There are about a billion bicycles in the world，twice as many as there are cars．But if Karl von Drais．the Baron of Sauerbronn(1785一1851) hadn’t been such a lazy person，the bicycle may never have been invented at all．

    Although he had a very important title (and was also a qualified and skillful engineer)，the Baron was in fact a forest ranger，in other words，a gardener with responsibility for a very large garden．He was in charge of several hundred square kilometers of royal garden and forests in Central Germany．

    In 1817．he invented a “running machine” that would help him get round the estate more quickly．The machine was made of wood，and had two wheels，which were the same size．The machine had a wooden frame and a leather seat．The rider rode the machine like a horse，but with his feet on the ground．After running for a while，he could then take his feet off the ground and glide along．It was possible to change direction by controlling the front wheel．but there were no brakes! In 1863，a Frenchman called Pierre Lallement attached pedals(踏板)to the front wheel of a bicycle，and the modern idea of a bicycle was born．

    Every generation sees new designs and new interest in bicycles．Mountain bikes，for example，transformed the way people thought about cycling and introduced a new sport，which was accepted into the Olympics in 1996．

    New materials such as titanium and carbon fiber are now used to build strong，lightweight machines and combined brake and gear systems have been developed．Englishman Chris Boardman astonished the world in the 1990s with his carbon fiber Lotus bicycle，winning Olympic gold in the 4，000 meters track pursuit(追逐)in Barcelona．More recently，the Great Britain team took several medals at the Athens Olympics

    For most people．however．the bicycle remains what it has always been－a pollution-free way of taking exercise and getting from A to B．

45．The underlined word “estate” in Paragraph 3 refers to          

    A．the Baron’s big house                         B．the mountains in Central Germany

    C．the forests near the Baron’s house       D．the large garden and forests the Baron in charge of

46．Karl von Drais invented the first bicycle          ．

    A．with wooden wheels and a seat，no pedals

    B．with two wooden wheels like a wooden horse with pedals

    C．so he could walk faster around the garden

    D．to ride downhill with his feet off the ground

47．What kind of gardener does the text suggest the Baron was?

    A．Someone who took care of forests across Germany．

    B．Someone responsible for a big estate of loyal forests and gardens．

    C．Someone responsible for the gardens in the whole of Central Germany．

  D．Someone who was a qualified engineer looking after running machines．

48．Changes to the bicycle have occurred over the years because of           ．

    A．the need for mountain bikes

    B．the need for new kinds of bicycles

    C．the discovery of useful new materials and new ideas

    D．the Olympics and competitive cycling sports

When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in 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 has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can 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 “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?

The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞台的两侧) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music.” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (乐队) which was just below the stage. An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(观众) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “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.

The expression “face the music” means ______.  

A. plan to go to a concert                      

B. get one’s clue to do something

C. have to go through something far less pleasant   

D. disobey what one's father says

The passage tells us that the expression was first used by _____.

A. children                     B. novelists             C. actors               D. audience

In the last paragraph the Chinese meaning of the word “line” is _______.

A. 老板               B. 同事                 C. 角色                          D. 台词

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The expression came from James Fenimore Cooper, an American novelist

B. The expression has a history of 100 years.

C. If someone doesn’t obey his boss, he will have to face the music.

D. Almost everyone once had an experience to face the music. 

When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in 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 has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can 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 “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞台的两侧) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music. ” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (乐队) which was just below the stage.
An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(观众) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “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.
【小题1】The expression “face the music” means ______.

A． plan to go to a concert

B．get one’s clue to do something

C．have to go through something far less pleasant

D．disobey what one's father says

To face the music
Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life of 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, and why you didn’t do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime 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 Looper. 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 was 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 an 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” come 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 an inspection by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shinny enough to pass the 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】How many ways does the phrase “to face the music” comes from?