of things like going to the park, going out to eat, buying a DVD or something similar. The rewards would be up to you because you know what your kids like.
For real small kids, you can turn it into a game. When kids were much younger, you can teach them to dance around and sing as you cleaned. The kids loved it and would do a wonderful job at picking up their toys. So, consider turning cleaning into a game for the real small kids.What does the underlined word “allowance” in Paragraph Two mean?
| A．Good words given by parents. |
| B．Business that needs studying. |
| C．Explanation of responsibility. |
| D．Small change given by parents. |
The older kids must be made to know .
| A．that doing everyday housework is their duty |
| B．what they want can be realized by working |
| C．they can get a little money without working |
| D．all the work given them must be done at a time |
You draw a sign on the chart to praise .
| A．the younger kids |
| B．the older children |
| C．the really small kids |
| D．the hard-working kids |
What can we learn from this passage?
| A．Most kids hate doing housework to get money. |
| B．All the kids like doing housework on weekends. |
| C．Parents decide what kind of reward their kids need. |
| D．The younger kids needn’t be given any rewards. |
Hearing the front door open, I ran down to the kitchen and waited. I saw my dad come in, with the white envelope (信封) in his hand. I had waited all day for this, so I reached over him for it as soon as he set foot into the house. Angrily, he threw the envelope on the table and said it was nothing to get excited about, and that it was just a piece of paper. I took it and ran upstairs. I wondered why my dad did not understand how anxious (急切) I was to see my mid-year report card for my first year in middle school. I was really hurt by how he refused to consider all my hard work.
I saw my class grade: No. 1. I did not believe what I was. I smiled and wanted to run downstairs to tell everyone. Then I remembered what my dad had said—it was nothing to get excited about. I wanted to share my happiness with someone, but felt lonely.
I realized that I stayed away from my family we used to stay up late watching Disney movies, and my brothers, sisters and I would play tennis in the backyard all the time. I wondered when all that stopped. I just no longer took part in them. I spent all my time on my school work.
While I had been busy with my study, I had also built a wall between me and my family.
I was only trying to become a person everyone could be proud of. I wanted to go downstairs, say sorry for my rude behavior and for every refused movie and tennis game, and be part of my family again. I knew I had to do something—because without their support, my achievement meant nothing.t’s very clear that the writer did .
| A．much worse in his study than she had expected |
| B．a lot better in his study than she had expected |
| C．as well as she had expected in his study |
| D．not well as she had expected in his study |
After the writer saw the grade, she wanted to run downstairs to .
| A．tell everyone how hard he worked |
| B．stay away from others |
| C．watch Disney movies with his family |
| D．share her happiness with others |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．the writer was once very impolite to her families |
| B．the writer’s father felt angry about the school report |
| C．the family were all proud of the writer |
| D．the writer once spent all his time building a wall |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Change Myself First | B．Praise Me, Dad |
| C．My School Report | D．Scores, No. 1 in Life? |
Michelle, a famous lady, has found that more than 25% students are too fat in her country. It is a very serious problem. So she starts a health program to deal with it. The health program is to reduce the amount(数量)of fat students today and in the future.
The program will get families, schools, newspapers, magazines and TVs to join together and deal with the students’ obesity(肥胖症) so that students will be at a healthier weight. The program includes: Food stores should sell healthier foods. Schools should serve healthier meals with less fat and should also offer gym classes.
The lady is trying to fight the students’ obesity all over the country because it can cause illnesses and higher health cost. She wants the students to eat right, exercise more and control their weight. She also wants the students to understand it is important to have less sweet food, and drink water, milk and fresh juices, but not to choose cokes. At the same time she has also set a good example by planting a vegetable garden. She hopes that the garden will encourage more people to plant one, too.
The health program is really helpful to the students today and in the future. As she says, we cannot always build the future for youth, but we can build our youth for the future.In Michelle’s country over of the students are too fat.
| A．75% | B．a quarter | C．a half | D．15% |
What does the lady want the shops to do?
| A．To offer gym classes. |
| B．To plant a vegetable garden. |
| C．To serve meals with less fat. |
| D．To sell healthier foods. |
Michelle encourages fat students to have .
| A．more vegetables | B．sweet food |
| C．many cokes | D．much fat |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．The lady introduces healthy drinks. |
| B．The lady cares about food cost. |
| C．The lady fights obesity in students. |
| D．The lady feel worried about the height. |
| Help Needed |
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Are you good with children? We need two people to volunteer your time at Sunnyview Children’s Hospital. You need to be friendly and cheerful—the children are sick and you need to cheer them up. Your job is to set up a play group with fun games for the children. If you can spare an hour three times a week, come and join us! Please call Mrs Chan at 555-9879. Thanks! |
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Are you interested in repairing things? We have set up a group, Home Love, to help older people who need to fix up their homes. If you have repair skills, join us for eight hours a month. Call Home Love at 555-4663. |
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Do you love clean beaches? We need people who are strong and can help clean up Blue Water Beach. We don’t want to put off this job till summer. We need your help to collect and carry rubbish. If you are available for six hours this Saturday, call at 555-6668 or 555-6669. |
If you’re good with children, you can go to .
| A．Sunnyview Children’s Hospital | B．Home Love |
| C．Blue Water Beach | D．All the above |
You like repairing things, so you could call at .
| A．555-9879 | B．555-6669 |
| C．555-6668 | D．555-4663 |
What can you do on Blue Water Beach?
| A．Cheer up sick children. | B．Clean up the beach. |
| C．Play games with others. | D．Fix up old buildings. |