Question

【题目】 A sign of weakness?“Sorry” is probably the most over-used word in the United Kingdom: whether they are sorry about the weather or sorry because someone else has accidently hit them. “The willingness of the English to apologize(道歉) for something they haven’t done is worthy of notice.” wrote Henry Hitchings in his aptly–titled Sorry!:

The English and their Manners.

So what about those situations when we realize that we really need to apologize to someone? Is it better to put aside your pride and say you’re sorry, or – as the American actor John Wayne put it – is apologising a sign of weakness?

“People worry that an apology may tell others that you have just done something wrong, rather than as an effort to understand the wronged party’s situation, problems, and feelings,” says Harvard Business School’s Alison Wood Brooks. But she adds, “A good apology is unlikely to have the opposite bad result, and is more likely to increase trust than not apologizing at all.”

As for how to do it, Edwin Battistella, a language expert from Southern Oregon University has the following advice: “The right way to apologize is the way your mother taught you.” Say you threw a stone at a cousin. “She’d have you go and look at them in the eye and say: ‘I’m sorry I threw the stone at you and I won’t do it again’. It’s important to name what you did wrong, to show yourself as being sorry in some way and to promise what might be different in the future,” Battistella says.

Just how many times you’ll need to repeat the apology may be different according to where you live. Wood Brooks and Harvard PhD student Grant Donnelly have collected data that suggests that, for a small mistake, the best number is a single “I’m sorry”. “If it is a big mistake, then making two apologies seems tobe the magic number for expressing empathy (同理心), getting back trust and liking,” Wood Brooks says. Ofcourse, if you’re British, you may need to double that. “A single ‘sorry’ does not count as an apology: we have to repeat it and embellish it with a lot of words, like terribly, truly etc.” says Professor Fox.

【1】From paragraph 1, we know that .

A.English people never say sorry for things they haven’t done

B.it’s unusual to say sorry about the weather in England

C.it’s common for English people to say sorry to others

D.English people are often hit by others accidently

【2】Wood Brooks may agree with that apologizing _.

A.is a sign of weaknessB.will make people feel more nervous

C.may have some bad resultsD.may help people trust each other more

【3】The underlined word “embellish” probably means .

A.break downB.compare with

C.look forward toD.make more attractive

【4】The last paragraph is mainly talking about .

A.the steps of making apologiesB.the best ways of apologizing

C.the right words for apologizingD.the importance of apologizing

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】D

【3】D

【4】B

【解析】

文章大意：文章讲的是在英国说对不起是很常见的和多个学者对道歉的作用进行的阐述，以及道歉的方式等。

【1】细节理解题，根据文章第一段第一、二行“Sorry” is probably the most over-used word in the United Kingdom: whether they are sorry about the weather or sorry because someone else has accidently hit them“对不起可能是英国最常用的一个词：他们是为天气感到抱歉，还是因为别人不小心撞到他们而感到抱歉”可知，英国人对其他人说对不起是很常见的，故答案选C。

【2】细节理解题。根据文章第三段第三、四行A good apology is unlikely to have the opposite bad result, and is more likely to increase trust than not apologizing at all“一个好的道歉不太可能产生相反的坏结果，更可能增加信任，而不是根本不道歉。”可知，Wood Brooks同意道歉能帮助彼此更加信任，故答案选D。

【3】词句推测题。根据文章最后一段的最后一行with a lot of words, like terribly, truly etc.” says Professor Fox“用一些单词像非常地、真正地来修饰它”可推知，是为了让它更吸引人，故答案选D。

【4】主旨大意题。根据文章最后一段第三、四行for a small mistake, the best number is a single “I’m sorry”. “If it is a big mistake, then making two apologies seems tobe the magic number for expressing empathy (同理心), getting back trust and liking“对于一个小错误，最好的数字是一个单一的“对不起”。“如果这是一个大错误，那么两次道歉似乎是表达同理心、找回信任和喜欢的神奇数字”以及后面描述的是如果你是英国人，你可能需要加倍。福克斯教授说：“一句‘对不起’不算道歉：我们必须重复一遍，用很多词来修饰它，比如可怕的、真实的等等。”可知，最后一段讲的是道歉最好的方式们，故答案选B。

阅读理解题中的细节理解题，首先找到问句中的关键词，然后根据关键词定位到文章具体位置，然后选出正确答案即可。

例如题目2中，关键词是Wood Brooks和 apologizing可定位到文章第三段第三、四行A good apology is unlikely to have the opposite bad result, and is more likely to increase trust than not apologizing at all“一个好的道歉不太可能产生相反的坏结果，更可能增加信任，而不是根本不道歉。”可知，Wood Brooks同意道歉能帮助彼此更加信任，故答案选D。