【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of today’s parents have e to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will e — with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really counts. 56. In this passage, the author wants to tell . A. teenagers to try to decide things for themselves B. readers to try to be popular with people around C. parents to try to control and guide their children D. people to try to understand and respect each other 57. Which of the following is true according to the passage? A. There is no popularity that really counts. B. It is not good for a teenager to disagree with his or her classmates. C. What many parents are doing is helping their children to go on their own ways. D. Most teenagers claim to do whatever they want, but they are actually doing the same. B In the United States, when one bees rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not bee 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 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 neighbors. 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 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 mon 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 “Jonses” 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. 58. Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they _______. 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 59. 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 neighbors 60. 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 neighbor’s name D. not a good name 61. According to the writer, it is ____________ to keep up with the Joneses. A. correct B. interesting C. impossible D. good C How to improve my life? Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. They’ll say, “This is my fate, my destiny（命運(yùn)） . I cannot change it.” Of course not! You don39。t have to suffer needlessly. Your destiny depends on you, not on any other outer factors. I know someone who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it. Guess what her lifestyle is? She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, es back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, then goes to sleep. Next day, the same things cycle follows. Huh! Is this what she calls “doing her best”? She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that God has intended for her to live。 that her luck can only change if God wills it. Of course God wants us to be happy and live our life to the fullest, but we have to do our share of exerting (運(yùn)用 ) the effort to live the life of our dreams. Remember that you reap(收獲 ) what you sow. You just don’t sit around and wait for a million dollars to fall from the sky. You have to get off the couch, get your eyes off the TV screen, get you