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. 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 ______.
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A．want to be as rich as their neighbours |
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B．want others to know or to think that they are rich |
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C．don’t want others to know they are rich |
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D．want to be happy |
2.It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
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A．live outside New York City |
B．live in New York City |
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C．live in apartments |
D．live with many neighbours |
3.What’s the author’s attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?
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A．Negative. |
B．Positive. |
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C．Supportive. |
D．Objective. |
Tess was eight years old. Her little brother Andrew was very sick and their parents were completely out of money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother, “Only a miracle can save him now.”
Tess took her money and made her way six blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store.
“And what do you want?” the chemist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. “I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen for ages.”
“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. “He’s really sick. He has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”
“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” the chemist said, softening a little.
“Listen, I can help you.” The chemist’s brother was a well-dressed man. He asked Tess, “What kind of miracle does your brother need?”
“I don’t know,” Tess replied. “Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.”
“How much do you have?” asked the man from Chicago. “One dollar and eleven cents,” Tess answered. “And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more, if I need to.”
“Well，what a coincidence (巧合),” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents － the exact price of a miracle for your little brother. Take me to where you live. Let’s see if 1 have the kind of miracle you need.”
That man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon in neurosurgery (神经外科). The operation was completed without charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well．
Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost… one dollar and eleven cents… plus the faith of a little child.
1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
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A．Tess’s brother would recover because there was a miracle. |
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B．Tess’s brother would die because his family had no money to treat his illness. |
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C．Tess’s family would look for a miracle to treat Andrew’s illness. |
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D．Andrew should go to hospital for a miracle. |
2.Why did the chemist get annoyed first？
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A．Because he was a nervous man． |
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B．Because Tess didn’t buy his medicine. |
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C．Because Tess had bothered him and his brother. |
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D．Because Tess was poorly dressed. |
3.What can we learn about Dr. Carlton Armstrong?
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A．He was a stone－hearted man. |
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B．He cared for only a little money. |
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C．He never helped others unless given a lot of money． |
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D．He was a kind gentleman and ready to help others. |
4.What can be the best title？
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A．A dying boy and her sister |
B．A miracle of $ 1.10 |
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C．A kind doctor and his brother |
D．A poor girl and a doctor |
Doing community service work, I spent three or four hours handing out warm dinner to the homeless out in the streets. After that I went to a 16 shelter not far from the Bay Bridge.
I was in high school and at the time my sister was too young to 17 . She wanted to help, 18 she made four or five dozen chocolate chip cookies for me to 19 and hand out to people. When getting to the homeless shelter I passed out the remaining meals. I had the containers with my 20 cookies in them and began to 21 , offering them to anyone near me.
I 22 an old gentleman and said, “Sir, would you like a cookie?” He stopped and turned around, looked at me 23 in the eye and said, “What did you say? Did you call me sir?” I told him I had, and his eyes 24 a little bit and he said, “No one has 25 called me sir.” He was completely taken aback.
It struck me.
I explained I had been raised that 26 color and social status, everyone deserved 27 . It made me 28 to think that just because he was homeless, no one 29 him the honor. It broke my 30 , and I couldn’t help 31 cry. I just didn’t understand 32 no one ever called him sir? I had never thought that anyone was below me because I wasn’t raised that way. Every 33 person deserves to be treated with dignity. Years later, I still carry that memory and the 34 it taught me. Sometimes, what we take for granted can 35 make a difference in someone’s life.
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---You don’t seem to be quite yourself today, do you?
---I’m suffering from a cold. Nothing serious, ____.
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A．yet |
B．indeed |
C．though |
D．any way |
____ the distance was too far and the time was short, we decided to fly there instead of going there by train.
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A．Discovering |
B．To discover |
C．To have discovered |
D．Discovered |
He went to bed ____, and when he woke up he found he still had his shoes on.
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A．drinking |
B．drunk |
C．being drunk |
D．having drunk |
