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

阅读理解

　　A fine-looking young man sat down in the main dining room of an expensive hotel. He ordered a nice meal and spent two hours enjoying himself very much. After the check (账单) was presented, the man called the head waiter.

　　“Ah, my friend.” he said. “that was a wonderful meal! Perhaps you remember that I was a guest (客人) at this hotel and at this very same table just about a year ago. And at that time, just because I couldn't pay the check, you, sir, had me thrown out of this dining room in full view of all the other guests!”

　　“My deepest apologies (道歉), sir.” said the head waiter. “You understand…”

　　“Oh, it's quite all right!” said the young man lighting his cigar (雪茄烟) , “But I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again.”

1．The man went into the hotel because ________.

[　　]

A．he had a lot of money

B．he wanted to pay the check

C．he just wanted to eat something free

D．he wanted to teach the head waiter a good lesson

2．He called the head waiter _________.

[　　]

3．The man told the waiter he had been thrown out of the dining room by the waiter because ________.

[　　]

A．he would never forget the sad story

B．he wanted the waiter to answer for it

C．he wanted the waiter to pay for it

D．he tried to remind (提醒) the waiter he would not pay for the meal again

4．The phrase “in full view of” means ________.

[　　]

5．What do you think the result (结果) of the story was?

[　　]

A．The man was very glad to have had such a wonderful meal.

B．The waiter apologized to the man for his rough deeds.

C．The man made friends with the head waiter.

D．The man had no money, and no intention (意向) to pay the check.

People ___1_____ under different star signs have different ways of ____2____ sorry.
Aries: Arians think they are lovely and gentle and it is __3______ for them to do the wrong things and they will never hurt ___4_____. So they will only say a ___15_____ sorry for t heir mistakes.
Gemini: Geminis think they will never make a mistake and they are right forever. So they will never really apologize (道歉) for __6______. But when they know it, they would rather (宁愿) do ___7_____.
Leo: Leos are a group of pleasant people. When they are trying to apologize, they will buy flowers, put up sorry posters and so on. It is ___8_____.
Virgo: Virgos will first formally set aside (留出) a time and date. Then they will get ready to ___9_____ their mistakes. At last, they will ___10_____ a formal article and read it out. Sometimes their true apologies ___11_____ good articles.
Scorpio: Scorpios are formal and think that making ___12____ apology is more formal. So instead of just saying sorry, they will send a formal mail or send a card.
Sagittarius: Sagittarians don’t believe in apologizing. For them, it is ___13_____ to make a mistake and saying sorry is just ___14_____. Interestingly, even if others make mistakes, they are very cool and will not ___15_____ the apologies from others.
(      ) 1 .A. bore         B. was born         C. born         D. were born
(      ) 2 .A.  says           B. saying          C. said         D. say
(      ) 3 .A. necessary    B. important            C. impossible       D. unable
(      ) 4. A. the other        B. other               C. others           D. another
(      ) 5. A. hard         B. simple               C. good         D. possible
(      ) 6 .A. something    B.  nothing        C. anything     D. everything
(      ) 7 .A. everything       B. something            C. anything     D. nothing
(      ) 8 .A. great            B. fun              C. exciting     D. amazing
(      ) 9 .A. say about        B.  talk about      C. tell         D. speak
(      ) 10 .A .make            B. do               C. write            D. send
(      ) 11. A. like            B.  sound like          C. likes        D. sound
(      ) 12 .A. a              B.  an          C.  the     D. /
(      ) 13 .A. right           B. natural              C. true         D. easy
(      ) 14 .A. useless B. unnecessary          C. wrong            D. shame
(      ) 15 .A. wait for            B. stand for            C. care for     D. search for