To face the music

Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life of the people and develop in their own way. Our expression today is “to face the music”.

When someone says, “well, I guess I’ll have to face the music,” it does not mean he’s planning to go to the concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you didn’t do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime or another, every one of us has had to face the music, especially as children. We can all remember father’s angry voice, “I want to talk to you.” and only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!

The phrase “to face the music” is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years old. And where did this expression come from? The first explanation comes from the American novelist, James Fenimore Looper. He said, in 1851, that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on the stage. When they got their cue to go on, they often said, “Well, it’s time to face the music.” And that was exactly what they did — facing the orchestra which was just below them. And an actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of an audience that might be friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So the expression “to face the music” come to mean “having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.”

Other explanations about the expression go back to the army. When the men faced an inspection by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shinny enough to pass the inspection? Still the men had to go out and face the music of the band as well as the inspection. What else could they do? 

Another army explanation is more closely related to the idea of facing the results and accepting the responsibility for something that should not have been done. As, for example when a man is forced out of the army because he did something terrible, he is dishonored. The band does not play. Only the drums tap a sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced to leave, facing such music as it is and facing the back of his horse.

1. How many ways does the phrase “to face the music” comes from?

A. 1        B. 2        C. 3       D. 4

2. What’s the meaning of “to face the music?”

A. To face something far less pleasant.

B. To face the stage.

C. To face the back of one’s horse.

D. To face one’s leader.

3. Which of the following is a situation of facing the music?

A. When we are playing basketball.  

B. When we are making a speech.

C. When we are having a party.

D. When we are talking with somebody. 

4. The underlined word “hostile” means _______. 

A. unfriendly               B. dislike        C. unkind                     D. unnecessary

第二节  短文改错(共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分)

此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行作出判断：如无错误，在答题卡相应的位置上画一个勾（√）；如有错误（每行只有一个错误），则按下列情况改正：

此行多—个词：把多余的词写在答题卡相应的位置上，用斜线（\）划掉。

此行缺—个词：在答题卡相应的位置上写出该加的词，并附带前（后）词。

此行错一个词：在答题卡相应的位置上写出该错词和改正后的词。

注意：原行没有错的不要改。

An English lady was finally decided that she really should        

learn to drive, and after many attempts, she past her              

driving test and told her husband that, to celebrate, he             

was going to drive him over to France for a holiday. But        

then a week after the trip, she suddenly announced that           

they wouldn’t take the holiday. “How did you change your        

mind?” he asked her by surprise. “Well, it’s all because            

of the business of driving on right.” She said, “I have              

been practising for three weeks now, but I still couldn’t            

get used to it—in fact, I’ve nearly killed three peoples.”         

What’s that smell? Do you hear that noise? Taste this! Look at me! Feel this, isn’t it soft? When you hear, or even use these phrases, you probably don’t stop to think about why we use them. Well, it’s because of our senses. Without us even knowing, our sense organs (nose, eyes, ears, tongue, and skin) are taking in information and sending it to the brain for processing. If we didn’t have them, we would not be able to smell, see, hear, taste, or touch anything!

Senses are the physical means by which all living things see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Each sense collects information about the world and detects changes within the body. Both people and animals get all of their knowledge from their senses, and that is why senses are so important.

All senses depend on the working nerve system. Our sense organs start to work when something stimulates（刺激） special nerve cells, called receptors, in a sense organ. Once stimulated, the receptors send nerve impulses along sensory nerves to the brain. Your brain then tells you what to do. For example, your sound receptors are often attacked by billions of sound waves. When these signals reach the part of the brain called the cerebral cortex（大脑皮层）, we become conscious of the sounds.

Our group really learned a lot about the senses while creating this website. We hope that you are able to get just as much out of it. Please feel free to comment about anything on the site by e-mailing us. Also, don’t forget to sign the guest book! Thanks for visiting our site. Come back soon!

