20.A. stopped B.
moved C.
shook D.
nodded
D
When someone says
“ well, I guess I’ll have to go face the music”, it does not mean he is
planning to go to a concert. It is something far ___1___ pleasant, like being
called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and ___2___
you did not do this or that. Sour () music, indeed, but it has to be faced.
At some time or
another, every one of us has ___3____ to “ face the music”, especially as
children. We can all remember father’s angry voice, “ I ___4___ to talk to
you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it ___5____!
The phrase “ to
face the music” is familiar ___6____ every American, young and old, it is at
least 100 years old. Where did the ___7___ come from?
The first ___8___ comes
from the American novelist James Fennimore Cooper. He said in 1851 that the
expression was first used by actors while ___9____ in the wings to go on stage.
After they their cue to go on, they often said, “It’s time to go face the music.”
And that is ___10___ what they did ------ face the orchestra which was just
below the stage.
An actor might be
frightened or __11___ as he moved onto stage in front of an audience that might
be friendly, or perhaps hostile, especially ___12____ he forgot his lines. But
he had to go out. If he did not, there ___13___ be no play. So, “ to face the
music “ came to mean: having to go through something, __14____ unpleasant
experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.
Other
explanations come from the ___15_____. Men had to face inspection by their
leader. The soldiers worried about how well they looked. Was ___16____
equipment clean---- shiny enough to pass inspection? Still, the men had to go
out, and face the music of the band, as well as the __17_____. What else could
they do?
Another army
explanation is more closely related to the idea of facing the results and
obtaining the responsibility for something that ____18____ not have been done.
As, for example, when a man is forced out of army because he did __19____
unacceptable, he is dishonest. The band does not play. Only the drums tap a
sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced
to ___20____ facing the music, such as it is, and facing the back of his
horse.