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In the United States, when a person 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 horse-riding everyday. 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 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 Untie States. “Keep up
with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with the 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 tried 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.
[单选题]
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
[单选题]
A. live outside New York City
B. live in New York City
C. live in apartments
D. have many neighbors
[单选题]
A. a person who lives near another
B. people living in an area
C. an area near the place referred to
D. an area in another town or city
[单选题]
A. an important name
B. a popular name in the United States
C. his neighbor’s name
D. not a good name
[单选题]
A. correct
B. interesting
C. impossible
D. good
