The Most Popular Pets in the world

  What are the most popular pets in the world? Cats and dogs!

1.___.This is around half of the country’s population(人口).About 60% of American families celebrate（庆祝） their pets’ birthday.

  Cats and dogs are also good topics for small talks---“ What a lovely dog! What's his name?”  2.__

People think dogs are loyal（忠诚的） animals. They help do lots of jobs like hunting(打猎 ) and guarding(守卫 ).  3._______. In 1957, Russia put a dog called Laika into space.

  Cats catch mice. They are not as loyal as dogs, but they can make people happy.

  Today, cats and dogs are both people’s good friends.   4.___. The most famous ones are Garfield and Snoopy. Garfield is a lazy fat cat. He likes eating and sleeping all the time. He is smart, too. He can write some letters and tell time sometimes, although he often repeats that he can’t. He is often mad at his master who can understand him well. Snoopy is a kind small dog.  5.______ . He likes to write stories and make his friends feel better.

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 neighbours.
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 neighbourhood 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 neighbours.
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 neighbours. 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 ________.

Charlie is twenty-three now. He1a university(大学) and found work in a factory last year. It’s2and there are no more than fifty workers in it. And only he3in a university. So he looks down upon his 4 . He always thinks he’s right and never agrees with5. He likes to say, “I’ve never made a mistake!”
But once the young man couldn’t6 a foreign instructions （说明书）. An old worker studied it for two days and7Mr. White, the boss of the factory,8it meant. The boss asked Charlie why. He made a few excuses to say for9. And he didn’t agree with the old man. The boss became angry and asked, “ Is it10 that you’ve never made a mistake?”
The young man wouldn’t make Mr. White11 and had to say, “No, it isn’t, sir.”
Having12 this, the workers were happy. One of them asked, “ It means that you also make some mistakes!”
Charlie13 his mind at once and said, “ I made only one mistake in my14 !”
“When?” the boss asked in surprise.
“ Just now, sir.” Answered the young man. “When Mr. White15 me acknowledge （承认）I was wrong!”

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 neighbours.

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 neighbourhood 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 neighbours.

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 neighbours. 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 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

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 neighbours

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

A．an important name                      B．a popular name in the United States

C．his neighbour’s name                   D．not a good name

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 neighbours do

D．do as the rich people around him do