阅读理解AwomanfromJapanwastellingafriendabouthertriptotheUnitedStates．ThewomanhadvisitedmajorbusinessesandinvestmentcompaniesinNewYorkCityandChicago．“I

　　阅读理解

　　AwomanfromJapanwastellingafriendabouthertriptotheUnitedStates．ThewomanhadvisitedmajorbusinessesandinvestmentcompaniesinNewYorkCityandChicago．

　　“IstudiedEnglishbeforeIlefthome”shesaid．“ButIstillwasnotsurethatpeoplewerespeakingEnglish．”

　　Herproblemiseasytounderstand．Americansinbusinessarelikepeoplewhoareinbusinessanywhere．Theyhavealanguageoftheirown．Someofthewordsandexpressionsdealwiththespecialareasoftheirwork．Otherexpressionsareborrowedfromdifferentkindsofworksuchasthetheaterandmovieindustry．

　　Onesuchsayingis“getyouracttogether”．Whenthingsgowronginabusinessanemployermaygetangry．Hemayshout“Stopmakingmistakes．Getyouracttogether．”Oriftheemployeriscalmerhemaysay“Letusgetouracttogether．”

　　Eitherwaythemeaningisthesame．Gettingyouracttogetherisgettingorganized．Inbusinessitusuallymeanstodevelopacalmandorderlyplanofaction．

　　Itisdifficulttotellexactlywherethesayingbegan．Butitisprobablethatitwasinthetheaterormovieindustry．Perhapsoneoftheactorswasnervousandmadealotofmistakes．Thedirectormayhavesaid“Calmdownnow．Getyouracttogether．”WordexpertJamesRogerssaystheexpressionwascommonbythelate1970s．MisterRogerssaystheManchesterGuardiannewspaperuseditin1978．ThenewspapersaidareformpolicyrequiredthattheBritishgovernmentgetitsacttogether．Nowthisexpressionisheardoftenwhenofficialsofacompanymeet．Onecompanyevencalleditsyearlyreport“GettingOurActTogether．”

　　TheJapanesevisitorwasconfusedbyanotherexpressionusedbyAmericanbusinesspeople．Itis“cuttothechase”．Sheheardthatexpressionwhensheattendedanimportantmeetingofonecompany．Oneofficialwasgivingaverylongreport．Itwasnotveryinteresting．Infactsomepeopleatthemeetingwerefallingasleep．Finallythepresidentofthecompanysaid“Cuttothechase．”

　　Cuttothechasemeanstostopspendingsomuchtimeondetailsorunimportantmaterial．Hurry