研口语考试材料-道歉.doc

Passage 1A Time for ApologiesThroughout history, saying sorry is not something political and religious leaders have felt comfortable about. Some see it as a sign of weakness; for others its an admission that they are liable to make errorssomething religious institutions are particularly careful to avoid.But as political systems have become more sophisticated, the idea that governments or churches are faultless has become increasingly difficult to defend. The response of some people in positions of authority has been to stand up and apologize for past wrongs.The trend began in earnest in 1995, when the Queen of England admitted that the Maori people of New Zealand had been shamefully treated, when the country was a British colony. Since then, what started as trickle of apologies has turned into something of a flood. Last year alone, apologies were issued by three of the worlds most powerful nations. The US President, Bill Clinton, apologized for medical experiments which his government carried out on black American men in the 1930s; the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, apologized for Britains failure to help victims of the Irish potato famine, which killed over a million people last century; and French Catholic Bishops apologized for the role of their predecessors during World War II.But why do heads of state feel the need to apologize, and why now? one answer has to do with the recent 50th-anniversary of the end of World War II. Three years ago, governments around the world wanted to mark this historic event with some acts. But those countries which had been on the winning side found that simple celebrations of victory were no longer appropriate. Many political leaders, like most of their citizens, belong to post-war generations, who now look on the conflict as more than simply the victory of good over evil. Also, the passing of time has erased much of the propaganda of the period. In its place, recently declassified documents reveal that many of the victors either profited, or turned a blind eye to the sufferings of the war.In the event, the 50th-anniversary celebrations emphasized the recreation of harmony and the desire never to repeat the cruelties and suffering of World War II. But amid the general goodwill, the few remaining survivors of cruelties like the Holocaust, and military occupation, called for their personal suffering to be admitted, and for compensation to be paid.Two groupsJewish survivors of the Holocaust and Korean women who were forced into prostitution by the Japanese Armyhave both received apologies. However, neither group is entirely satisfied with the result.But the renewed investigation of crimes committed during World War II is only one reason for the apology phenomenon. Other governments, notably the US, have also realized that if they want to demand high standards of moral behavior from other nations, they can only do so if they admit their own past wrongs. President Clinton has responded by making public apologies to US citizens, who, as recently as the 1950s, were used as guinea-pig in secret experiments involving radiation and sexually transmitted diseases. He is also expected to make a formal apology to the descendants of slaves in the US.But its not just a sense of conscience, nor demands from pressure groups, which lies behind these apologies. A well-timed apology can do a lot to promote a head of states public imagein the 90s, caring and sympathetic leaders are better vote winners than proud and determined ones.However, playing the public-relations game with apologies is dangerous, as some politicians have found to their cost. The Swiss government is still trying to put right the public-relations disaster that resulted from their partial apology for Switzerlands dealings with the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s.But, in Britain, Tony Blair has gained a different kind of political advantage through his apology for the Irish potato famine. His statement has helped improve relations between the parties involved in the difficult peace negotiations over Northern Ireland. He is now thought to be considering an official apology for the 1972 killing of Northern Irish Catholics by the British Army on what has become known as “Blood Sunday”.Before he issues an apology, however, Tony Blair will have to consider the possibility that victims families might issue claims for compensation. The cost of fulfilling or fighting such claims could outweigh any political advantages. Also, because this event happened relatively recently, relations between the different sides in Northern Ireland could suffer.These points illustrate some of the risks that leaders take when saying sorry for past wrongs. But, for most leaders, these risks have been purely academic. So academic, in fact, that there is a concern that “sorry” might turn out to be the easiest word after all.Passage 2Tiger comments on current eventsBy Tiger WoodsI have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone. Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives. The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect. But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who dont share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within ones own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldnt have to mean public confessions. Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though its difficult. I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apologyPassage 3RCMP apologizes to Dziekanskis motherI thank you, and I accept your apology, Zofia Cisowski respondsZofia Cisowski said Thursday that she accepts the RCMPs apology for their role in her sons death. The police force stopped short of accepting responsibility for the death but said it was among the many people who played a role in the sequence of events leading up to it. (CBC) The mother of Polish visitor Robert Dziekanski, who died in October 2007 after RCMP subdued him with a Taser, says now that the police force has apologized, she might finally be able to sleep at night.Zofia Cisowski made the statement after the RCMP deputy commissioner for the Pacific region, Gary Bass, formally apologized to her during a news conference Thursday morning at Vancouver International Airport, where Dziekanski died.I want to apologize for our role in this tragic death of your son, Robert Dziekanski, said Bass. The RCMP has learned much from this tragic incident.Cisowski confirmed she had accepted a financial settlement as compensation for her sons death and that she will drop the lawsuit she filed last year against the federal and provincial governments, the airport and the four RCMP officers who fired the stun gun at Dziekanski.The officers said they used the Taser on Dziekanski because they felt threatened by him. The Polish immigrant, who did not speak English, had arrived in Canada on a long flight from Europe and became agitated after spending several more hours wandering around the immigration and baggage areas looking for his mother, who had come to meet him but was stranded in another part of the airport.Bass said numerous changes had been made to the RCMP guidelines for the use of Tasers, and that he hoped the apology would begin the healing process for Dziekanskis mother, the RCMP and the public.I thank you, and I accept your apology.Zofia CisowskiSitting beside Bass, a tearful Cisowski also read a statement, saying I thank you, and I accept your apology.It has been 2 years since my son died, said Cisowski. There was not a single day that I did not cry and analyze what could have been done to avoid this tragedy.I believe the settlement and the apologies given by the federal and provincial authorities will help begin the healing process and clear the path toward my future.It is good to see some changes in polices and procedures adopted by the government, she said, adding that she was looking forward to the final report from the Braidwood Commission, which is investigating the incident and the general use of conducted energy weapons by police.Settlement not revealedThe details of the financial settlement are being kept confidential, but Cisowski said she was not angry about the final outcome or the time it took to reach the agreement.I have to close this chapter, she said, I understand that these things take time.Her lawyer, Walter Kostecky, said both sides agreed it was in Cisowskis best interests if the details of the settlement were not made public.The RCMP has also donated $20,000 to set up a student scholarship in Kamloops, B.C., she said.Cisowski also thanked the media for bringing the incident to light and the Polish community in Kamloops and Vancouver for their support.When asked about her future plans, Cisowski said the past 2 years have been very stressful.I am planning to rest and take care of myself, she said, I think I will sleep better for today.Cisowski said she felt the officers involved in the incident should face some professional consequences but was clear that she did not believe they should face criminal charges.I dont want them to be charged criminally absolutely not, she said in broken English.Airport incident led to deathBass stopped short of acknowledging that the RCMP was to blame for Dziekanskis death.Generally speaking, the RCMP could have done things better, he said.The RCMP, along with many other people, had a part to play in the sequence of events that went on for many hours on that night.British Columbias solicitor general and the Canada Border Services Agency also drafted letters expressing their regret for Dziekanskis death.The RCMPs first apology for the incident was offered by RCMP deputy commissioner Bill Sweeney in May 2009 at a Senate committee hearing in Ottawa.The RCMPs second-in-command said the force was very sorry for the death of Dziekanski, but he stopped short of admitting the Mounties made a mistake.Passage 4Toyota Demands Retraction and Apology From ABC News Over Manufactured Death RideToyotas general counsel is calling on ABC News president David Westin to retract and apologize for a cocked-up story by Americas Wrongest Reporter, Brian Ross. UPDATE: ABC News response is below.Last month, Ross filed a report featuring a test conducted by David Gilbert, an Illinois professor who claimed to have found a way to induce unintended acceleration in Toyotas without triggering an error code that would allow mechanics to diagnose the problem. The exercise was supposed to prove that its theoretically possible for Toyotas to accelerate without command and then show no sign of having done so later on.Ross himself took a little on-camera death ride. And to make it seem even scarier, he took a staged shot of a surging tachometer taken while the car was parked and stitched it in to the piece to make it look like it was happening while he was driving. ABC News later changed the online version of the story after we asked them about the fakery.The