I consider myself something of an expert on apologies. A quick temper(脾气) has 1 me with plenty of opportunities(机会) 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(责任) 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

　　参考答案及解析

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

　　1.选A。provide … with意为“向……提供……”。

　　2.选C。紧接着的就是作者回忆出来的内容。

　　3.选B。与后面提到的“要抬起头”正好相反。

　　4.选D。道歉时看着对方的眼睛，以示真诚，这一点在中西方文化是相同的。

　　5.选C。mean it意为“这样对方就会明白你有道歉的意思”。it在这里指道歉的行为。

　　6.选B。冒号后的内容即为“成功的”道歉的一些基本特征。

　　7.选A。 pretend“假装”。根据情景和常识选定。

　　8.选C。其他三个选项不合语境。

　　9.选D。职位一般论的是高、低。

　　10.选A。fault“过错(责任)”。turn out意为“后来证明是”。

　　11.选C。roughly此处表示对待客人不礼貌，服务不到位。从前面的要不要道歉的讨论可以猜出这一答案。

　　12.选A。bad manners 意为不礼貌的行为，从treat roughly这一信息不难推测出这一答案。

　　13.选B。effective与successful有异曲同工之妙。

　　14.选D。bear the responsibility(承担责任)，系习惯搭配。

　　15.选D。leave no room不留余地。

　　16.选B。经常找借口，那么也就会不留余地让别人来“原谅”自己。

　　17.选C。better表示“心情更舒畅”。未找借口的道歉，即真诚的道歉，对方的感觉一定很好。

　　18.选A。道歉的最终“目的”是化干戈为玉帛，大家和好如初，所以用purpose。 end表示“目的”时用复数较多，而且不及purpose直接。

　　19.选B。道歉者是全部还是部分承担责任这些都不太重要：关键是为所作所为主动负责，这也能促使别人共同承担责任。 根据语境不难排除另三个选项。

　　20.选D。根据行文逻辑应该是对自己的“行动”负责。answer for在此意为“对……负责”。