When someone says, "well, 1 guess I will have to face the music. It does not mean he is planning to go to a 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 did not do this or that. Terrible music indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us 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 or old. It is at least 100 years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation comes from the American novelist James Penimore Cooper. He said in 1851 that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on stage . When they got their signal to go on, they often said, "Well, it's time to go to face the music." And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra which was just below the stage.
46. The passage mainly tells us______.
A. how the phrase “to face the music” developed in its own way
B. what the phrase “ to face the music ” means
C. when the phrase "to face the music" came into being
D. all the above
47. A person has to face the music especially as he is______.
A. a child B. a young man C. a grown-up D. a player
48.______used the phrase "to face the music" for the first time.
A. Actors B. The boss C. The director D. Cooper
49. Which of the following statements is wrong?
A. The actor stayed on the stage to enjoy the music.
B. To face the music is usually an unpleasant thing.
C. The original meaning of the phrase “to face the music ” is to face the orchestra.
D. The phrase “to face the music” has been used for more than one century.
50. According to the passage the connotation of the phrase “to face the music” is____
A. to listen to the music B. to go through something unpleasant
C. to stand in front of the stage D. to go to the concert
Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes into touch with them.Their values---this can not be repeated too often--aren’t necessarily our values.Physical comfort,cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things.The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a room with rotten food covered by small worms,and an old person lying alone on bed,taking no notice of the worms.But is it interrupting personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers,the ones who clear up the worms,think we’re in danger of carrying this idea of personal freedom to the point where serious risks(冒险)are being taken with the health and safety of the old.
Indeed,the old can be easily hurt or harmed.The old is like a car: it needs more mechanical repair as it gets older.You can carry this comparison right through to provision of spare parts.But never forget that such operations are painful experiences,however good the results are.And at what point should you stop to treat the old body?Is it morally right to try to push off death by continuing the development of medicine to excite the forgetful old mind and to make the old body active,knowing that it is designed to die?You cannot ask doctors or scientists to decide,because so long as they can see the technical chances,they will feel it necessary to give them a try,by the rule that while there’s life,there’s hope.
Talking to the old,however,you’re forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or health than it does on your ability to have fun.After reading Paragraph 1，we learn that____.
| A．very old people are able to keep their living places very clean |
| B．old people enjoy living alone so as to have more personal freedom |
| C．every old people enjoy living with their relatives |
| D．social services have nothing to do with very old people |
Some social workers think that_____．
| A．old people should keep their living places clean |
| B．one should not take risk dealing with old people |
| C．health and safety are more important than personal freedom |
| D．personal freedom is more important than health and safety |
In Paragraph 3，the underlined word“it”refers to____．
| A．one’s memory or health |
| B．the conclusion you have come to |
| C．whether age is happy or unpleasant |
| D．your talk to the old people |
The writer of this passage thinks that_______．
| A．it is always morally right to treat old people and push off death |
| B．the opinion that we should try every means possible to save old people is uncertain |
| C．old people can enjoy a happy life only if they are very rich |
| D．medical decisions for old people should be left to the doctors |
Transportation and communication networks bring people together．Yet sometimes people themselves create barriers(障碍)to transportation and communication．
In some countries，laws stop people from moving freely from place to place．Over the centuries，many groups of people have been denied the freedom to travel because of their race，religion，or nationality．In the Middle Ages，for example，Jews were often forbidden to move about freely within certain cities．South Africa’s government used to require black Africans to carry passes when they travel within the country．Some governments require all citizens to carry identification papers and to report to government officials whenever they move．
Countries set up customs posts at their borders．Foreign travellers must go through a customs inspection before they are allowed to travel in the country．Usually travellers have to carry special papers such as passports and visas(签证)．Some countries even limit the number of visitors to their country each year．Others allow tourists to visit only certain areas of the country，or they may require that travellers be with an official guide at all times during their stay．
Many of those barriers to travel also act as barriers to communication．When two governments disagree with each other on important matters，they usually do not want their citizens to exchange news or ideas freely．Countries often try to keep military or lndustrial information secret．
Today，people have the ability to travel，to communicate，and to transport goods more quickly and easily than ever before．Natural barriers that were difficult or dangerous to cross a hundred years ago can now be crossed easily．The barriers that people themselves make are not so easy to overcome．But in spite of all the different kinds of barriers，people continue to enjoy travel and the exchange of goods and ideas.Choose the best title for the passage．
| A．Progress of Human Society |
| B．Restrictions on Transportation |
| C．Functions of Communication |
| D．Barriers Made by People |
The author uses the examples in the second paragraph to tell people that_______.
