It is impossible not to make a mistake at some points in your life. We may as well accept that something will go wrong and we will be to blame. It is therefore sensible to work out some strategies for apologizing, and the best way to apologize is by letter. This way you can take care over every work you write— which you can’t do if you say sorry to someone in person.

We all say or do something that we wish we hadn’t said or done. You may say something that accidentally hurts someone, or you may provide a service which doesn’t come up to the standards that a client or customer expected.

You may feel that it was a genuine mistake which couldn’t be avoided. Rather than dwell on the mistake, you should quickly try to remedy（修补）the problem. An effective letter of apology is an important part of that process.

For the contents of the letter, just remember TABS—Timing, Action, Brevity, Sincerity.

The timing of a letter of apology is essential—it must be sent as soon as possible. Any delay in our sending the letter will only compound the problem. In this case “Better late than never” is not the best motto! The longer you wait before you wait before writing a letter of apology, the more it will seem that you have been coerced（被迫）into writing it.

Although it is important to recognize what has gone before, it is also essential to detail the action you plan to take to rectify whatever it was you did wrong. Research has shown that some indication that you have thought about what future action you plan to take is always well received.

A letter of apology should be brief and the word “sorry” should appear no more than twice. Indicate that you are aware using it a second time—“once again, I am so sorry for…” or “as I said earlier, I am really sorry about…”. Finally, the tone of the letter has to be sincere. In fact, the combination of all the above factors will help in this respect.

And don’t think that letters are out of date in the email—oriented 21st century. An apology email can be worse than no apology at all!

What kind of advice does the text suggest about apologizing?

A. It’s a good idea to write a letter of apology as soon as something has gone wrong.     

B. It’s a good idea to send several emails to apologize.

C. Write a long letter apologizing several times to make your point. 

D. Wait to see how they react to your letter before planning to do anything.

What kind of things do you NOT apologize for?

A. A service that is not as good as it should be.

B. Genuine mistakes.

C. Car accidents.

D. Causing offence or hurt.

The underlined expression “Rather than dwell on the mistake” in the third paragraph means you _____.

A. should not waste time worrying about what happened.  

B. should consider the problem

C. should forget about what happened.

D. should analyse who was at fault.

How can timing compound problems?

A. If you write immediately, they will be suspicious. 

B. If you leave it for a few days, they will know it is your idea to write.

C. Waiting for a few days before you write will show your sincerity.       

D. Waiting too long will make it worse because they won’t believe you mean it.

Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)?When someone tells you something that is true，but leaves out important information that should be included. he can give you a false picture．

For example，someone might say，“I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票)．It was great．I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”

This guy’s a winner，right? Maybe，maybe not．We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets，and only one was a winner．He’s really a big loser!

He didn’t say anything that was false，but he left out important information on

purpose．That’s called a half truth．Half truths are not technically lies，but they are

just as dishonest．

Some politicians often use this trick．Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last

term，her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs．Then she seeks an

 other term．One of her opponents(对手)says，“During Governor Smith’s term，the

 state lost one million jobs!” That’s true．However，an honest statement would have

 been，“During Governor Smith's term，the state had a net gain of two million jobs．’’

Advertisers(广告商)will sometimes use half—truths．It’s against the law to make

false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth．An advertisement might say，

“Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to  take Yucky Pills to cure toothache．”It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky

Company．

This kind of deception happens too often．It’s a sad fact of life：Lies are lies，and

sometimes the truth can 1ie as well．

How much did the lottery winner lose?

A．one hundred dollars．           B．Two hundred dollars．

C．Three hundred dollars．         D．Four hundred dollars．

We may infer that the author believes people should

A．buy lottery tickets if possible       B．make use of half—truths

C．be careful about what they are told   D．not trust the Yucky Company

What do the underlined words “net gain” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．final increase                     B．big advantage

C．1arge share                      D．total number

What can we know from the example of the Yucky Pill advertisement?

A．False statements are easy to see through．

B．Half-truths are often used to mislead people．

C．Doctors like to act in advertisements．

D．Advertisements are based on facts．

How many examples does the writer give to show how the truth is used to deceive?

A．One．    B．Two．    C．Three．  D．Four．

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Using half truths is against the law．

B．Technically，half truths are in fact lies．

C．Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache．

D．Governor Smith did a good job during her last term．

Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A．He’s really a big loser!

