The expression “keeping up with the Joneses” was first used in 1913 by a young American 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. Young Momand was very proud of his riches. He got married and moved with his wife to Long Island, outside New York City.

But just moving there was not enough. For when Momand and his wife saw that their neighbors belonged to a country club they too joined a club. And when he saw that rich people were expected to ride horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave grand 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. Momand and his wife could not do that.

The race ended for them when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an inexpensive New York City apartment.

Momand later said that his experience had been a cruel awakening for him. However, he was able to see the funny side of it. He looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with their neighbors.

He decided that this would make good stories for many papers across the country. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses”, because “Jones” is a very common American name. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with the people around you. Momand’s stories appeared in different newspapers for over 28 years.

People never seem to tire of keeping up with the Joneses. That is one reason why they read the “right” books, go to the “right” universities and eat in the “right” restaurants. But no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

1.The writer of this passage means to tell us ___________.

A．what Arthur Momand did to keep up with his neighbors

B．how the expression “keep up with the Joneses” came into being

C．what we should do to keep up with our neighbors

D．how we can live differently from others

2.The reason Momand moved to Long Island is that ___________.

A．he wanted to live in a rich neighborhood

B．there was a country club for him to join

C．it was outside the city and good for horseback riding

D．his wife came from that area

3.By saying “It was like a race”(in Para 3), the writer means ____________.

A．it was just a suitable place for the horse race

B．Momand and his wife kept themselves busy

C．Momand’s neighbors also gave parties one after another

D．Momand tried to compete with their neighbors in his way of life

4.The funny side Momand saw in his experience was _________.

A．he moved back to a cheap place

B．he was not alone in keeping up with his neighbors

C．he made a mistake in following other people’s examples

D．he cared too much about what others thought of him

5.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Momand earned a lot of money when he got married

B．Momand was always very interested in riding horses

C．Momand found there was something wrong with his way of life

D．Momand wrote stories for newspapers about himself and his neighbors

    On April twenty-second, some American children stayed out of school but they were not punished. They were with their parents. As Faith Lapidus tells us, it was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

 The Ms. Foundation for Women started the program seventeen years ago, in 1993. At first it was just called Take Our Daughters to Work. Gloria Steinem and other foundation leaders pointed to studies showing that self-image suffers as girls become teenagers. They can lose trust in their abilities and intelligence, especially in areas like science, math and technology. So the Ms. Foundation planned a day for parents in New York City to show girls all the possibilities for them in the professional world. But there was so much interest, the organizers decided to make it national.

At first, girls mostly followed their mom or dad around at work to learn about their jobs. Later, employers and schools began to offer organized activities. But from the beginning there were protests(反对) from parents and others about the exception of boys. So in 2003 the day was renamed Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work.

2007 was the last year that the Ms. Foundation for Women headed the program. Now, the event is run by a twelve-person group called the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.

The event is connected with Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls.

Carolyn McKecuen is president of the foundation. She says a total of about thirty-three million children and adults are involved in the program. About one-third of the adults work at large companies or nonprofit organizations. Another third are in small businesses. The rest work in education.

Carolyn McKecuen says the numbers from this year's event are not final yet. But early reports suggest that participation was up at least ten percent from last year. And she says the foundation is hoping to find support to expand the program internationally. She says there are lots of requests from other countries for information about how to set up similar programs.

1.It was called Take Our Daughters to Work at first because ______.

A. girls are considered to be clever than boys  

B. girls are considered to be more foolish than boys

C. girls aren’t confident in some areas as they becomes older

D. girls don’t want to learn some science subjects

2.Why was the day renamed as Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day later?

A. Because some parents were against only girls’ having the chance.

B. Because some parents wouldn’t like to take their daughters to work.

C. Because some employers were against parents’ taking their children to work.

D. Because some schools didn’t want to give any students’ time to leave school.

3.How many years did the Ms. Foundation for Women head the program?

A. 17     B. 18       C. 14    D. 10

4.From this passage we can learn ______.

A. April twenty-second is a day for some American children to stay out of school for punishment 

B. the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is a national in America

C. Mattel is the president of the foundation whose company makes Barbie dolls

D. Lots of other countries want to set up similar programs for parents and children

5.The last paragraph shows that ______.

A. the program becomes more and more welcome

B. the program will come an end without international support

C. the program has been copied by many other countries

D. Carolyn McKecuen wants more and more children to take part in the program

I didn’t mean to break your vase—it was just ______.

A．an accident        B．an advantage       C．an agreement      D．an experience

I ran across an old photo of him the other day, thinking of some old things. He’s been dead for 25 years. His name was Rex.
36  was his favorite recreation(娱乐). He had so much 37 in the water as any person I have known. You didn’t have to throw a stick in the water to 38 him to go in. Of course, he would bring back a stick to you if you 39 throw one in.
That 40 me of that night, 41 he brought back a small box that he found somewhere--- how 42 nobody ever knew. Since it was Rex, it 43 easily have been half a race. The box wasn’t a good one. It was just a 44 old piece that somebody 45. Still it was something he wanted, probably 46 there was some difficulty in transportation（运输）. And that he thought could test his courage. We first knew about his achievement when, deep in the night, we 47 him trying to get the box up onto the porch(门厅). It sounded 48 two or three people were trying to tear the house 49 . We came downstairs and turned on the 50 light. Rex was on the top step trying to pull the thing up, but it had 51somehow. And he was just holding his own(坚持着). I suppose he would have held his own 52 dawn if we hadn’t helped him. The next day we carried the box miles away and threw it out. If we had thrown it out in a 53 place, he would have brought it home again, as a small token(象征)of his strength in such matters. 54, he had been taught to carry heavy wooden objects about and he was 55 of his skill.