story had other problems, according to Toyota: As the company demonstrated in a lengthy online rebuttal, Gilberts test almost certainly cant be replicated under real-world conditions. He essentially rewired a Toyota to do what he wanted it to doaccelerate without command and without generating an error codewhich is kind of like leaving the gas on a stove on for a few hours and lighting a match to prove that Americas kitchens are littered with millions of ticking timebombs. Engineers from Stanford working on Toyotas behalf were able to rewire a Subarus, Honda, Chevrolet, and Ford in the same manner.And Ross didnt disclose in his report that Gilbert had previously been paid as a consultant by Sean Kane, an investigator working for plaintiffs lawyers in lawsuits against Toyota, and has an agreement with Kane paying him $150 an hour for work going forward. In the March 11 letter, a copy of which was provided to Gawker by a source close to Toyota, the company says Ross singularly failed in his basic duty as a journalist to disclose material information about Professor Gilbert that would have directly influenced his credibility with the audience. It also accuses him of rushing out his report on the eve of important congressional hearings concerning Toyota and failing to offer the company an opportunity to examine Gilberts test before responding. Indeed, on February 23, the day after Ross story aired, Gilbert testified before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the death-ride came up.Read the full letter, which ends with the veiled boilerplate threat that Toyota reserves the right to take any and every appropriate step to protect and defend the reputation of our company and its products from irresponsible and inaccurate claims, below. A good reporter knows when he gets letters like this that hes doing his job. Unfortunately, Brian Ross is not a good reporter. And hes been off the radar at a particularly sensitive timeRoss hasnt covered Toyota since the furor over his report erupted. An ABC News spokesman says hes in the midst of a long-planned vacation, and that ABC is in receipt of Toyotas letter. Our lawyers are looking at it, and we will respond. UPDATE: Weve obtained ABC News response. Its posted below Toyotas letter.Passage 5ZOA: Clinton Owes New Yorkers An ApologyThe Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to apologize to your former New York constituents (when you were their Senator) for having misled them by falsely claiming to support an undivided Jerusalem as Israels capital. The letter was signed by Morton A. Klein, President of ZOA; Dr. Michael Goldblatt, Chairman, National Board; Dr. Alan Mazurek, Chair, Executive Committee and Steven Goldberg, Esq., Vice-Chairman, National Board.The letter went on to say, when you were New Yorks Senator from 2001 to 2009, you repeatedly stated in speeches and in a September 2007 position paper that you believed Israels right to exist in safety as a Jewish state, with defensible borders and an undivided Jerusalem as its capital, must never be questioned. Your spokesperson, Jim Chon, even said, this paper is a reflection of her consistent policy.that hasnt changed.Madame Secretary, you also signed the June 2004 Senate Resolution endorsing President Bushs letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that supported Israel retaining major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria in any final peace agreement.We make this demand following your passionate and heartfelt condemnation of Israel for announcing the construction of Jewish homes in a Jewish neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem by stating that Jews building and moving there is an insult to America. The only reasonable interpretation of this policy is that it is a first step toward dividing Jerusalem.Despite Israels unilateral concession of a ten-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, excluding Jerusalem, which the Obama Administration and you had accepted and even praised, the Administration harshly condemned Israel. Secretary Clinton made a harsh telephone call to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in which, according to the words of the State Department, she called the Israeli announcement a deeply negative signal about Israels approach to the bilateral relationship (Glenn Lessler, Clinton rebukes Israel over east Jerusalem plan, cites damage to bilateral ties, Washington Post, March 15, 2010). Clinton also later described it as being not only an insult to visiting Vice-President Joseph Biden, but an insult to the United States (Moshe Dann, A blessing in disguise, Yediot Ahronot, March 15, 2010).The ZOA letter went on to say, Your shocking words about Israel building in east Jerusalem is especially perplexing in light of the fact that you have ignored Congress passing the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by a margin of 93 to 5 in the U.S. Senate and 347 to 37 in the U.S. House of Representatives.The Act which is U.S. Law stated:(1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city.(2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the state of Israel.It also stated(1) Each sovereign nation, under international law andcustom, may designate its own capital. (2) Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel. (3) The city of Jerusalem is the seat of Israels President, Parliament, and Supreme Court, and the site of numerousgovernment ministries and social and cultural in