Some expressions in English sound pleasant but actually are not, one of which is “face the music”.
Imagine a friend asks you to take care of her beautiful red sports car. She gives you the key and says, “Thanks so much for watching my car while I’m away. But please, do not drive it. It is an extremely fast car.” But you do not listen. You want to show off and pretend the car is yours. So, you drive it around the town. As a result, you lose control of the car and drive it into a stop sign. The damage is serious. When your friend returns, you must tell her what you have done and “face the music”. That could mean losing her friendship or paying for repairs to her sports car or both. Whatever the music is, you must face it.
The expression is more than 150 years old. In 1851, the writer James Fenimore Cooper explained “face the music” as theatrical term. In a theater, the orchestra(管弦乐队) often sits in the front of the stage facing the musicians. Many actors are very nervous, a condition called stage fright. “Face the music” came to mean accepting stage fright and not giving in to it.
Word experts also say “face the music” may have come from the military. A soldier who did something terrible could be forced out of the army. When that happened, the army drummers would play slow, sad beat. The soldier would be led away seated backward on a horse and facing the music of the drums.
There are other English expressions that mean the same thing as “face the music.” If someone says, “You made your bed. Now lie in it,” they mean you created a bad situation and now you will experience the result.
1. What does the underlined part “the music” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The unpleasant music. | B．The beautiful red sports car. |
| C．The music played by the orchestra. | D．The bad result of your actions. |
| A．You have to go home with your bad exam results. |
| B．You will buy the sports car you like best. |
| C．Your friend invites you to attend a live concert. |
| D．You have held a concert successfully. |
| A．The origin of “You made your bed. Now lie in it.” |
| B．Some other expressions similar to “face the music.” |
| C．The true meaning of “You made your bed. Now lie in it.” |
| D．Other examples to explain the meaning of “face the music.” |
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【推荐1】Ever fought with a problem? Picked up a new skill? Encountered a difficult concept? The language of learning is full of references to parts of the body outside the brain. Perhaps that’s because these phrases suggest something deeper. Researchers are detecting that learning is easier, quicker and more long-lasting if it involves the body.
“In the past, people have argued that as we grow, we become more able to think abstractly (抽象地),” says Andrew Manches, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. Conventional (传统的) thinking might suggest that teachers should help prevent children from using body gestures to prepare them for the adult world. But in truth, the physical world never really leaves our thinking. For example, when we process verbs such as lick, kick and pick, medical scanners show that the parts of our brain that control the muscles in our face, legs and hands, respectively, light up with activity.
Science is beginning to back up the idea that actions really might speak louder than words in the classroom. Spencer Kelly, a psychologist at Colgate University in New York, has found that people spend three times as much time gesturing when they think the message they get across is remarkably important, suggesting that even if only at the subconscious (潜意识的) level, we appreciate the communicative value of our body language. Kelly has also found evidence that a teacher is more appealing to students when he or she uses arm and hand movements to stress points.
Also, some studies indicate that young children obtain more if their teacher uses gestures when explaining a concept. Meanwhile, Sunsan Wagner Cook, a psychologist at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, has found that children pick up new concepts more effectively, if they are taught to mirror and repeat gestures their teacher uses.
1. How did people in the past understand learning?| A．The older a student grows, the less likely he will think abstractly. |
| B．Teachers are advised to encourage students to use body gestures. |
| C．Body gestures should be removed to promote adult-like thinking. |
| D．The physical world never really leaves our thinking. |
| A．By presenting different researches. |
| B．By explaining some rules. |
| C．By making some predictions. |
| D．By analyzing the theory. |
| A．People use gestures every time they convey the messages. |
| B．Body movements can increase a teacher’s popularity. |
| C．Young students like to mirror their teacher’s gestures. |
| D．Body language is more powerful than spoken language. |
| A．The Language of Learning: A Vital Approach |
| B．Body Gestures: A Sharp Tool for Fast Learning |
| C．Body Language: A Universal Language Signal |
| D．Thinking Abstractly: A Symbol of Adult World |
【推荐2】You are out with a few friends after a long day at the office. You are so relieved to be able to speak freely at last, with as much slang (俚语) as you like. Then another friend joins your group, contributing humorless and grammatically perfect sentences to the conversation. Are you at ease?
