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 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.

1.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

2. 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

3.What's the author's attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?

A. Negative.    B. Positive. 　　C. Supportive.    D. Objective.

 

【答案】

 

1.B

2.A

3.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文介紹了習(xí)語“keep up with the Joneses”的由來。一位有錢后的年輕人與別人互相攀比炫耀，最后債臺(tái)高筑，后來他把自己的教訓(xùn)寫成了一篇題目為Keeping up with the Joneses的故事，這篇故事在全美流傳開來，也因此成了家喻戶曉的習(xí)語。

1.B細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由文章第一段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.可知人們互相攀比是為了炫耀，故答案選B。

2.A推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章第二段and moved ……outside New York City.和第三段when they could no longer……They had to move back to an apartment in New York City.可知當(dāng)喜歡攀比的Momand有錢時(shí)他和妻子搬到紐約城外，沒錢了的時(shí)候又搬回到紐約市內(nèi)，由此推斷當(dāng)時(shí)有錢人喜歡住在紐約市城外，答案選A。

3.A推理判斷題。 A 否定的，消極的；B  積極的，樂觀的；C支持的；D反對(duì)的。根據(jù)文章末段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. 可知作者對(duì)互相攀比這種事情是持否定態(tài)度的，故選A。

考點(diǎn)：考查故事類短文閱讀。

 

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