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A woman from Japan was telling a friend about her trip to the United States.The woman had visited major businesses and investment companies in New York City and Chicago.
“I studied English before I left home，”she said.“But I still was not sure that people were speaking English.”
Her problem is easy to understand.Americans in business are like people who are in business anywhere.They have a language of their own.Some of the words and expressions deal with the special areas of their work.Other expressions are borrowed from different kinds of work such as the theater and movie industry.
One such saying is “get your act together”．
When things go wrong in a business，an employer may get angry.He may shout，“Stop making mistakes.Get your act together.”
Or，if the employer is calmer，he may say，“Let us get our act together.”
Either way，the meaning is the same.Getting your act together is getting organized.In business，it usually means to develop a calm and orderly plan of action.
It is difficult to tell exactly where the saying began.But，it is probable that it was in the theater or movie industry.Perhaps one of the actors was nervous and made a lot of mistakes.The director may have said，“Calm down，now.Get your act together.”
Word expert James Rogers says the expression was common by the late 1970s.Mister Rogers says the Manchester Guardian newspaper used it in 1978.The newspaper said a reform policy required that the British government get its act together.
Now，this expression is heard often when officials of a company meet.One company even called its yearly report，“Getting Our Act Together.”
The Japanese visitor was confused by another expression used by American business people.It is cut to the chase.
She heard that expression when she attended an important meeting of one company.One official was giving a very long report.It was not very interesting.In fact，some people at the meeting were falling asleep.
Finally，the president of the company said，“Cut to the chase.”
Cut to the chase means to stop spending so much time on details or unimportant material.Hurry and get to the good part.
Naturally，this saying was started by people who make movies.Hollywood movie producers believe that most Americans want to see action movies.Many of their movies show scenes in which the actors chase each other in cars，or in airplanes or on foot.
Cut is the director’s word for stop.The director means to stop filming，leave out some material，and get to the chase scene now.
So，if your employer tells you to cut to the chase，be sure to get to the main point of your story quickly.
1.After the woman visited the United States she might feel that ________.
A．her English was poor
B．it’s easy to master English
C．it’s difficult to make money
D．people there weren’t very friendly
2.In which situation could the words “get your act together” be used?
A．A task is completed successfully.
B．Players perform badly in a match.
C．Audience is satisfied with the actor’s performance in a movie.
D．Visitors make a tiresome and unpleasant trip to someplace.
3.According to the text，the expression “get one’s act together” ________.
A．was first used by a Japanese businesswoman
B．was forbidden to be used in the government policy
C．originally came from a yearly report of a company
D．was commonly read by readers in a newspaper in 1978
4.What do the sayings “get your act together” and “cut to the chase” have in common?
A．Their use.? B．Their meaning.
C．Their origin.? D．Their popularity.
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| Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A,B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context. | ||||
| The first attempt of even the most talented artists, musicians, and writers is seldom a masterpiece, If you consider your drafts as dress rehearsals (彩排), or tryouts, revising will seem a natural part of the writing 1 . What is the purpose of the dress rehearsals and the out-of-town previews that many Broadway shows go through? The answer is adding, deleting, replacing, reordering, 2 revising. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Phantom of the Opera underwent such a process. When Lloyd Webber began writing in 1984, he had in mind a funny, exciting production. However, when Phantom opened in London in 1986, the audience saw a moving psychological love story set to music. The musical had. 3 several revisions due, in part, to problems with costuming and makeup (戏服和化妆). For instance, Lloyd Webber 4 some of the music because the Phantom's makeup prevented the actor from singing certain sounds. When you revise, you change aspects of your work in 5 to your evolving purpose, or to include 6 ideas or newly discovered information. Revision is not just an afterthought that gets only as much time as you have at the end of an assignment. 7 , it is a major stage of the writing process, and writers revise every step of the way. Even your decision to 8 . topics while prewriting is a type of revising. However. don't make the mistake of skipping the revision stage that follows 9 . Always make time to become your own 10 and view your dress rehearsal, so to speak. Reviewing your work in this way can give you 11 new ideas. Revising involves 12 the effectiveness and appropriateness of all aspects of your writing, making your purpose more clearly, and refocusing or developing the facts and ideas you present. When you revise, ask yourself the following questions, keeping in mind the audience for whom you are writing: Is my main idea or purpose 13 throughout my draft? Do I ever lose sight of my purpose? Have I given my readers all of the 14 that is, facts, opinions, inferences-that they need in order to understand my main idea? Finally, have I included too many 15 details that may confuse readers? | ||||
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