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 |
The nature is full of mysteries. When autumn arrives in the United States and Canada, you can see one of nature’s, greatest scenes—the yearly migration (迁徙) of the monarch butterflies (帝王蝶).
No other butterfly in the world migrates like the orange and black monarch butterflies of North America. (A) They cannot live for long periods in cold weather. So each autumn around October, the butterflies travel up to 3,000 kilometers south to (B) ________. Some even fly to the mountains of Mexico. Plenty of monarch butterflies almost block out the sky. And you can hear their wings beating.
The butterflies usually spend two months reaching Mexico. After five months of stay, they head back north in spring. But not one butterfly finishes the whole round-trip. They (C) ________ eggs along the way and die. Three generations of butterflies will live and die during the spring journey alone. The fourth and final generations of the year are born in early autumn. But the butterflies hardly rest before starting the long journey south again to Mexico. The most amazing thing about these monarch butterflies is that they always return to the (D) ________ trees in Mexico that their great-great-grandparents used the winter before.
What mysterious monarch butterflies! They remind us of our nation. Millions of people, generation after generation use their blood and lives to build up our happy life. So as teenagers, we should (E) ________.
阅读短文，根据题目要求完成下列任务。
(1). 用英文写出文中(A)处They所指代的内容。______________
(2). 为文中(B)处选择一个适合的短语，使句意完整：________________________
A. see natural scenes
B. enjoy the warm sunshine
C. spend winter in warmer places
(3). 在文中(C)处和(D)处各填上一个适当的词，使文章的意思完整。
(C) ____________________ (D) ____________________
(4). 在文中找出一个与所给英文释义相匹配的单词。
___________________: all the members of a family of about the same age
(5). Complete (E) after you read the passage. ________________
Once there were four beggars (乞丐). One day, they met at an old temple at night. They were very upset because none of them had much to eat.
“I only got this piece of meat today.” the first said. “I almost got nothing,” the second said, “I just picked up a potato outside the vegetable store during the day.” The third said that all he had was a small bottle of salt. The fourth beggar had not done much better, “I only got some old beans, but they aren’t very mice!”
As they sat around the fire, the beggar with only a bottle of salt had a great idea “Let’s put all our things together and boil them. In this way, we can make a tasty dish and share it.” They all agreed. However, the first beggar thought, “I don’t want to share. I’ll just pretend to throw my meat into the pot. They’ll never know and I’ll eat my meat alone later.” So he pretended to put the meat into the pot. And at the same time the other beggars had similar ideas to him. At that time, the temple was too dark for the beggars to see what the others were doing.
Finally, one of them suggested that the dish should be ready and, in turn, each of them helped himself to it. They drank the hot water in silence, learning that selfishness (自私) doesn’t taste all that good.
阅读短文，回答下列问题。
(1). How did the four beggars feel when they met one day?
_______________________________________________
(2). What did the second beggar get during the day?
_______________________________________________
(3). Who wanted to share with others in the end?
_______________________________________________
(4). Did they have a tasty dish?
_______________________________________________
(5). What do you learn from the story?
_______________________________________________
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English Study Assessment (评价) Self-assessment |
Grade: 8 Name: Amy |
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Listening skill: ☆ I can understand the teacher’s instructions and finish the listening tasks in class. |
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Speaking skill: ☆ I can answer the questions loudly and clearly. ☆ I can discuss questions and express myself in simple English. |
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Reading skill: ☆ I can find out the main ideas of passages quickly. ☆ I can read English newspapers and magazines which are fit for teenagers. |
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Writing skill: ☆ I can write something in English correctly. ☆ I can imitate (模仿) the examples to write articles. |
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Watching skill: ☆ I can know more about foreign culture from English videos or films. |
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Group assessment ☆ Amy can help the group members a lot with English. |
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English teacher assessment ☆ Amy can take an active part in the English class and get good grades. |
Total points: 35 |
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Comments (评语):
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阅读以上信息，从每小题所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出一个最佳选项。
(1). This term, Amy can improve ________ kinds of skills in English class.
| A． |
five |
B． |
six |
C． |
seven |
(2). ________ have assed (评价) Amy.
| A． |
Amy, her English teacher and her parents |
| B． |
Amy, group members and her English teacher |
| C． |
Her English teacher, her parents and group members |
(3). Amy is the weakest in ________ and she should work harder at it next term.
| A． |
speaking |
B． |
writing |
C． |
watching |
(4). The comment for Amy should be “________ ”.
| A． |
Well done! |
B． |
Keep it up! |
C． |
Try harder! |
(5). Why do the students use “English Study Assessment”?
| A． |
To explain why they have passed the exam. |
| B． |
To check how much progress they have made. |
| C． |
To tell their parents what they’ve done at school. |
阅读下面文字，从A到F选项中为每个段落选出一个最适合的标题。
China is a country with a long history and rich culture. Please match the topics with the descriptions of the following cultures.
(1). The paper, usually rod, is folded before it is cut with scissors. The most common pictures are flowers, animals, and things about Chinese history. It sounds easy but it may be difficult to do.
(2). Tai-chi, which comes from China, is popular with many people. It is a form of physical exercise that trains our mind and body in balance and control. It’s slow and calm.
(3). “May we all be blessed with longevity (长寿). Though miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together. ” was written to Su Che by Su Shi, a poet during the Song Dynasty.
(4). Abing’s Erquan Yingyue is a piece which all the great erhu masters play and praise. It has become one of our nation’s treasures. Its sad beauty makes people recall their own painful experiences.
(5). Chinese people have been celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival for centuries. It falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. On this day, people watch the boat races and eat zongzi.
| A． |
Paper Cutting |
| B． |
Traditional Festival |
| C． |
Ancient Poem |
| D． |
Saying |
| E． |
Folk Music |
| F． |
Martial Art (武术) |
阅读下面短文，按要求完成各题。
“I could tell it was him by the way he walked.” If you’ve ever said that, you understand biometrics（生物识别技术）. Biometric technology is an important topic in our work and private lives. It includes the use of finger prints or knowing a person’s voice. It is the science about what a person looks like and how a person does things. Like tree leaves, no two human beings are exactly the same. They’ve got different eyes and different hair. And everyone has a different way of walking or moving.
This technology can tell you from others. At the moment if you travel through an airport, you need your ID card or passport. If you go to your bank to get some money, you need a card and a special number. But what should you do if you lose your passport or forget your number? Biometric technology can solve this problem. The technology is becoming more and more popular with old people because they no longer need to remember their passwords（密码）.
This technology is all around us in our life. We use them to unlock a smart phone, get into our homes, start our cars without a key or even pay for our shopping.
Nothing is perfect. People are worried about the safety of their private information. However, the technology will become much better in the future, and it will become more and more important in our daily life.
1题完成句子；2、3题简略回答问题；4题找出并写下第二段的主题句；5题将画线句子译成汉语。
(1). Biometric technology includes _________________________ or knowing a person’s voice.
(2). What are people worried about?
__________________________________________________________________________
(3). Where can the technology be used according to the text? （至少写出文中提到的两个地方）
__________________________________________________________________________
(4). _______________________________________________________________________
(5). _______________________________________________________________________
