Question

【题目】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 tries 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 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 (公寓房间) 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．hope to be rich people like their neighbors

B．want others to know or to think that they are rich

C．want to hide their wealth from other people

D．would like to be common people

【2】Arthur Momand used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because “Jones” is____．

A．an important name for important people

B．a popular name in the United States

C．the name of the neighbor he did not like

D．a name which people did not use any longer

【3】According to the writer, it is _________ to keep up with the Joneses．

A. correct B．interesting

C. impossible D．Good

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】B

【3】C

【解析】

试题分析: 文章讲述了关于Keeping up with the Joneses的故事，寓意着追求财富。

【1】B考察细节理解题。根据文意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 tries to look as rich as his neighbors．可知一些人想与约翰并驾齐驱是为了人们知道自己很富有，所以答案是B。

【2】B考察细节理解题。根据文意He called it ‘‘Keeping up with the Joneses”, because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States可知去约翰这个名字是因为约翰在美国是很流行的名字，所以答案是B。

【3】C考察细节理解题。根据文意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可知人们很难与约翰并驾齐驱，所以答案是C。