My comments:
The cut is most frequently seen these days in pro golf tournaments. It means elimination.
Pro golf, for instance, consists of four rounds of play. In the beginning, say 64 players take part. After two rounds, the field is cut (reduced) to half, i.e. only 32 players are allowed to move on to the final two rounds.
That means 32 other players with the worst scores are eliminated, or cut as in cutting the cake in half with a knife.
In our example, having survived the cut simply means that his scores are high enough that he’s allowed to advance further in the tournament, be it a ping pong competition or a singing contest.
He’s thrilled and wants to tell his mother the good news immediately.
Well, keep fighting for another day – as the mother may say.
Related stories:
Rise above the twittering crowd
As common as shelf paper in a cabinet
Spotting and eliminating "pork"
本文仅代表作者本人观点,与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题,尊重他人,禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。
About the author:
Zhang Xin(张欣) has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.