I consider myself something of an expert on apologies. A quick temper(脾氣) has 1 me with plenty of opportunities(機會) to make them. In one of my earliest 2 , my mother is telling me, “Don’t watch the 3 when you say ‘I’m sorry’. Hold your head up and look the person in the 4 , so he’ll know you 5 it.”

　　My mother thus made the key point of a(n) 6 apology: it must be direct. You must never 7 to be doing something else. You do not 8 a pile of letters while apologizing to a person 9 in position after blaming him or her for a mistake that turned out to be your 10 . You do not apologize to a hostess(女主人), whose guest of honor you treat 11 , by sending flowers the next day without mentioning your bad 12 .

　　One of the important things you should do for an 13 apology is readiness to 14 the responsibility(責(zé)任) for our careless mistakes. We are used to making excuses, which leaves no 15 for the other person to 16 us. Since most people are open-hearted, the no-excuse apology leaves both parties feeling 17 about themselves. That, after all, is the 18 of every apology. It 19 little whether the apologizer is wholly or only partly at fault: answering for one’s 20 encourages others to take their share of the blame.

　　1. A.provided B.mixed C.compared D.treated

　　2. A.dreams B.courses C.memories D.ideas

　　3. A.side B.ground C.wall D.bottom

　　4. A.mind B.soul C.face D.eye

　　5. A.imagine B.enjoy C.mean D.regret

　　6. A.useful B.successful C.equal D.basic

　　7. A.pretend B.forget C.refuse D.expect

　　8. A.hold on B.put away C.look through D.pick up

　　9. A.poorer B.weaker C.worse D.lower

　　10.A.fault B.reason C.result D.duty

　　11.A.cruelly B.freely C.roughly D.foolishly

　　12.A.manners B.excuses C.efforts D.roles

　　13.A.active B.effective C.extra D.easy

　　14.A.raise B.perform C.admit D.bear

　　15.A.situation B.need C.sign D.room

　　16.A.advise B.forgive C.warn D.blame

　　17.A.wiser B.warmer C.better D.cleverer

　　18.A.purpose B.method C.end D.advantage

　　19.A.cares B.matters C.depends D.remains

　　20.A.facts B.states C.rights D.actions

　　參考答案及解析

　　1―5 ACBDC 6―10 BACDA 11―15 CABDD 16―20 BCABD

　　1.選A。provide … with意為“向……提供……”。

　　2.選C。緊接著的就是作者回憶出來的內(nèi)容。

　　3.選B。與后面提到的“要抬起頭”正好相反。

　　4.選D。道歉時看著對方的眼睛，以示真誠，這一點在中西方文化是相同的。

　　5.選C。mean it意為“這樣對方就會明白你有道歉的意思”。it在這里指道歉的行為。

　　6.選B。冒號后的內(nèi)容即為“成功的”道歉的一些基本特征。

　　7.選A。 pretend“假裝”。根據(jù)情景和常識選定。

　　8.選C。其他三個選項不合語境。

　　9.選D。職位一般論的是高、低。

　　10.選A。fault“過錯(責(zé)任)”。turn out意為“后來證明是”。

　　11.選C。roughly此處表示對待客人不禮貌，服務(wù)不到位。從前面的要不要道歉的討論可以猜出這一答案。

　　12.選A。bad manners 意為不禮貌的行為，從treat roughly這一信息不難推測出這一答案。

　　13.選B。effective與successful有異曲同工之妙。

　　14.選D。bear the responsibility(承擔(dān)責(zé)任)，系習(xí)慣搭配。

　　15.選D。leave no room不留余地。

　　16.選B。經(jīng)常找借口，那么也就會不留余地讓別人來“原諒”自己。

　　17.選C。better表示“心情更舒暢”。未找借口的道歉，即真誠的道歉，對方的感覺一定很好。

　　18.選A。道歉的最終“目的”是化干戈為玉帛，大家和好如初，所以用purpose。 end表示“目的”時用復(fù)數(shù)較多，而且不及purpose直接。

　　19.選B。道歉者是全部還是部分承擔(dān)責(zé)任這些都不太重要：關(guān)鍵是為所作所為主動負責(zé)，這也能促使別人共同承擔(dān)責(zé)任。 根據(jù)語境不難排除另三個選項。

　　20.選D。根據(jù)行文邏輯應(yīng)該是對自己的“行動”負責(zé)。answer for在此意為“對……負責(zé)”。