| A．travellers have to carry special papers such as visas |
| B．customs posts are necessary at the borders of the countries |
| C．people have been allowed to travel freely within the country |
| D．people have not been permitted to travel freely for various reasons |
Why do some governments limit the freedom of communication?Because they______.
| A．intend to keep their national secrets unknown to others |
| B．think such freedom will lead to wars |
| C．often disagree with each other on important matters |
| D．want to show their authority over communication |
We may learn from the passage that_______.
| A．people do not care about the removal of barriers between countries |
| B．people can not remove the obstacles made by themselves |
| C．man-made barriers are sometimes harder to overcome than natural ones |
| D．barriers should be taken for granted as they always exist |
London Thursday July 26(Reuters)--Ian Johnstone missed his girlfriend so much that he flew back to Britain from Australia to propose to her．The problem is that she flew in the opposite direction．
He and Amy Dolby even managed to miss each other when they sat in the same airport waiting-room in Singapore at the same time to wait for connecting flights.
Dolby，heartbroken when she arrived at Johnstone’s Sydney apartment to find he had flown to London，told the Times：“It was as though someone was playing a cruel joke on us.He is the most romantic person I have ever known．I think our problem is that we are both quite impulsive(冲动的)people.We are always trying to surprise each other．”
After an 11，000-mile flight across the globe，she was greeted by Johnstone’s astonished flatmate asking what she was doing there.
“The terrible truth dawned when I found that Lan’s rucksack and most of his clothes were missing.I sat on the end of his bed and cried my eyes out．And that really annoyed me，”she said．
Johnstone，a 27-year-old bricklayer，had taken a year off to travel round Australia．But he was missing Dolby，a 26-year-old secretary，so much he got a job on a Sydney building site and started saving for a surprise.
He then flew home to Britain and went to her apartment armed with an engagement ring，champagne and flowers．
“I really missed Amy and I’d been thinking about her all the time．I thought she was winding me up when she phoned me from Australia．”he said．
Johnstone then asked Dolby to marry him on the phone．“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but I accepted，”she said．
Dolby was given a short tour of Sydney by Johnstone’s friends and Johnstone had to stay in Britain for two weeks because he could not change his ticket．According to the text，it seemed that .
| A．Johnstone and Dolby could have seen each other in the same airport waiting-room in Singapore |
| B．the couple pretended not to see each other in the same airport waiting-room in Singapore |
| C．the young lovestruck couple had both intended to propose to each other |
| D．Dolby stayed longer in Sydney than Johnstone stayed in Britain |
We can learn from the text that .
| A．Johnstone was not as impulsive as Dolby |
| B．Johnstone got a job in Sydney in order to start saving money for a surprise to Dolby |
| C．Dolby was heartbroken because someone was playing a cruel joke on her |
| D．Dolby was greeted by Johnstone’s flatmate at the airport |
When Johnstone asked her to marry him on the phone，Dolby didn’t know whether to laugh or cry because she had a mixed feeling of .
| A．excitement，anger and shyness |
| B．sadness，happiness and surprise |
| C．love,hatred and nevousness |
| D．cheer，regret and annoyance |
Which of the following shows the right order of what happened in the story?
