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.

【小题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.

【小题2】Which of the following is an example of “face the music”?

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.

【小题3】What is most likely to be discussed following the last paragraph?

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.”