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World's hardest word
British people have always been good at saying “I’m sorry”. They used to be so good at it that they would apologize (道歉) for things that weren’t even their fault (错误).
However, the British seem to be losing touch with their art. According to a new book by British writer Max Davidson, instead of saying “I’m sorry” when they do something wrong, British people prefer to choose their words carefully.
In his book, “Sorry...The Hardest Word and How to Use It”, Davidson writes about a number of recent apologies(道歉). One example is of British television host Jeremy Clarkson. He described Gordon Brown, then UK prime minister (首相), as “a one-eyed Scottish idiot (笨蛋)”. (Brown is blind in his left eye.)
Clarkson was forced to apologize. He said: “In the heat of the moment, I made a comment about the prime minister. Now I apologize on reflection.” Davidson says the apology was just “going through the motions (做表面文章)”. Clarkson is not the only one. The best example may come from a UK MP (议员) Tessa Jowell. She said to the public: “If you feel our government falls short of what you expect, then I say sorry for that.”
Jowell said “sorry”. But she is actually saying it’s not the government’s fault but the voters’ (选民的) fault for expecting too much from the government.
Perhaps those people with influence feel they may lose too much by apologizing. But as a teenager, would you really want to lose a close friend, just because you couldn’t say something as simple as, “I’m sorry”? That would be hard to forgive (原谅).
61. What does the first sentence in the second paragraph mean?
A. The British are still good at apologizing.
B. The British like to say sorry for everything they have done.
C. The British don’t want to say "I’m sorry" now.
D. The British lose too much by saying "sorry".
62. We can tell from the story that Clarkson’s apology was ___________.
A. sincere B. friendly C. rude D. insincere
63. According to Tessa Jowell, it’s ___________ fault for expecting too much.
A. the voters’ B. the government’s C. the president’s D. her
64. The story mainly tells us that _____.
A. British people used to be polite and kind
B. British people choose their words carefully to apologize
C. British people like to go through the motions
D. British people are expecting too much from the government
65.The writer develops the passage mainly by __________.
A. providing special examples
B. following the natural time order
C. giving out a cause and analyzing(分析)its effects
D. comparing opinions from different countries
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I grew up in a town called Estepna, living with my father. One morning, when I was sixteen, dad told me I could drive him into a faraway village called Mijas, on condition that (条件是). I took the car to be serviced (维护) at a nearby garage. I happily accepted (接受). I drove Dad into Mijas, and promised to pick him up at 4 p.m., then got the car to the garage. Then I went to a theatre. However, when the last movie finished, it was six. I was two hours late!
I knew Dad would be angry if he found out I'd been watching movies. So I decided not to tell him the truth. When l hurried there I apologized (道歉) for being late, and told him I'd come as quickly as I could, but the car had needed some big repairs. I' ll never forget the look he gave me. "I' m disappointed you decided to lie to me, Jason." Dad looked at me again. "When you didn't turn up, I called the garage to ask if there were any problems, and they told me you hadn't yet picked up the car." I felt ashamed (羞愧) as I told him the real reason. A sadness passed through dad as he listened carefully, "I'm angry with myself. I realized I had failed as a father. I'm going to walk home now and think seriously about where I have gone wrong all these years." "But Dad, it' s eighteen miles!"
My apologies were useless. Dad walked home that day. I drove behind him, following him all the way, but he walked silently.
It was the most successful lesson I have never lied since.
1. Father would let Jason drive him to a village if he
A. followed him home
B. got the car serviced at the garage
C. found problems with the car
D. promised to pick him up later that afternoon
2. Jason lied to his father that
A. the traffic was heavy on the way
B. he was late because of seeing the films
C. the repairs took too long a time
D. it was far to drive from the garage to the village
3. Father called the garage in order to learn
A. if Jason had paid for the service
B. why Jason hadn't come to meet him
C. whether Jason had gone to see films
D. if the car was taken there for the service
4. Father felt angry with himself because
A. Jason went to see the film
B. Jason was late to pick him up
C. he hadn't called the garage earlier
D. he felt something wrong with his education
5. What' s the best title for the story?
A. A Late Apology. B. A Big Lie.
C. An Unforgettable Lesson. D. A Poor Service.
查看习题详情和答案>>英语趣味阅读
The Witch(巫婆)“We should do something nice for the old people of our town,”the teacher said to her class one day. “What could we do?”
“Can we give them a picnic?”one of the children asked. “We can send out invitations(邀请)and bring cakes and sausages(香肠)and all kinds of good things to eat.”
“That's very good idea,”the teacher said. “We'll ask all the old people to a picnic by the river.”
The children worked hard getting ready for the picnic. Their parents made cakes and pies(馅饼)or gave money, and the children wrote invitation cards to the old people. Then they took the cards to the old people's homes.
On the morning of the picnic the sky was blue and the sun was shining. The children were all looking forward to giving the old people a happy day.
Then one of the children said. “Oh! We forgot to invite Mrs. Waller.”
They did not like Mrs. Waller. She looked like a witch.
“We must invite her how then,” the teacher said. “She will be hurt and angry if we don't ask her.”
She looked around the class and then pointed at one of the boys. “Tom, take an invitation card to her house. Apologize(道歉)for being late. Don't tell her we forgot her.”
Tom did not want to go to Mrs. Waller's house, but he was a brave(勇敢的)boy, and said, “All right, Miss Lee.”
He went to the old woman's house and knocked on the door. Mrs. Waller opened it. She looked very angry.
“Well,” she said, “what is it? What do you want?”