If you can imagine yourself in this situation, you can understand how a lot of young people feel when they receive a text with a big period (句号).
For the younger generation, using proper punctuation (标点) in an informal context like texting can give an impression of formality that borders on rudeness. The message-ending period establishes a certain distance. The punctuation is polite when you are speaking to someone older than you or above you at work, but unpleasant among friends. To put it simply, including a formality in informal communication makes people uncomfortable.
Think of a mother using her son’s full name when issuing a serious ultimatum (最后通牒). Or of an upset lover speaking to a partner in a cool, professional tone. People gain and express interpersonal comfort through unpolished self-presentation, and acting (or writing) too formally comes off as cold or distant.
It is also worth noting that more of our informal communication is digital now than ever before, so texting etiquette (礼仪) carries at least as much weight as speaking tone. It is generally accepted that many texters, especially young people, see end-of-message periods as unnecessary. It is clear that a message has ended regardless of its punctuation, because each message is in its own bubble. Thus, the message break has become the default (默认) full-stop.
This pressure to get one’s thoughts across increases when they are aware that the people that they are texting know they are typing—as with speech, both parties in the conversation are responsible for maintaining it To avoid keeping their friends waiting anxiously, therefore, texters send out single, often unpunctuated phrases rather than full sentences.
Adapting to this new custom may be difficult for older texters. However, this is not the first time that writers have repurposed standard punctuation. The new customs surrounding the period are just one episode in a centuries-long history of grammatical exploration.
1. The two examples in Paragraph 4 are used to show ______.| A．using punctuation is practically rude |
| B．formality can create a certain distance |
| C．period is proper for elders and lovers to use |
| D．informal communication causes discomfort |
| A．More informal communication is digital now than before. |
| B．The message in its own bubble carries more significance. |
| C．They use unpunctuated sentences to keep a conversation going. |
| D．They want to escape the pressure of communicating their ideas. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Critical. | C．Opposed. | D．Acceptable. |
| A．No more periods when texting. | B．Periods or not, that’s a choice. |
| C．Standard punctuation when texting. | D．Texting etiquette among generations. |
【推荐3】Today, people cooperate closely with those from different countries and cultures. Cultural diversity in a company can bring individual and organizational benefits, open people’s minds to new approaches, and help them be more creative； on the other hand, it also presents challenges that come from using a foreign language.
No matter how well we understand and speak a foreign language, it’s really hard for us to reach the level that we have in our mother tongue. When people who have different mother tongues use a language that they do not feel as competent in as their own, language becomes a barrier that prevents effective communication. Meanwhile, difficulty in speaking or poor language knowledge is often considered to be a lack of competence and professionalism, which is not true. On a broader and more emotional level, all this causes greater difficulty in establishing relationships of mutual (互相的) trust, making cooperation between the groups more difficult and success less likely.
Behind every language, there is a system of different values and beliefs. These make up the culture of each language. For international teams, it is necessary to have a broader attitude and be able to accept and understand different cultures. Improving intercultural communication skills means building and training awareness of oneself and others. This is done by reflecting on differences actively and learning about individuals who speak a different language and have different values and habits.
It’s impossible to completely eliminate the language barrier when people use a foreign language. Linguistic(语言的) and cultural differences will always exist. To better deal with a multicultural working team, it is essential to acquire and maintain awareness of the limits and strengths of the language. We need to pay attention to the cultural diversity present in the team and to the misunderstandings that could arise, making efforts to use communication strategies that are as inclusive and comprehensive (全面的) as possible.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 1?| A．To prove multicultural cooperation is effective. |
| B．To introduce the challenge of linguistic diversity in a company. |
| C．To explain the reasons for learning a foreign language. |
| D．To show it is hard to balance individual and organizational benefits. |
| A．People’s professional abilities are closely related to their linguistic ability. |
| B．People who cannot speak a foreign language are less likely to succeed. |
| C．People’s mother tongues are easier to learn than a foreign language. |
| D．People who have different mother tongues always lack trust in each other. |
| A．Offer different language courses. |
| B．Change the culture in their teams. |
| C．Be open-minded about cultural diversity. |
| D．Promote individuals speaking different languages. |
| A．Share. | B．Remove. | C．Respect. | D．Spot. |
