Question

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 (錯(cuò)誤).
　 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 (議員) 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’ (選民的) 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 (原諒).
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

Answer 1

 CDABA