Tom gave her the invitation card and said, “I'm sorry we did not ask you before, but please come to our picnic. It's a beautiful day.”
Mrs. Waller knew that the children thought she was a witch. She guessed that they had forgotten her.
“You're too late,” the woman said. “It's a beautiful day now, but I've already arranged for rain this afternoon.”
1．What did the children decide to do?
[ ]
A．They decided to visit the old witch.
B．They decided to help their teacher.
C．They decided to give a picnic for some old people.
D．They decided to cook cakes and sausage themselves.
2．Where did the children have the picnic?
[ ]
A．At their school.
B．At home.
C．In the old people's home.
D．By the river.
3．Why didn't the children invite Mrs. Waller?
[ ]
A．They did not know where she lived.
B．She didn't like picnics.
C．They were frightened(受惊吓)of her.
D．She was cruel(残酷的)to children.
4．Why did the teacher say they must invite Mrs. Waller?
[ ]
A．Because she did not want to hurt Mrs. Waller.
B．Because she was frightened of her.
C．Because she wanted to punish the children.
D．Because she liked her.
5．What did Mrs. Waller say she had done when she realized(意识到)they had forgotten her?
[ ]
A．She had arranged for it to be a rainy day.
B．She had locked Tom in a closet(储藏室)so that he could not got to the picnic.
C．She had changed the date of the picnic.
D．She had said bad things about the teacher.
查看习题详情和答案>>英语趣味阅读
The Witch(巫婆)“We should do something nice for the old people of our town,”the teacher said to her class one day. “What could we do?”
“Can we give them a picnic?”one of the children asked. “We can send out invitations(邀请)and bring cakes and sausages(香肠)and all kinds of good things to eat.”
“That's very good idea,”the teacher said. “We'll ask all the old people to a picnic by the river.”
The children worked hard getting ready for the picnic. Their parents made cakes and pies(馅饼)or gave money, and the children wrote invitation cards to the old people. Then they took the cards to the old people's homes.
On the morning of the picnic the sky was blue and the sun was shining. The children were all looking forward to giving the old people a happy day.
Then one of the children said. “Oh! We forgot to invite Mrs. Waller.”
They did not like Mrs. Waller. She looked like a witch.
“We must invite her how then,” the teacher said. “She will be hurt and angry if we don't ask her.”
She looked around the class and then pointed at one of the boys. “Tom, take an invitation card to her house. Apologize(道歉)for being late. Don't tell her we forgot her.”
Tom did not want to go to Mrs. Waller's house, but he was a brave(勇敢的)boy, and said, “All right, Miss Lee.”
He went to the old woman's house and knocked on the door. Mrs. Waller opened it. She looked very angry.
“Well,” she said, “what is it? What do you want?”
Tom gave her the invitation card and said, “I'm sorry we did not ask you before, but please come to our picnic. It's a beautiful day.”
Mrs. Waller knew that the children thought she was a witch. She guessed that they had forgotten her.
“You're too late,” the woman said. “It's a beautiful day now, but I've already arranged for rain this afternoon.”
1．What did the children decide to do?
[ ]
A．They decided to visit the old witch.
B．They decided to help their teacher.
C．They decided to give a picnic for some old people.
D．They decided to cook cakes and sausage themselves.
2．Where did the children have the picnic?
[ ]
A．At their school.
B．At home.
C．In the old people's home.
D．By the river.
3．Why didn't the children invite Mrs. Waller?
[ ]
A．They did not know where she lived.
B．She didn't like picnics.
C．They were frightened(受惊吓)of her.
D．She was cruel(残酷的)to children.
4．Why did the teacher say they must invite Mrs. Waller?
[ ]
A．Because she did not want to hurt Mrs. Waller.
B．Because she was frightened of her.
C．Because she wanted to punish the children.
D．Because she liked her.
5．What did Mrs. Waller say she had done when she realized(意识到)they had forgotten her?
[ ]
A．She had arranged for it to be a rainy day.
B．She had locked Tom in a closet(储藏室)so that he could not got to the picnic.
C．She had changed the date of the picnic.
D．She had said bad things about the teacher.
查看习题详情和答案>>visited. It took him much time to meet them. Some visitors talked much with him and at last he didn' t like it.
He told his servant (小说) to stop the strangers from troubling him.
One morning he was writing a novel when the door was knocked at. He hoped to finish writing it as soon
as possible and he had no time to meet anybody. He told the servant he did not want to be troubled. The
servant opened the door and found it was Mr Baker, one of Mr Read's old friends.
"Is Mr Read at home, Mabel?" asked Mr Baker.
She wanted to let him in but suddenly ( 突然 ) remembered what she was told.
"Sorry, Mr Baker," said the servant. "He's gone out."
"Where has he gone?"
"I don't know."
"When will he come back?"
"Sorry, he didn't tell me about it."
Mr Baker understood his friend wouldn't see him. He got mad and left. That afternoon Mr Read finished
his novel. He felt sorry for Mr Baker and wanted to apologize to his old friend. He got there and shouted, "Is
Mr Baker at home?"
Mr Baker heard it was his friend. He remembered what happened that morning. He didn't open the door
and answered," Sorry, I' m not in." "I have heard it's you, Mr Baker."
"I believed your servant this morning," said Mr Baker."But you don't believe your friend now!
B. a writer
C. a worker
D. a servant
B. 挑战
C. 回答
D. 邀请
B. surprised
C. sorry
D. angry
B. The servant didn't know Mr Baker so she didn't let him in.
C. Mr Read didn't want to be troubled while he was writing novels.
D. Mr Baker wasn't at home when Mr Read came to his house that afternoon.