The news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his mother.

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.

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本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） 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.