60. This article is most probably taken from a _____.

A. newspaper                B. magazine                      C. website                      D. novel

61. Senses are very important because _____.

A. both people and animals get all of their knowledge from them

B. they are used to communicate with others

C. they can prevent the organs from being attacked

D. they can tell you what the stimulus is

62. Which of the following tells you what stimulate you?

A. The nerve cell.         B. The receptor.             C. The nerve impulse.   D. The brain.

63. According to this article, the following are all functions of the senses, EXCEPT _____.

A. collecting information about the world  

B. detecting changes within the body

C. sending nerve impulses to the brain 

D. serving the brain when needed

To face the music

Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life of the people and develop in their own way. Our expression today is “to face the music”.

When someone says, “well, I guess I’ll have to face the music,” it does not mean he’s planning to go to the concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you didn’t do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime or another, every one of us has had to face the music, especially as children. We can all remember father’s angry voice, “I want to talk to you.” and only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!

The phrase “to face the music” is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years old. And where did this expression come from? The first explanation comes from the American novelist, James Fenimore Looper. He said, in 1851, that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on the stage. When they got their cue to go on, they often said, “Well, it’s time to face the music.” And that was exactly what they did — facing the orchestra which was just below them. And an actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of an audience that might be friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So the expression “to face the music” come to mean “having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.”

Other explanations about the expression go back to the army. When the men faced an inspection by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shinny enough to pass the inspection? Still the men had to go out and face the music of the band as well as the inspection. What else could they do? 

Another army explanation is more closely related to the idea of facing the results and accepting the responsibility for something that should not have been done. As, for example when a man is forced out of the army because he did something terrible, he is dishonored. The band does not play. Only the drums tap a sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced to leave, facing such music as it is and facing the back of his horse.

1.How many ways does the phrase “to face the music” comes from?

A. 1        B. 2        C. 3       D. 4

2. What’s the meaning of “to face the music?”

A. To face something far less pleasant.   B. To face the stage.

C. To face the back of one’s horse.       D. To face one’s leader.

3.Which of the following is a situation of facing the music?

A. When we are playing basketball.   B. When we are making a speech.

C. When we are having a party.    D. When we are talking with somebody. 

4. The underlined word “hostile” means _______. 

A. unfriendly       B. dislike      C. unkind   D. unnecessary

When something goes wrong，it can be very satisfying to say，”Well,it’s so-and-so’s fault.”or “I know I’m late，but it’s not my fault；the car broke down.”It is probably not your fault，but once you form the habit of blaming somebody or something else for a bad situation，you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However,you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop focusing on whom to blame and start focusing on how to remedy the situation. This is the winner’s key to success.

Winners are great at overcoming problems. For example, if you were late because your car broke down, maybe you  need to have your car examined more regularly. Or, you might start to carry along with you the useful phone numbers, so you could call for help when in need. For another example, if your colleague causes you problems on the job for lack of responsibility or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or  don’t rely on the person. You should accept that the person is not reliable and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your colleague fails to do his job well.

This is what being a winner is all about—creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don’t have fewer problems in their lives; they have just as many difficult situations to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges and opportunities to develop their own talents. So, stop focusing on “whose fault it is.” Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stop on for success.

According to the passage, winners        .

A. deal with problems rather than blame others

B. meet with fewer difficulties in their lives

C. have responsible and able colleagues

D. blame themselves rather that others

The underlined word remedy in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to        .

A. avoid            B. accept           C. improve          D. consider

When your colleague brings about a problem, you should         .

A. find a better way to handle the problem

B. blame him for his lack of responsibility

C. tell him to find the cause of the problem

D. ask a more able colleague for help

When problems occur, winners take them as      

A. excuses for their failures

B. barriers to greater power

C. challenges to their colleagues

D.chances for self-development

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. A Winner’s Secret.                  B. A Winner’s Problem.

C. A Winner’s Opportunity.         D. A Winner’s Achievement.