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

STRANGERS parties go wild these days. The main idea of them is to never let the people know who their matches are until the last minute. These are some popular practices that are storming the world’s youth on this V-day.

Speed dating

It’s exactly what the name implies. Complete with a timer, a whistle and 50 willing singles, speed dating is not the traditional dinner and a movie type of first date. Singles pay US $35 for three minutes with more than two dozen future dates. They ask questions and try to get to know each other. At the sound of a whistle, they do the same thing all over again―25 times in all.

Lock and key party

Women are given a lock and men are given a key, upon arriving at the party. Each key and lock has several matches. One can hunt for his/her later-to-be sweetheart in various groups, and try out the key or lock. Each time a lock and key match the pair are entered into a ballot (票数） for top prizes!

Dinner in the dark

Waiters wearing night vision glasses guide the guests through the pitch-black dining room. They are seated at the table and familiarized with the wine glass and plate. Food is handled with the fingers. People will not see the food they are eating or the guests at their table until the dessert course. At that moment, dining partners will appear.

Message party

Have A Cocktail, Leave A Message! When you arrive, you get a tag with a number and a pad of post-it notes. If you see someone you like, write a message on the message board. But wait… You’ve got a message… Go and collect it! You can make new friends and win lots of gifts. The more messages you leave on the bulletin board, the more chances you have of winning prizes.

1.What do you think the similarities of these parties are?

   A. All the parties have very strict rules for their members.

   B. If you want to go to any of the parties, you have to buy a ticket.

   C. All the parties are aimed at strangers who want to be lovers.

   D. All the parties are suitable not only for the young but for the old.

2. In which party does a participant have to be careful with the time?

A. Speed dating.                             B. Lock and key party.    

C. Dinner in the dark.                       D. Message party.

3.If you go to the Dinner in the dark, ________.

   A. you have to wear night vision glasses    

   B. you have to eat with your hands

   C. guests eat all the courses in the darkness

   D. your dining partners will help you choose the food

4. How many of the parties offer gifts or prizes?

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

OTTAWA -- Canada’s western city of Calgary is the world’s best city when it comes to healthy living, local press reported Monday.

According to an international survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, a London-based consulting firm, Calgary was put at the top of a list of 144 cities. It scored 121 points, just above Honolulu’s score of 120. Helsinki（赫尔辛基，芬兰首都） and Ottawa followed at 119.5 and 118.5 respectively.

Three other Canadian cities came in the top 20. Montreal and Vancouver tied for ninth and Toronto came in at 18th.

The scores are based on air pollution levels, availability and quality of hospitals and medical supplies, as well as the efficiency of waste removal and sewage systems.

In America, the lowest scoring city was Atlanta, which was ranked 76th. Athens was the lowest scoring city in Western Europe, ranking 120th because of its air pollution. London was ranked 59th.

1.How many Canadian cities are in the top 20?

2.Which of the following is NOT taken into account when the cities were scored?

3.Among the following cities, which is the lowest scoring one?

A senior United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) official on May 29 praised China for its remarkable achievements in children’s welfare.

A. H. M. Farook, UNICEF’s operations area officer for China and Mongolia said that China “can be very satisfied to tell the whole world what can be done with limited resources to help its children to grow healthily and happily.”

　　China’s child population makes up one-fifth of the world’s total. “The reason behind the tremendous(巨大的) achievement is China’s long tradition of caring for children both at home and in society,” he said.

　　“What’s more is that Chinese people have always given special attention to children who are in special need.” The UN official made the remarks when addressing a group of 50 children and staff from the Beijing Children’s Welfare Home at the Shangri-la Hotel, Beijing.

　　The hotel invited the orphans to share snacks, sing, dance and play games at a park inside the hotel for a “Share the Sunshine” party, as a prelude(前奏) to celebrations to mark the Children’s Day.

　　The Beijing children’s Welfare Home, set up soon after New China was founded in 1949, has at present more than 400 children.

　　A leading official of the welfare institution said that the children live a happy life and that the agency spends 400—500 yuan a month for an average orphan. An average Chinese workers earned 440 yuan a month during the first quarter this year.

　　Gu Xiaojin, deputy secretary-general of the China Youth Development Foundation(CYDF), said people from all walks of life have contributed to the welfare of the Chinese children.

