Usually, if you want to ask a stranger for the time, you would start by saying ＂Sorry to bother you. Do you know what time it is?＂. If you’re five minutes late for an appointment, you would generally greet the person by saying ＂Sorry. I’m late!＂.

We Brits pride ourselves on our polite manners towards one another in public. We use the word ＂sorry＂ in so many different situations that the meaning of the word has slightly changed over time. The two main dictionary definitions of ＂sorry＂ are:

(1) Feeling sad for someone else because of their problems or misfortunes.

(2) Feeling regret because you’ve done something wrong.

Now, think about this. Normally, when you want to ask a stranger a question, you start with ＂sorry to disturb you＂. In this situation, we aren’t saying sorry because we feel sad for that person or because we feel regret.

So what does ＂sorry＂ really mean? And why do Brits use it so much? Well, in the British culture, saying ＂sorry＂, or apologizing in general, is a way to be polite, especially to people who you don’t know very well. It’s also a very clever way to get what you want. In a recent experiment, an actor approached different strangers on a rainy day to ask if he could use their mobile phone in order to make a call. When he approached one group of strangers and asked them without apologizing first, he was only 9 per cent successful in borrowing their phone. However, when he apologized to another group of strangers about the bad weather before asking if he could use their mobile phone, he was 47 per cent successful. So maybe saying ＂sorry＂ is also a good method to get what you want!

【小题1】In the whole passage, Paragraph 1 serves as a(n) ______________ .

A．explanation	B．comment
C．background	D．introduction

【小题2】How does the author make his argument believable in the passage?

A．By giving examples.	B．By describing details.
C．By referring to books.	D．By explaining the causes.

【小题3】How can you ask for help according to the passage?

A．By apologizing first.	B．By asking straightly.
C．By stopping them rudely.	D．By making friends with them.

【小题4】What is the text mainly about?

A．Brits’ pride on apologizing.

B．Meaning it when saying ＂sorry＂.

C．The evolution of ＂sorry＂ in Britain.

D．Different situations of saying ＂sorry＂.