B．Sometimes the truth can lie as well．

C．Advertisers will sometimes use half truths．

D．It’s against the law to make false statements．

“I don’t believe in Santa Claus!” Trogmire announced.
Tremor looked shocked. “Why not?” he asked.
“Because he never leaves me any gifts at all,” Trogmire growled.
Tremor thought about the evidence for a few seconds. “Maybe,” he suggested, “it’s because when Santa checked his list, your name wasn’t in the ‘nice’ column.”
“So, he could at least bring me a lump of coal!” Trogmire replied. “And,” he went on, “Troubled doesn’t believe in Santa, either.”
“Right,” Tremor said, “because he saw his parents putting the ‘From Santa’ presents under the tree. But I know the truth about that. My mother found out from Troubled’s mother. When Troubled’s parents got an e-mail from Santa, saying that he would never bring Troubled another gift, they didn’t want to tell him the truth. So now they buy presents and pretend they’re from Santa.”
“What did Troubled do to get Santa so mad?” Trogmire questioned.
“I think it had something to do with the time he put glue paper all over the living room floor on Christmas Eve, and left a sign that said, ‘Trapped like a rat!’ hanging over the fireplace.” said Tremor.
“I guess Santa doesn’t have a sense of humour,” sighed Trogmire. “Well, at least I’m not the only one who Santa scratched off his name list.”
【小题1】Why doesn’t Santa leave presents for Trogmire or Troubled?

Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)?When someone tells you something that is true，but leaves out important information that should be included，he can give you a false picture．

For example，someone might say, ''I just won a hundred．dollars on the lottery(彩票)．It was great．I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!"．This guy's a winner，right? Maybe，maybe not．We then discover that he bought$200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner．He’s really a big loser! He didn't say anything that was false，but he left out important information on purpose．That's called a half-truth．Half truths are not technically lies，but they are just as dishonest．

Some politicians often use this trick．Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term，her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs．Then she seeks another term．One of her opponents says, “During Governor Smith’s term，the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true．However，an honest statement would have been，“During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs.”

Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths．It's against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth．An advertisement might say，''Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache．'' It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company．

  This kind of deception happens too often．It’s a sad fact of life：Lies are lies，and sometimes the truth can 1ie as well．

1.The underlined word“opponents”in Paragraph 3 means             ．

A．enemy    B．partner    C．cooperator  D．assistant

2.We may infer that the author believes people should             ．

A．buy lottery tickets if possible

B．make use of half-truths

C．be careful about what they are told

D．not trust the Yucky Company

3.How many examples does the writer give to show how the truth is used to deceive?

A．One．    B．Two．    C．Three．D．Four．

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Using half truths is against the law．

B．Technically，half truths are in fact lies．

C．Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache．

D．Governor Smith did a good job during her last term．

5.M1ich of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A．He’s really a big loser!

B．Sometimes the truth can lie as well．

C．Advertisers will sometimes use half truths．

D．It’s against the law to make false statements．

“I don’t believe in Santa Claus!” Trogmire announced.

Tremor looked shocked. “Why not?” he asked.

“Because he never leaves me any gifts at all,” Trogmire growled.

Tremor thought about the evidence for a few seconds. “Maybe,” he suggested, “it’s because when Santa checked his list, your name wasn’t in the ‘nice’ column.”

“So, he could at least bring me a lump of coal!” Trogmire replied. “And,” he went on, “Troubled doesn’t believe in Santa, either.”

“Right,” Tremor said, “because he saw his parents putting the ‘From Santa’ presents under the tree. But I know the truth about that. My mother found out from Troubled’s mother. When Troubled’s parents got an e-mail from Santa, saying that he would never bring Troubled another gift, they didn’t want to tell him the truth. So now they buy presents and pretend they’re from Santa.”

“What did Troubled do to get Santa so mad?” Trogmire questioned.

“I think it had something to do with the time he put glue paper all over the living room floor on Christmas Eve, and left a sign that said, ‘Trapped like a rat!’ hanging over the fireplace.” said Tremor.

“I guess Santa doesn’t have a sense of humour,” sighed Trogmire. “Well, at least I’m not the only one who Santa scratched off his name list.”

1.Why doesn’t Santa leave presents for Trogmire or Troubled?

    A．Their parents won’t let him leave gifts.          B．He can’t find their homes.

    C．He often forgets their names.    D．They have behaved badly.

2.Trogmire and Troubled don’t believe in Santa because ________.

    A．Santa has no sense of humor      B．Santa doesn’t give them anything

    C．they are too naughty to believe  D．Tremor convinced them he wasn’t real

3.Troubled’s parents never ________.

    A．told him about the message from Santa              B．loved him very much

    C．cared about how he behaved                   D．bought him anything

4.Trogmire’s last comment could be an example of the saying _______.

    A．Misery(苦难,不幸) loves company        B．Easy come, easy go

    C．Beauty is only skin deep             D．Love me, love my dog