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 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 in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life—style 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.
【小題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
【小題2】It can be inferred (推斷) 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

【小題3】Arthur Momand used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because “Jones” is ________.

A．a(chǎn)n important name

B．a(chǎn) popular name in the United States

C．his neighbor’s name

D．not a good name

【小題4】If a person who keeps up with the Joneses, he would _________. 

A．do as the poor persons around him do

B．do everything he likes to do

C．do as his neighbors do

D．do as the rich people around him do

【小題5】 According to the writer, it is ___________ to keep up with the Jonese.

A．Good

B．correct

C．interesting

D．impossible

Answer 1

【小題1】B
【小題2】C
【小題3】B
【小題4】D
【小題5】D

解析試題分析： ‘keeping up with the Joneses’這個短語說的是一個人總想象有錢人那樣生活。這句話是因為一個叫做Arthur Momand的人而產(chǎn)生的。Arthur Momand工資比較高，結(jié)婚后和妻子搬到有錢人居住的地方，一心模仿有錢人的生活，但最終因為支付不起高額的消費而搬離了富人區(qū)。
【小題1】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段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,在美國，當一個人有錢了，他想讓別人知道。即使他沒有變富，他也希望別人認為他有錢那就是‘keeping up with the Joneses’的意思。故選B。
【小題2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City.他結(jié)婚后和妻子搬到紐約城外一個非常富裕的地區(qū)。說明有錢人愛住在紐約城外。故選C。
【小題3】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第四段because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.因為Jones在美國是個非常普通的名字。故選B。
【小題4】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第四段’ Keeping up with the Joneses’ came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. “ Keeping up with the Joneses”意思為與周圍的有錢人的生活保持一致。故選D。
【小題5】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段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.人們要跟上Mr. Jones肯定會很疲憊的，因為無論你做什么，, Mr. Jones總是在你的前面。故選D。
考點：考查習慣用語來歷及意思的閱讀。