Face the music 等著挨訓

Presenter: Jean Dong
Helen: This is Real English from BBC Learning English. I’m Helen.
Jean: And I’m Jean.

Helen: English is a language that changes constantly, so you really need to stay up-to-date.

Jean: Helen, 偺們明天要壆的新詞是什麼呢？

Helen: Today’s new expression is an idiom. ‘face the music’.

Jean: Face the music. 里對音樂？這究竟是什麼意义啊？

Helen: Listen carefully, as idioms can be hard to understand. Face the music is an idiom that means to accept punishment when you have done something wrong.

Jean: 我清楚了。Face the music 就是做了什麼錯事之後不能不面對後果、應付迎面而來的批評或懲罰。這跟面對音樂的意思可是差了十萬八千裏了，那我們該怎麼用這個說法呢Helen？

Helen: Well, if you do something wrong, you could say ‘I didn’t finish my work, so I have to face the music.’

Jean: 便是說“我沒做完功課，所以我得硬著頭皮挨訓了”。

Helen: That’s right.

Insert 錄音片斷

A: But officer, I wasn’t the only one writing on the wall!

B: Well, I didn’t catch your friends. You’ll have to face the music alone!

A: ….so your pany lost $100 000 last month?

B: Yes, and I have to face the music on Monday. I have a meeting with the owner and he is going to criticise me a lot.

Jean: Were you a good student, Helen?

Helen: Generally, but sometimes I had to face the music.

Jean: Really? What happened?

Helen: Well, one time I did very badly in a maths test.

Jean: Were your parents angry?

Helen: Well, I had to face the music.

Jean: How did they react?

Helen: They weren’t very happy. I had to do extra classes for one month and couldn’t go out with my friends.

Jean: And how’s your maths now, Helen?

Helen: It’s OK, but don’t test me, Jean. I don’t want to face the music again!

Jean: 是的，face the music - 硬著頭皮挨訓的味道兒可實正在欠好受

Helen: anyway, let’s recap – face the music – is an idiom meaning accept criticism or punishment for something you have done.

Jean: Well, it looks like that’s all we have time for.

Helen: Yes, I’m afraid it is.

Jean: You’ve been listening to Real English from BBC Learning English. Bye.

Helen: See you next time.