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.
【小题1】Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.

A．want to be as rich as their neighbours

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

【小题2】It can be inferred 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．live with many neighbours

【小题3】What’s the author’s attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?

A．Negative.	B．Positive.
C．Supportive.	D．Objective.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

When we think about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, a pinnacle (顶点) of sheer (纯粹的) delight. And those pinnacles seem to get rarer the older we get.

 1   I remember playing police and robbers in the woods, getting a speaking part in the school play. Of course, kids also experience lows, but their delight at such peaks of pleasure as winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved.

For teenagers, or people under 20 the concept of happiness changes.   2   I can still feel the pain of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. I also remember the great happiness of being invited at another event to dance with a very handsome young man.

In adulthood the things that bring great joy—birth, love, marriage—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss.   3   For adults, happiness is complex.

 4   But I think a better definition of happiness is “ the ability to enjoy something”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from loving and being loved, the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, even good health.

While happiness may be more complex for us, the solution is the same as ever. Happiness isn't about what happens to us; it’s the ability to find a positive for every negative, and view a difficulty as a challenge.   5  

A．Love may not last; loved ones die.

B．For a child, happiness has a magic quality.

C．Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life.

D．Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect.

E. The dictionary defines “happy” as “lucky” or “ fortunate”.

F. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess.

G. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love, and popularity.

 

Once an Englishman named Jack Brown went to Russia for a holiday. He stayed there for several months and then came home again. Some of his friends visited him a few days after he got back. “I had a very dangerous trip while I was in Russia.” Jack said to them. “I wanted to see a friend of mine in the country and the bad weather made me very late. So I was still travelling through a forest in sleigh<雪橇>when the sun went down. It was a long way from my friend’s house when about 20 wolves began to follow my sleigh. It was very dark in the forest. There was thick snow on the ground. It was cold, and there were no houses for miles and miles. First I heard the wolves, and the noise was terrible! The horses heard them, too. They were frightened and began running faster. Then I saw long, grey forms among the trees, and soon the wolves were near us. They were running very fast, and they didn’t seem to get tired like the horses.” “What did you do?” one of his friends asked. “When the wolves got very near,” Jack answered, “I put up my gun and shot the first wolf. The sleigh was moving about, but I hit the animal and killed it. Then all the other wolves stopped and ate it, so our sleigh got away from them for a few minutes.” “Then they finished their meal, and I heard them coming again. The moon was shining brightly on the snow, and after a few minutes I saw them among the trees once more. They came nearer again, and then I shot another of them, and the others stopped once more to eat it.” “The same thing happened again and again, and my horses became more and more tired and ran slower and slower until, after about two hours, only one wolf was still alive and following us.”

“Wasn’t it too fat to run?” one of his friends asked.

1.Jack told his friends what happened to him when he was______________.

A. in England one winter evening    B. in Russia one winter evening

C. in America one winter morning    D. in Russia one winter morning.

2. In the sentence “They finished their meal.” “meal” here means ___________.

A. the food Jack had brought with him        B. the meal prepared by Jack’s friends. 

C. the wolf which had been killed by Jack      D. the dead animals on the way

 

3. According to what Jack said, the last wolf ______________.

A. had eaten up all the other wolves

B. ran much faster than the other wolves

C. was the strongest of all     D. was very fat and didn’t run fast.

4.From what Jack’s friend said we know that _____________________.

A. all the wolves had been shot by Jack.

B. the last wolf was too fat to run

C. Jack was telling the truth

D. the friends did not believe what Jack had said.

 

Once an Englishman named Larry Belmont went to Russia for a holiday. After he got back some of his friends came. “I had a very dangerous trip while I was in Russia.” Larry said, “I went to see a friend in the country and when the sun went down, I was still traveling through a forest in a sleigh(雪橇). It was a long way from my friend’s house when about twenty wolves began to follow my sleigh.”

“It was very dark in the forest. There was thick snow on the ground. First I heard the wolves. The noise was terrible! Then I saw long, grey forms among the trees, and soon the wolves were near me. They were running very fast, and they didn’t seem to get tired like the horses.”

“What did you do?” one of Larry’s friends asked.

“When the wolves got very near,” Larry answered, “I put up my gun and shot the first wolf dead. Then all the other wolves stopped and ate it, so my sleigh got away from them for a few minutes. Then they finished their meal, and I heard them coming again. The moon was shining brightly on the snow now, and after a few minutes I saw them running among the trees once more. They came nearer again, and then I shot another one of them, and the others stopped once more to eat it. The same thing happened again, and my horses become more and more tired and ran slower and slower until, after two hours, only one wolf was still alive and following me.”

“Wasn’t it too fat to run?” one of Larry’s friends asked.

The purpose of this passage is to ______.

A. amuse readers                B. tell an exciting adventure

C. praise Larry Belmont’s bravery  D. show the danger of traveling through a forest

According to what Larry said, the last wolf _______.

A. was the strongest of all              B. had eaten up all the other wolves

C. ran much faster than the other wolves  D. was very fat and couldn’t run fast enough

From what Larry’s friend asked at the end, we know that_______.

A. Larry’s trip was really dangerous    

B. the last wolf was too fat to run

C. all the wolves had been shot by Larry

D. the friend did not believe what Larry had said

It is official: Jim Parsons is the new poster child for geekdom.
The actor, who recently won his first Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of Sheldon Cooper on the hit television show The Big Bang Theory, is the hotness right now.
Parsons is a big hit on the Web as a trending topic on Twitter and has a devoted fan base who spread their adoration via Facebook and fan sites.
Parsons is considered by many to be a central part of the sleeper success that has been The Big Bang Theory. The sitcom about two brilliant physicists and their group of friends started out slowly building buzz when it first appeared on CBS in 2007.
Since then, the show has grown into a big success for the network, even raking in fans abroad with its international distribution. In May, The New York Times reported that Warner Bros., which produces and distributes the show, had entered into “what is believed to be one of the most profitable TV deals ever” with TBS and local Fox stations.
Audiences just can’t seem to get enough of the character of Sheldon Cooper, who is as socially dysfunctional as he is bright. Admirers take to Facebook fan pages to post their favorite Sheldon quotes, including: “I’m not insane (crazy), my mother had me tested!” and “They were threatened by my intelligence and too stupid to know that’s why they hated me.”
Fans can visit Jim Parsons Online, and there is even a site, SheldonShirts.com, dedicated to the many shirts worn by the character, complete with links to where to buy them. Mary Waring created the site because of her husband’s interest in Sheldon Cooper’s shirts. And with his character’s nerdy character and addiction to all things “Star Trek,” Parsons is also a hit with  fan boys and fan girls.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “raking in” means ___________.

A．earning the support of

B．making fun of

C．classifying

D．comforting

【小题2】Where are you most likely to find this passage?

A．In a biography.

B．In a magazine.

C．In a talk-show program.

D．In a textbook.

【小题3】What we can infer from the passage?

A．Parsons was dreaming about the success before the comedy.

B．Mary Waring was interested in Sheldon Cooper’s shirts so she set up a website.

C．Before The Big Bang Theory, Parsons was not very popular.

D．Sheldon Cooper is a character who is intelligent as well as sociable.

【小题4】What is the suitable title of the passage?

A．The Big Bang Theory Catching our Eyes

B．Sheldon Cooper Adored by Vast Audiences

C．Jim Parsons: Hot on Web

D．“Star Trek” loved by boys and girls