Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life to 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, any why you didn’t do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time 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 Cooper. 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 is 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 the 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 inspection by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about hw well they looked. Was their equipment clean, whinny enough to pass 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.
小题1:According to the passage, how many ways does the phrase “to face the music” come from?
A．One.
B．Two.
C．Three.
D．Four.小题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.小题3:The underlined word “hostile” in Paragraph 3 means “ ”.
A．unfriendly
B．dislike
C．unimportant
D．unnecessary
