The hit movie Notting Hill begins with a famous scene. Hugh Grant bumps into Julia Roberts and pours orange juice all over her. After the bump, Grant repeatedly says: “ I am so sorry. I am so sorry.”
36 . If Roberts’character were from Britain then she would probably apologize repeatedly as well—even if the bump were not her fault. But this doesn’t happen in the film, as Roberts is from the US.
A report said that three-quarters of British people apologize when they bump into someone in the street — regardless of whether they are responsible or not. In fact, we Britons use “sorry” in many situations. For example, if we mishear someone, we say “Sorry?” The person we are talking to will also apologize by replying: “No, I am sorry! 37 .
Life is never as simple as “duibuqi” and “meiguanxi”.
38 . Traditionally, “sorry” was used to express deep regret, but a survey in 2007 showed that we use it to mean anything from “what” to “whatever”.
39 . Mark Tyrell, a psychology writer in the UK, thinks about our apologetic tendencies are rooted in the British class system. We say sorry because historically the new middle classes in Britain had to apologize for not being working class, but also for not really being upper class.
40 . For example, if you bump into someone they might get angry. To avoid this we instantly say “Sorry!”.True manners are about being considerate and the modern day hobby with apologizing show that we are perhaps not as thoughtful as we once were. The word has lost some of its meaning. Do you see my point? Sorry, it might just be a British thing.
A．Why are Britons so sorry?
B．British often say sorry to each other.
C．How we use “sorry” has changed.
D．His action in this scene are very British.
E．This can go on for up to five minutes as we compete over who is the most sorry.
F．Another theory is that we apologize to avoid confrontation(冲突)
G．His actions in this scene are very British.