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.
小題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 make themselves happy
小題2:It can be inferred（推斷）from the story that rich people like to_______.
A．live outside New York CityB．live in New York city
C．live in apartmentsD．have many neighbors
小題3:According to the writer, it is_______ to keep up with the Joneses.
A．correctB．interestingC．impossibleD．good
小題4:Which of the following activities probably does not belong to the rich people?
A．holding a raceB．riding horses
C．holding partiesD．hiring a servant

小題1:B
小題2:A
小題3:C
小題4:A

試題分析：在美國,當(dāng)一個人變得富有,他想讓人們知道。即使他不會變得非常富有,他希望人們認(rèn)為他是富有的。這就是“跟上鄰居”。這是這個故事的人想看起來像他的鄰居一樣富有。人似乎從不厭倦跟上鄰居。還有在世界每一個城市的“鄰居”。但人們必須厭倦試圖趕上別人,因為無論什么人,瓊斯先生似乎總是領(lǐng)先。
小題1:細(xì)節(jié)理解題。問題：為什么一些人想追趕鄰居？分析原文：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.句意：當(dāng)一個人變得富有,他想讓人們知道。即使他不會變得非常富有,他希望人們認(rèn)為他是富有的。從而只有第二項符合。故選B
小題2:細(xì)節(jié)理解題。問題：從這個故事中可以推斷出富人們喜歡居住在哪里？分析原文：He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City.句意：他結(jié)婚,和他的妻子搬到紐約市外，那有一個非常富有的鄰居。同時結(jié)合現(xiàn)實富有的人都喜歡居住在別墅，故選 A
小題3:細(xì)節(jié)理解題。問題：通過作者的觀點，追趕鄰居的方式是如何？結(jié)合全文的理解，對于追趕鄰居的活動是不可能的，從對亞瑟·蒙德的描述中就體現(xiàn)了這一點。故選C
小題4:細(xì)節(jié)理解題。問題：下列哪個活動可能不屬于富人? 從第二自然段中提取的主要信息點：rich people rode horses；rich people had servants；gave big parties騎馬；有仆人；舉行大的聚會。因此只有第一項沒有提及。故選A
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