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 neighbours

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 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

　　Most American families like to have a holiday in summer. Summer is a good season for holiday. It is often very hot during the months of July and August. Students do not go to school during these two months. Some people like to stay at home during their holiday. They work in the garden, visit their friends, read books, or watch television. Many families take their lunch to the park or somewhere far from the city. They like to eat where there are many trees or a nice lake. If they live near the ocean(海), they often go to the beach(海灘). There they can fish, swim or enjoy the sun.

　　Many Americans like to meet people from other countries like Meaxico or Canada. Some people have enough time and money to travel to other countries like France, Japan or Argentina. They usually fly to these countries on planes.

　　The United States is a very large country. Lots of families travel by car or by train to see interesting places in their own country. Some favourite cities to visit are New York, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles. These big cities have many famous buildings, theatres(戲院), shops and other places of interest for tourists(游客). They also travel to places such as Florida and Hawaii to enjoy themselves.

　　Certainly not everyone likes to go to busy cities. Some families travel to the mountains or to beautiful valleys or canyons(峽谷). They usually take a camera(照相機) and return with a lot of nice coloured pictures and slides of the places they visit. Then they would share(分享) them with their friends.

1．Those who stay at home during their holiday ________.

[　　]

A．do nothing but have a good rest

B．do some cooking

C．go to the cinema

D．visit their friends

2．How can Americans travel to the foreign countries?

[　　]

3．Most American families like to have a holiday in summer because ________.

[　　]

A．the weather in summer is very good

B．it is not hot in summer

C．students do not go to school during the months of July and August

D．people needn't go to work in summer

4．Some families travel to the mountains or to beautiful valleys because ________.

[　　]

A．it is cool there in summer

B．they can have a picnic

C．they can take pictures of these beautiful scenes(風景)

D．it is time for them to go hunting

5．Which of the following statements(陳述) is correct?

[　　]

A．Some Americans like to visit other countries by train.

B．Miami is a beautiful city, which has a lot of wonderful valleys and canyons.

C．In summer holiday all the people like to have lunch at restaurants(飯館).

D．Not all the people like to visit busy cities.

1．Where was the Summit 2009 held?

A．in London            B．in Beijing              C．in New York           D．in Paris

2．Which of the following is NOT a news report?

A．The Summit 2009                                    B．The Shanghai Tower

C．The Grand Hotel Beijing                       D．Chinese delay US tour plans

3．According to Passage 2，the tallest completed building in the world is _________．

A．the Shanghai Tower                                 B．the Taipei 101

C．the Jin Mao Building                                   D．the Shanghai World Financial Center

4．According to the passage，the last continent（洲）the H1N1 flu spread to was _________．

A．America               B．Africa                  C．Europe                   D．Asia

Bill is from Australia. He lives in Sydney. He can speak French and English, but he can' t speak Chi­nese. He has a pen pal in the United States. Her name is Lisa and she lives in New York. Bill' s favorite sport is basketball and he can play the guitar. Lisa' s favorite sport is tennis. She can't play the guitar, but she can play the piano and sing very well.

1.Bill is from                 .

2.Lisa is an            .

3.What languages does Bill speak?

4.What is Bill' s favorite sport?

5.Which sentence is NOT right?

A. Bill has a pen pal in the USA.

B. Bill can play the piano and Lisa can play the guitar.

C. Bill and Lisa like different sports.

D. Lisa lives in New York.

Bill is from Australia. He lives in Sydney. He can speak French and English, but he can' t speak Chi­nese. He has a pen pal in the United States. Her name is Lisa and she lives in New York. Bill' s favorite sport is basketball and he can play the guitar. Lisa' s favorite sport is tennis. She can't play the guitar, but she can play the piano and sing very well.

1.Bill is from                 .

2.Lisa is an            .

3.What languages does Bill speak?

4.What is Bill' s favorite sport?

5.Which sentence is NOT right?

A. Bill has a pen pal in the USA.

B. Bill can play the piano and Lisa can play the guitar.

C. Bill and Lisa like different sports.

D. Lisa lives in New York.