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 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 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 life--style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series (系列) 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 ‘Jonses’ 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 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

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. have many neighbours

3. The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ________.

   A. a person who lives near another      B. people living in an area

   C. an area near the place referred to     D. an area in another town or city

4. According to the writer, it is _________ to keep up with the Joneses.

   A. correct       B. interesting     C. impossible       D. good

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 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.

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．have many neighbors

3.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 neighbor’s name                    D．not a good name

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项。

I’m a TV show host.One Sunday，I   36   my 7-year-old daughter by the sea for lunch.On arriving at the beach，I saw JoJo，a   37   man in the hotel business.We sat down to chat in an open air cafe   38   I watched my daughter enjoy herself on the swings in front of us.

Suddenly our conversation was    39   by a stranger，who politely asked    40   to speak to me.Often people want to tell me   41   about my controversial TV show,when

I’m out on the   42  .

He asked to speak to me   43   ，so we stood a bit away from my table.He said，

“I’m James，father of a 7-year-old girl，who’s very sick.The doctors said that if she was treated in the UK,she would probably   44   .But I’m poor,so can you please help me？”

Speechless，I stared in the man’s eyes full of   45   and asked how l could help.After we talked for a while，I went to sit back.JoJo asked me，“What’s wrong with you?Your

  46   changed.”I told him and he was very sorry for this sick child.

All weekend I   47   James，his daughter and his family.I even considered doing a special TV show to   48   money for this sick child.

On Monday morning I was at the office after I finished   49   my show,when JoJo walked  into my office.Actually JoJo is so   50   and I never imagined he had time to come and see me.

“Please，call the man   51   the sick child and tell him that I’ll   52   all expenses for his sick daughter’s treatment.”JoJo said，with a   53   in his hand.“I’ve been married for 35 years，I wasn’t lucky enough to   54   a child.l want to help this child now.”I   55   the phone to call James.

1.A.held            B.took              C.shipped           D.sent

2.A.serious             B.smart             C.wealthy           D.diligent

3.A.while           B.before        C.after                 D.thongh

4.A.spread          B.interrupted  C.heard             D.announced

5.A.question        B.advice        C.support           D.permission

6.A.everything     B.anything          C.nothing           D.something

7.A.streets             B.trips             C.spots                 D.beaches

8.A.privately       B.loudly        C.quietly           D.secretly

9.A.escape          B.control       C.survive           D.deserve

10.A.doubts             B.scare             C.excitement            D.tears

11.A.temper             B.face          C.voice                 D.style

12.A.looked after  B.cared for         C.thought about       D.asked about

13..A.raise         B.make          C.earn              D.save

14.A.discussing         B.presenting        C.writing           D.practising

15.A.proud          B.rich          C.busy             D.careful

16.A.on                 B.for           C.up                D.with

17.A.pay            B.spend         C.share                 D.gain

18..A.paper         B.check             C.pen                   D.letter

19..A.help          B.adopt             C.attend                D.have

20..A.held on           B.got through       C.picked up             D.turned on

三、阅读理解（30分）

On New Year’s Eve

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, people in Rome, Italy, throw out all the things they no longer want. The streets are filled with old chairs, beds, clothes and dishes. In Madrid, Spain, the new year comes in more quietly. People flock to the main square. Each holds a bag of grapes. As the clock strikes twelve, the people eat the grapes— one for each stroke.

In Tokyo people eat noodles on New Year’s Eve. This food is said to bring long life. Early the next morning, some Japanese families climb Mount Fuji. There they watch the first sunrise of the new year.

41. This story is about New Year’s Eve in ____.

A. Italy and Spain     B. China and Japan    C. Japan             D. both A and C

42. In Rome, Italy, the streets are filled with old things on New Year’s Eve because __     .

A. people throw out all the things they no longer want

B. the city has never been clean

C. people want to change back what they want

D. they want to see the sun come up

43. People in both Spain and Japan bring in the new year by____.

A. throwing things away                      B. eating a special food

C. climbing a mountain                       D. watching the first sunrise

44. In Tokyo, people eat noodles on New Year’s Eve _____.

A. because they like eating noodles very much

B. so that the daytime could be longer

C. in order that they could live longer

D. though they don’t eat them

Popular music in America is what every student likes． Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch． Students with cars buy large speakers and play music loudly as they drive on the street． Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work． They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people． Most of the radio programmes are music．

Pop or popular music singers make much money． They make CDs or tapes which radio stations in many places broadcast（广播）． Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes． Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer． Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her． Now the singer has become a pop star．

There are other kinds of music that are popular among Americans． One is called folk music． It tells stories about the common life of Americans． Another is called western or country music． This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching． Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music．

1.________ kinds of music are mentioned(提到) in this passage．

2.When pop singers ________, they are regarded as pop stars．

3.From the passage we know that country music is about ________．

4.What would be the best title for this passage？