　　She said that CYDF set up the Project Hope in 1989, which calls on people across the country to donate money to help poor children to continue their schooling.

　　By the end of last year, she said, CYDF had collected nearly 700 million yuan in donations, which has helped the establishment of 2, 074 Hope primary schools and enabled more than 1. 25 million dropouts to return to school classrooms.

　　Three “Hope Stars” also attended the party. They were model teenagers chosen among students who are economically supported by the Project Hope to further their nine-year compulsory studies in the poverty-stricken regions. They will be torchbearers for the Chinese Team for the up coming Atlanta Olympic Games this year.

1.Children can grow healthily and happily as long as _______.

A. parents take good care of them both at home and in society

B. the whole society care for children as well as their parents

C. Schools and teachers pay much attention to the growth of children

D. Chinese people always give special attention to children who are in special need

2.Every year the Beijing Children’s Welfare Home spends _______ on the orphans

A. 1, 920, 000 yuan 　　　　　 　　           B. 2, 160, 000 yuan

C. Over 2, 400, 000 yuan 　　　　　            D. 2, 200, 000 yuan or so

3.CYDF collected 700 million yuan with the purpose of _______.

A. reducing dropouts                                          

B. helping homeless orphans

C. supporting the Chinese Team for the coming Atlanta Olympic Games

D. establishing 2, 074 Hope primary schools all over the country

4.We can infer from the text that _______.

A. Every Chinese child has its own special need, so we should pay special attention to each.

B. All the children in the poverty-stricken regions of China are too poor to go to school.

C. Ever since liberation. the Chinese Communist Party has been concerned about the growth of the younger generation.

D. With the help of UNICEF officials, there are no more dropouts in China.

5.It is possible that this passage was written in _______.

A. 1992 　　　　  B. 1996 　　　　  C. 1998 　　　　   D. 2000

As the economy begins to recover, salary increases should do the same.

    In the past few years, employers have raised workers’ salaries by about 4 percent per year--except for 2009, when the figure dropped to a historically low 2.1 percent, according to a survey of World at Word. About one-third of companies froze raises altogether.

   For 2010, World at Work’s survey projects an average salary increase budget of 2.7 percent, a figure that shows the situation has improved but the job market is still weak. Between 10 percent and 15 percent of companies said they would freeze raises--far fewer than in 2009, but still more than in most years.

  How can you get a raise? Avalos and others offer the following tips:

* Do your job well. This means producing high-quality work, of course, but also keeping the big picture in mind.

“It really comes down to positioning yourself as a high performer, somebody who is aware of business goals and helps the company meet their goals as an organization”, Avalos said

* Be visible. When times are tough, some workers think. “I’m going to hunker down and hope that nobody notices me, because I don’t want to be on a layoff list,” said Richard Phillips, owner of Advantage Career Solutions. This is a mistake, because you’re unlikely to get a raise if no one knows what you have accomplished. “If anything, what you want to do is be more visible.”

 * Make your boss’s life easier. This means everything from having a good attitude to taking on extra tasks. If you don’t know how you can help your boss, ask.

* Ask for a raise. Talk to your boss and present your case: Here’s what I’ve done, here’s how it fits with the company’s goals, and here is why I think it’s worth a salary increase. In some cases, even if your company has an official raise freeze, you can get a raise if you make good case.

  If the answer is no -- or if you’re not ready to ask directly -- Phillips suggests asking, “What would you like to see from me that would put me in line for a raise?”

A question like this can improve your standing. “Just asking the question says to the boss, ‘I’m thinking about where I fit in here, what I can do,” Phillips said, “That in and of itself has value.”

1.The passage is mostly from a\an________.

A. novel                                                           B. science fiction

C. magazine                                                            D. biography

2.Employers have raised workers’ salaries by about _______percent in 2007.

A. 4                                   B. 2.1                          C. 2.7                    D. 10

3.If you want to get a raise, the most important thing you should keep in your mind is to ______.

A. have your job done well                                  B. be visible everywhere as possible as you can

C. ask your boss for a raise directly                D. change your job

4.All the statements are true except________.

A. the situation has improved but the job market is still weak

B. salary increases should recover as the economy does

C. producing high-quality work will surely help you get a raise

D. that in and off an employee makes no difference