a.Johnstone flew back to Britain to propose to his girlfriend，Amy Dolby．
b.Johnstone started working at a Sydney building site．
c.Johnstone went to Amy’s apartment in Britain with an engagement ring．
d.Johnstone proposed to Dolby over the phone．
e.They were waiting for their connecting flight in the airport in Singapore．
f.Dolby called Johnstone from Australia．
| A．b—a—d—e—c—f | B．c—a—b—e—f—d |
| C．b—a—e—c—f—d | D．b—a—f—e—c—d |
We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong．A day may begin well enough，but suddenly everything seems to get out of control．It seems as if a single unimportant event may cause a number of things to happen．Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time．The telephone rings and this means your troubles are beginning．While you are on the phone，the baby pulls the table-cloth off the table，destroying your half-prepared meal．You hang up hurriedly and attend to your baby．Meanwhile，the meal gets burnt．As if this were not enough to bring you to tears，your husband arrives,unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner．
Things can go wrong on a number of people on the road. During the rush hour one evening two cars hit each other and both drivers began to argue．The woman driver behind the two cars happened to be a learner．She suddenly got into a panic(恐慌)and stopped her car．This made the driver following her stop suddenly．His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake．As she was thrown forward，the cake went right through the window and landed on the road．Seeing a cake flying through the air，a truck-driver had to stop his truck all of a sudden．The truck was carrying empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the truck on the road．This led to yet another angry argument．Meanwhile，the traffic piled up behind．It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again．In the meanwhile，the truck-driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles.Only two dogs were enjoying themselves from the accident，for they were happily having what was left of the cake．It was just one of those days!In the writer’s opinion .
| A．accidents may happen anytime |
| B．troubles always come in groups |
| C．a small matter may cause great trouble |
| D．anyone may have trouble any day |
What did the police do after the accident?
| A．They helped the driver clean up the road． |
| B．They helped the drivers to go on with their journey． |
| C．They tried to stop the people from arguing． |
| D．They would find out who should be responsible for(有责任的)the accident． |
When the telephone rings .
| A．you’d better have your baby a little distant from your table before going to answer the phone |
| B．you’d better just let it ring all the way |
| C．you should never go to answer it in a hurry |
| D．you should answer it right away |
From the story we can see_________．
| A．some drivers are too careless |
| B．such accidents are rather strange |
| C．such accidents are very common |
| D．we don’t know why such accidents happen |
Range
At present，there are five network firms---China Telecom，China Unicom，Jitong Communications，China Netcom and China Mobile---that are allowed to operate IP services in China．Each company has its advantages in service.
Charge
As the Ministry of Information Industry co-ordinates，the charges of IP calls of the five companies are the same，0.30 yuan per minute for DDD calls．4．80 yuan per minute for IDD calls，2.50 yuan for calls from the mainland to Hong Kong，Macao，and Taiwan，and 1.50 yuan from Shenzhen to HK，Zhongshan and Zhuhai to Macao．IP callers don’t enjoy discounts on holidays．
China Telecom has the widest coverage．All cities in China with telephone access and most countries in the world are open to China Telecom’s IP card．
China Unicom’s IP card can reach 29 cities nationwide and more than 130 countries and regions worldwide．Jitong IP can access(接通)12 cities in China and over 70 countries and regions worldwide．
China Netcom’s IP card can reach 14 cities in China and 149 countries and regions in the world.
China Mobile’s IP card is open to only six cities nationwide but can access more than 200 countries and regions worldwide.
Voice quality
China Telecom realizes its IP service by the public Intermet,therefore net congestion(拥挤)and voice delay may sometimes disturb conversations.The other four companies have their private data networks，which help to increase transmission speeds and improve voice quality.
Other services
China Telecom，Jitong and China Mobile offer account transfer services．Users can transfer the remaining sum of money on one card to another card.
Jitong and Netcom Link their services with bank cards．One can enjoy IP’s service without an IP card．Bank card users can make IP phone calls with their bank card numbers，so they needn’t buy new IP cards and remember the new numbers again and again．
As for customer service，China Telecom，China Unicom and China Mobile provide free hot line service，while Jitong and Netcom charge for their services.Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?
| A．China Unicom charges IDD calls more than the other four firms． |
| B．China Mobile’s coverage is the least of the five firms． |
| C．China Telecom accesses many more cities nationwide than the other four． |
| D．China Netcom is the only one to be allowed to operate IP service． |
If we want to access more foreign countries and regions with better voice quality，we’d better choose IP card．
| A．China Unicom’s | B．China Netcom’s | C．China Mobile’s | D．China Telecom’s |
When enjoying IP service， .
| A．Jitong users needn’t buy IP cards |
| B．China Telecom users needn’t buy new IP cards |
| C．Netcom users have to link with a bank |
| D．China Mobile users have to pay for their hot line service |
The passage mainly talks about .
| A．differences between the five IP fims |
| B．foundation of China’s five IP firms |
| C．development of China’s five IP firms |
| D．organization of the five IP firms |