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 unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. So, “to face the music” came to mean having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you had no choice. The other explanation comes from the army. Men had to face inspection by their leader. The soldiers worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean and shiny 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?
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32: According to the passage, what does the word “music” probably refer to?
33: Who first used the phrase “to face the music”?
34: Why might an actor feel frightened or nervous when going on stage?
35: When is “to face the music” used to describe soldiers?
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
The first English (36) dictionary, called an Alphabetical Table of Hard Words, was published in 1604. The dictionary was (37) actually nothing more than a list of about 3000 difficult words, each followed by a one-word (38) definition. The author, Robert Cawdrey, made no attempt to include everyday words in his dictionary. No one, he reasoned, would ever have to look up a word in a dictionary if he already knew the meaning of the word. During the 1600’s more dictionaries were published. Each followed Cawdrey’s lead and (39) presented a few (40) thousand hard words. Around 1700 one dictionary maker, John Kersey, did define easy words as well as hard ones. But until the 1750’s all dictionaries were rather crude and not very (41) valuable.
A man (42) named Dr. Samuel Johnson changed all this. In 1755 Dr. Johnson produced the (43) first modern dictionary. He included in his dictionary all important words, both easy and hard, and he gave good meanings. He also gave good sentences to show how each word was actually used in speech and in writing. (44) By the end of the 1700’s most dictionary makers had followed Johnson’s lead. Dictionaries were getting better and better.
(45) The 1800’s saw the greatest improvement in the quality of dictionaries. In England scholars planned and prepared the Oxford English Dictionary, a twenty-volume work. One of the most interesting features of the Oxford Dictionary is its word histories. (46) It keeps track of the history of each word from its earliest recorded use up to the time of the printing of the dictionary.
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