Making an apology is not the same as making amends. Sometimes we apologize just because it’s the easiest thing to do. What’s actually important is to identify where we go wrong, take full responsibility for our mistakes and , if possible, try to make up for them.
A recent case involving Hewlett-Packed, the US computer giant, shows the importance of presenting a sincere apology. The Chinese consumers who had bought notebook computers of certain models, which have been put on Chinese market since 2007, suffered a massive flash screen failures and overheating problems. Through investigation, Chinese AQSIQ (国家质检总局) identified these HP computers had quality problems and HP admitted this. HP made a proposal that they would extend the warranty (保修) period of such computers, but this could not satisfied the consumers. What they needed was a thorough description of the truth. HP has “sincerely” apologized. But the consumers remain angry, and say that only a product recall — as HP has done in the past — will prove that the apology is sincere.
Another apology that fell flat on its face was that of Thierry Henry, the famous French footballer. His deliberate handball in November 2009 created the goal which knocked Ireland out of the 2010 World Cup. The incident caused great anger in the football world, and eventually Henry issued an apology. Two days later, he wrote, “I’m not the referee…but if I hurt someone I’m sorry.” Better late than never, perhaps, but even then he passed the blame onto the referee!
Such high-profile cases, which attract a lot of publicity often under the spotlight, but similar incidents occur in our everyday lives. Stress caused by schoolwork and tiredness can sometimes result in outbursts of anger against friends and family. Have you ever lost your temper for minor reasons? After calming down, most people are quick to realize their mistake and apologize. But it’s just as important to identify what caused the error in the first place and take action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
No one should hold a negative attitude to making a sincere apology. Empty words are easy to say, but they are as useless as they sound. A real show of remorse（痛悔;自责）demands hard work and commitment to put error right. 
【小题1】What does the author intend to tell us in the case of HP?

As I write this, I have half an eye on an old James Bond film that is showing on my computer. But this is a story about how I stopped watching TV and began reading again for pleasure, after ten years in which I hardly turned a page.

I suppose I was an enthusiastic reader of "literature" between the ages of nine and fourteen. I had enough time to be White Fang, Robinson Crusoe, and Bilbo Baggins and Jeeves. Of course there was room in the schoolboy's imagination for some real historical figures: Scott of the Antarctic, all of the Vikings, and Benjamin Franklin were good friends of mine.

Then, in adolescence, I began a long search for strange and radical (激进的) ideas. I wanted to challenge my elders and betters, and shock my fellow students with amazing points of view. Of course, the only place to look was in books. I hunted out the longest titles and the authors with the funniest names; I searched the library for completely unread books. Then I found one which became my bible for the whole of 1982, it had a title composed of eleven long words and an author whose name I didn't know how to pronounce. It was really thick and looked dead serious. Even better, it put forward a whole world-view that would take days to explain. Perfect. I took it out of the library three times, proud to see the date-stamps lined up on the empty library insert.

Later, I went to university. Expecting to spend long evenings in learned discussion with clever people, I started reading philosophy. For some reason I never found the deep-thinking intellectuals I hoped to meet. Anyway, I was ready to impress with my profound (深奥的) knowledge of post-structuralism, existentialism and situationism. These things are usually explained in rather short books, but they take a long time to get through. They were the end of my youthful reading.

Working life was hard to get used to after so much theory. It was the end of books for me. There didn't seem to be much in books that would actually get things done. To do things you had to answer the telephone and work a computer. You had to travel about and speak to people who weren't at all interested in philosophy. I didn't stop reading, you can't avoid that. I read all day. But no books came my way, only manuals (操作手册) and contracts and documents. Maybe most people satisfy their need for stories and ideas with TV and, to tell the truth, it was all I needed for ten years. In those days I only had a book "on the go" for the duration of aeroplane flights. At first I would come home and watch TV over dinner. Then, I moved the TV so I could watch it from bed. I even got a switch so I could turn it off without getting out of bed. Then, one fateful day, my TV broke and my landlady took it away.

My new TV is an extra circuit board (电路板) inside my computer. It's on a desk in front of a working chair and I can't see it from the bed. I still use it for the weather forecasts and it's nice to have it on while I'm typing this… but what to do last thing at night? Well, have another go with books.

Now, I just like books. I have a pile of nice ones by my bed and I'm reading about six at the same time. I don't want to be any of the characters. I don't care if a thousand people have already read them. I don't have to search through libraries. There are books everywhere and all of them have something to read in them. I have the strange feeling that they've been there all along, waiting for me to pick them up.

1.The writer enjoyed reading “literature” between the ages of nine and fourteen because ________.

A．he thought it was important for a schoolboy to do so

B．he was still too young to understand other books

C．he believed all the real historical figures were his friends

D．he could imagine himself being the characters in the books

2.“Existentialism” (in paragraph 4) is probably ________.

A．a library intended for teenagers            B．a kind of books on traditions

C．a philosophy theory                     D．a kind of reading skill

3.The main reason the writer stopped reading books was that ________.

A．he found watching TV was more interesting

B．he became too busy to read any books

C．he found books were of little use to his work

D．he had to read a lot of manuals, contracts and documents

4.Now the writer starts to read books again ________.

A．to find back his youth in books             B．for the pure pleasure of reading

C．so as to help kill his spare time             D．for only business purposes

5.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．The Years with Books                     B．Books and TV Programs

C．Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover           D．Reading Makes One Excellent

Traveling is more important than reading books to understand people and the world. A book about another country tells you about things such as the country’s history, its people and its culture in a very general way. When meeting foreigners, I found that books can’t be trusted totally. For example, when I was visiting Wisconsin University, many people were rigid(保守的), uneducated, had no sense of humor, and they all wore blue suits. Even the picture in some people’s minds was that Chinese still wore pigtails(辫子)as they did in the Qing Dynasty. Though the videotapes shown by me, they were surprised to find that these facts were not true at all and the Chinese people are outgoing and have great intelligence, dress well and have an equally strong sense of humor.

Reading a book about another country makes me interested in traveling. Then I make plans to go and see what I have read about.

In addition, people who go out and experience things themselves are likely to be open-minded, and are really interested in making things happen. A friend of mine, Chen Ming, went to a backward rural area(落后的农村地区) and experienced the sufferings of the children there firsthand.  Then he organized a medical team to give them treatment. Just reading about these children’s situation would not have had the same effect as seeing them in person.

More and more Chinese travel at home or abroad.  Especially the children who travel more will see the important landscapes（风景） and will truly be full of knowledge about their own country. I have always felt enriched by the experience. It is only by “getting into action” that one can make a mark in this world, and truly live a meaningful life.

1．The author gives the example in Wisconsin University to show that ____.

       A．Chinese are often misunderstood by foreigners

       B．Books never tell the truth

       C．Chinese people have changed their life style a lot

       D．Seeing is believing

2．The underlined word “outgoing” means ____.

       A．facing danger, pain, or difficult situations with courage and confidence

       B．behaving or speaking in a correct way for the social situation you are in

       C．being nervous about talking to other people, especially to strangers

       D．liking to meet and talk to new people and make friends with them

3．The author believes that the more you experience things, ____.

A．the more you want to try something

B．the more you want to travel

C．the more interested you will be in reading books

D．the less you think you know

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

A．If you want to know the world, you can only travel.

B．If you read about some place from a book, you must go and see it.

C．Traveling can make a person like his life even more.

D．Traveling can certainly make a mark in the world.

5．The best title for this passage should be “____”.

A．What’s Good for Travel                       B．Experience by Reading

C．Reading about the Outside World           D．Prefer Traveling to Reading