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Apologies We have probably all been in a situation when we know we have behaved badly towards someone, but pride or stubbornness has made us slow to apologise. As the British pop singer Elton John put it in one of his songs, it is often the case that sorry seems to be the hardest word . !f course, when we do manage to make a sincere apology, it can "uickly reduce the hurt or resentment felt by the person we have behaved badly towards. #n the words of the $anadian cartoonist %ynn Johnston, An apology is the &uperglue of life ' it can repair (ust about anything. )owever a recent survey suggests that in Britain the word sorry is being used in various situations where it doesn t have the traditional purpose of e*pressing regret for something a person has said or done. Arguably, the word is now being overused and might even be in danger of losing its meaning. Based on a sample of +,+,, people, the survey produced the statistic that the average British person will say sorry almost - million times in his or her lifetime. #t found that on many occasions people use the word sorry to tell others that they don t have time to say or do something .&orry, # can t talk right now /, or as a substitute for pardon when they haven t heard something that was said .&orry, what was that0 /, or for e*cuse me when they want to get someone s attention .&orry, have you got the time0 /. 1hen there is the phenomenon that both amuses and mystifies many foreign visitors to Britain2 not only do many British people say sorry when they accidentally bump into someone in a crowded place, such as on an underground train in %ondon, but also when they are the ones who have been bumped into by someone else3 1his probably contributes to the finding that almost -,4 of a British person s apologies are made to strangers, whereas only 54 are made to friends and +64 to work colleagues. &ociologists have tried to e*plain these seemingly unnecessary apologies, but unfortunately there is no space here to go into their theories in any depth. 7ost people interviewed for the survey also felt that sorry is too often used in a flippant way, as an attempt to reduce another person s displeasure, but without any intention of addressing the source of the problem. !ne possible conclusion, therefore, is that while the "uantity of apologies heard in Britain could be reduced, the degree of sincerity behind them needs to be increased.

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Exercise 1 Here are some simple definitions for words that appear in the text. Find the words they refer to and fill in the gaps.

1. 888888888888888 .verb/ to confuse someone by doing something strange or difficult to e*plain 2. 888888888888888 .noun/ a set of "uestions that you ask a large number of people 3. 888888888888888 .ad(ective/ not serious or respectful enough 4. 888888888888888 .ad(ective/ full of people 5. 888888888888888 .noun/ the cause of something or the place where it comes from 6. 888888888888888 .ad(ective/ not pretending or lying9 honest 7. 888888888 888888888 .verb/ to hit against something or someone accidentally 8. 888888888888888 .noun/ a piece of information that is discovered

Exercise 2 Now complete the crossword below. If all the words are correct, an adjective meaning full of regret or guilt will be revealed from top to bottom.

+ : 6 ; < = 5

1. >rom the survey, it seems British people apologise more often to strangers than they do to 88888888888.

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2. Being 88888888888 can sometimes make us slow to apologise. 3. 1he cartoonist %ynn Johnston is from 88888888888. 4. 1he te*t describes how sorry is not only used when people feel 88888888888 about something they have said or done. 5. #t seems that people in Britain might be 88888888888 the word sorry . 6. 7any foreigners in Britain are 88888888888 when they see people apologise after other people have bumped into them. 7. &ociologists 88888888888 have tried to e*plain seemingly unnecessary apologies. 8. According to the survey, the average British person will 88888888888 almost million times in his or her lifetime.

7egold?s2

Exercise 1 +. mystify finding -. survey :. flippant 6. crowded ;. source <. sincere =. bump into 5.

Exercise 2 +. colleagues -. stubborn :. $anada 6. regret ;. overusing <. mystified =. theories 5. apologise f@ggAleges2 contrite