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．

21. Which of the following is right ?

A. Momand was poor when he was 23.

B. Momand followed others' way of life after moving outside New York city.

C. Momand and his wife went back to New York after becoming rich.

D. The expression "Keeping up with the Joneses" was first used by Momand's neighbour.

22. Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they___________．

A. want others to know or to think that they are rich

B. hope to be rich people like their neighbors

C. want to hide their wealth from other people

D. would like to be ordinary people

23．Arthur Momand used the name "Jones" in his series of short stories because "Jones" is____．

　　A. an important name for important people

　　B. a popular name in the United States

　　C. the name of the neighbor he did not like

　　D. a name which people did not use any longer

24. According to the writer, it is _________ to keep up with the Joneses．

A. right B. interesting C. impossible D. good

I've always felt a need to be prepared for whatever situation I've found myself in．

My mother once took me to a store when I was seven years old. She and I got to the checkout counter, and she realized she had forgotten a couple of things on her shopping list. She left me with the cart and ran off to get what she needed.

"I'll be right back." she said.

She was gone just a few minutes, but at that time, I had loaded all the things on the belt and everything was rung up. I was left staring at the cashier, who was staring at me. "Do you have money for me, son?" she said. "I'll need to be paid."

I didn't realize she was just trying to please herself. So I stood there, ashamed and embarrassed.

By the time my mom returned, I was angry. "You left me here with no money! This lady asked me for the money, and I had nothing to give her."

Now that I'm an adult, you'll never catch me with less than $200 in my wallet. I want to be prepared in case I need it.

I've always admired people who are over-prepared. In college, I had a classmate named Norman. One day he was giving a speech on an overhead projector(投影仪) and in the middle of his talk, the light bulb（灯泡）on the projector blew out. We would have to wait ten minutes until someone found a new projector.

"It's Okay." he said. "There's nothing to worry about."

We watched him walk over to his bag and pull something out. He had brought along a