Question

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 withthe 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.

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

2.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

3.According to the writer, it is_______ to keep up with the Joneses.

A. correct B. interesting

C. impossible D. good

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.A

3.C

【解析】

试题分析：短文大意：文章介绍了美国的一个熟语：keeping up with the Joneses。在美国，当一个人变得富有，他希望人们知道他。即使他不会变得很富有，他想让人们认为他是。

1.根据第一段1,2行when one became rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is说明B正确。

2.根据第二段第三行He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City.他们是搬到了纽约郊外的富人区，说明富人喜欢住在郊外。故A正确。

3.根据文章最后一句话. 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.说明Mr Jones总是在前面，所以要想追上Jones是不可能的。故C正确。

考点：社会现象类阅读。