Question

The expression “keeping up with the Joneses” was first used in 1913 by a young American 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. Young Momand was very proud of his riches. He got married and moved with his wife to Long Island, outside New York City.

But just moving there was not enough. For when Momand and his wife saw that their neighbors belonged to a country club they too joined a club. And when he saw that rich people were expected to ride horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave grand 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. Momand and his wife could not do that.

The race ended for them when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an inexpensive New York City apartment.

Momand later said that his experience had been a cruel awakening for him. However, he was able to see the funny side of it. He looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with their neighbors.

He decided that this would make good stories for many papers across the country. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses”, because “Jones” is a very common American name. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with the people around you. Momand’s stories appeared in different newspapers for over 28 years.

People never seem to tire of keeping up with the Joneses. That is one reason why they read the “right” books, go to the “right” universities and eat in the “right” restaurants. But no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

31. The writer of this passage means to tell us ___________.

A.      what Arthur Momand did to keep up with his neighbors

B.      how the expression “keep up with the Joneses” came into being

C.      what we should do to keep up with our neighbors

D.     how we can live differently from others

32. The reason Momand moved to Long Island is that ___________.

A.      he wanted to live in a rich neighborhood

B.      there was a country club for him to join

C.      it was outside the city and good for horseback riding

D.     his wife came from that area

33. By saying “It was like a race”(in Para 3), the writer means ____________.

A.      it was just a suitable place for the horse race

B.      Momand and his wife kept themselves busy

C.      Momand’s neighbors also gave parties one after another

D.     Momand tried to compete with their neighbors in his way of life

34. The funny side Momand saw in his experience was _________.

A.      he moved back to a cheap place

B.      he was not alone in keeping up with his neighbors

C.      he made a mistake in following other people’s examples

D.     he cared too much about what others thought of him

35. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A.      Momand earned a lot of money when he got married

B.      Momand was always very interested in riding horses

C.      Momand found there was something wrong with his way of life

D.     Momand wrote stories for newspapers about himself and his neighbors

Answer 1

  BADBB