British people pride themselves on their polite manners towards one another in public. They often use the word ‘sorry’—even when they don’t really mean it! Usually, if they want to ask a stranger for the time, they would start by saying ‘Sorry to bother you. Do you know what time it is?’ If they’re five minutes late for an appointment (约会), they would generally greet the person by saying ‘Sorry I’m late!’
They use the word ‘sorry’ in so many different situations that the meaning of the word has changed a little over time. The two main dictionary definitions (释义) of ‘sorry’ are: 1) feeling sad for someone else because of their problems or bad luck; 2) feeling regret because you’ve done something wrong. Now, think about this. Normally, when they want to ask a stranger a question, they start with ‘Sorry to bother you’. In this situation, they aren’t saying sorry because they feel sad for that person or because they feel regret.
So what does ‘sorry’ really mean? And why do British people use it so much? Well, in the British culture, saying ‘sorry’ is a way to be polite, especially to people who they don’t know very well. It’s also a very clever way to get what they want. In a recent experiment, an actor went up to a different strangers on a rainy day to ask if he could use their mobile phones in order to make a call. When he went up to one group of strangers and asked them without saying ‘sorry’ first, he was only 9 per cent successful in borrowing their phones. However, when he said ‘sorry’ to another group of strangers about the bad weather before asking if he could use their mobile phones, he was 47 per cent successful. So maybe saying ‘sorry’ is not just being polite, but it is also a good method to get what they want too!
Title: Why do | |
Main points | Detailed information |
The situations in which they say ‘ | Asking for the time Being |
The change of the meaning of ‘sorry’ | The two main Feeling sad for Feeling regret When British people ask a stranger a question by with ‘sorry’, they are saying sorry neither because they feel sad for that person nor because they feel regret. |
The | A way to be polite A good way to get The result of an experiment shows it’s |
Selfie is a photo that one takes of oneself. People usually take selfies with a smart phone and send them to a social media website. Nowadays, more and more people are taking selfies. From your best friend to your favorite pop star, selfies are taking over Renren and Sina Weibo.
What makes people love selfies? Selfies can help to remember what's going on in their personal life. "Almost every day, I take a photo of myself at school, and save it in my Qzone. These photos record my happy and sad moments." said Huang Xu, 16, from Hunan. Another usual reason for taking a selfie is to share online. They hope to make friends and share their feelings with others. "During summer vacation, my classmates and I shared many selfies online. Through these photos, we got to know each other's holidays and feelings," said Wang Lin, 15, from Henan. "I'm too shy to ask someone to take pictures of me, but it's easier to do it by myself."
Although taking selfies is popular among young people around the world, they should be careful at the places where they take selfies. People are warned(警告)not to take light-hearted selfies in serious places, such as in some traffic accidents. In order to protect art works, selfie is banned in some museums and galleries, too.
【小题1】The word "selfie" has a history of about .
A.2 years | B.13 years |
C.15 years | D.20 years |
![](https://img.xkw.com/dksih/QBM/2015/9/21/1578720877158400/1578720877551616/STEM/6e5b49f9f30a425daa3b98e7bff28f75.png)
【小题3】In Paragraph 3, the writer mentioned (提到) 2 young people to .
A.talk about their school lives |
B.introduce the development of selfie |
C.help people take a clear and beautiful selfie |
D.explain the different reasons why people love selfies |
A.not visited | B.not stopped |
C.not allowed | D.not watched |
A.science book | B.magazine for teenager |
C.instruction book | D.English dictionary |
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