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 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 eaming  $  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 verywealthy 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 (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.B

2.A

3.C

【解析】

试题分析：Keep up with the Joneses是一条美国成语，译是“赶上琼斯家”，意思是与邻居或同时代的人争比阔气，在本文中作者讲述了这个典故的由来：一位叫亚瑟的美国青年有钱后为了追求虚荣搬到纽约城外的富人区，然后亦步亦趋、不甘落后地和邻居攀比斗富，最终因财源枯竭，付不起这些开销而退出了这场“竞争”，也不得不搬出富人区，远离了浮华世界。

1.细节理解题。根据文章第一段In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it….. That is what "keeping up with the Joneses" is about可知人们与左邻右舍攀比是为了让别人认为他们是有钱人，所以B选项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据故事内容He moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City.当Arthur有钱时他和妻子搬到了纽约城外，以及 when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.当他没法和别人攀比时，又搬回了纽约市，由此推断在美国，富人都喜欢住在纽约市外，所以A选项正确。

3.推理判断题。由文章第三段It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up.可以推断作者认为长期和别人攀比是很难做到的，是不可能的事情，故C选项正确。

考点：考查社会知识类短文阅读。