B. Reading Comprehension:
Directions: Read the two passages and answer the questions based on the texts.
  Reading 1: All Apologies  
      Having lived in the East Asian countries over the past 26 years, I consider myself pretty familiar with
the region’s cultures. Two things I still find occasionally surprising, however, are the manner in which Asians apologize and the frequency with which they do so. What exactly is the engine driving the Far East’s“apology culture”?
      Japan is perhaps the country most associated with excessive apologizing, so it seems like a good place to start. With at least 20 different verbal apologies and many apologetic gestures, the Japanese are ready to say sorry for almost anything and they do. Or at least, they seem to. By far the most common “apology” heard in Japan is sumimasen, a word which translates not as “I am sorry” but rather “excuse me.” This humble statement can be used in all sorts of situations, from moving past someone on a bus to showing up five minutes late. It’s also a more common way of saying “thank you” than arigato, as it recognizes that someone has gone to some sort of trouble for you. So the next time you’re in Japan and someone holds a door for you, don’t thank him； excuse yourself!
      It’s not surprising that Japan’s apology culture was brought to Taiwan during the colonial period.
Buhaoyisi (bad feeling) is the island’s equivalent of sumimasen, with an even wider range of uses. In
addition to an apology, a thank-you, a request to be excused and so on, this flexible term can even start a conversation.
      Taiwan’s culture, like Japan’s, values politeness, modesty, and harmony. The group is considered more important than the individual, and people are expected to put society’s interests first. The extremely crowded and stressful conditions in which Taiwanese and Japanese live make this especially important. Almost any interaction is viewed as an intrusion on another person’s space and must be acknowledged as such.
      Nevertheless, all this apparent apologizing may have the effect of taking any actual sense of regret out of the real thing. Like many other foreigners in Asian, I’ve heard countless automatic, meaningless “I’m sorry”over the years, for everything from undone homework to stepping on my foot. It could just be that the more people say it, the less they mean it.
【題組】26. What is the main idea of this article?
(A) Japanese people are too polite.
(B) Foreigners in Asia have a hard time.
(C) Taiwanese people don’t apologize enough.
(D) Apologies are not always what they seem.