Question

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. Awful music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime or another, every one of us has 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 to go on the stage. When they got their cue(提示) to go on, they often said, “Well, it’s time to face the music.” And that was exactly what they did—facing the orchestra(管弦樂隊) 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” came 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(視察) by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shiny 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 linked to the idea of facing the results and accepting the responsibility for something that should not have been done. 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.The underlined word “hostile” means ________.

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

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.C

2.A

3.A  

【解析】

試題分析：】本文說明了美國習語to face the music的來歷和意義,以及它在什么樣的情景下使用。

1.細節題。根據文章第三、四、五段的解釋，可推知此題答案為C。

2.細節題。根據文章第2段第2句It is something far less pleasant可推知此題答案為A。

3.詞義猜測題。根據單詞所在的語境：friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines說明hostile與friendly意義相反，從而可推知此題答案為A

考點：考查文化類短文

點評：這篇文章是說明文中較簡單的一種，詞義猜測，句意理解貫穿全文。閱讀策略就是全文細節閱讀。