Late for Work 上班遲到
Do you feel guilty if you are late for work? One in ten workers said that they arrive late to work at least once a week and about 24% said they arrive late at least once a month.

情景對(duì)話1:
珍妮遲到了,她不得不向她的主管馬林做解釋。

Jane: Sorry, Ma Lin, I'm late. 對(duì)不起,馬林,我遲到了。
Ma Lin: Jane, that's the second time this week, isn't it? 珍妮,這是本星期的第二次了,是吧?
Jane: Yes. My bus was late again. 是的,公共汽車又來遲了。
Ma Lin: Is it possible for you to take an earlier bus? 你能搭乘一班早一些的公汽嗎?
Jane: I think so. I'm going to do that tomorrow. 我想是可以的,我打算明天就這么辦。
Ma Lin: Perhaps we can change your working hours a bit if you wish. 如果你愿意,也許我們可以改一下你得工作時(shí)間。
Jane: No, thanks. I can manage. 不用了,謝謝。我能設(shè)法應(yīng)付的。
Ma Lin: All right. If there's anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to let me know. 好的,如果有什么事我能為你做,請(qǐng)盡管告訴我。
Jane: That's very kind of you. Ma Lin. 你太好了,馬林。

Notes:
向別人表示歉意時(shí),首先要承認(rèn)自己做錯(cuò)了事,或做出了不禮貌的行為,并且通常要說明原因,表示遺憾。最簡單的道歉方式是說I'm sorry。但這往往不夠,還需要對(duì)你所做的錯(cuò)事做出解釋之后,做出改正和改進(jìn)的許諾,表示不會(huì)讓錯(cuò)誤再次發(fā)生。如果你真的做錯(cuò)了事,給對(duì)方造成傷害或帶來不利的影響,這時(shí)做無謂的解釋,只能欲蓋彌彰,效果相反。

情景對(duì)話 2:
王萍和客戶湯姆約好時(shí)間見面,但因事遲到,她表示歉意。

Wang Ping: I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long. 真抱歉讓您久等了。
Tom: That's OK. What made you so late? 沒關(guān)系,你怎么來這么晚?
Wang Ping: I was tied up with some urgent business. 有急事脫不開身。
Tom: I see. 我明白了。
Wang Ping: You've visited some places of interest in Beijing during the last few days, haven't you? 您已經(jīng)參觀了北京的許多名勝古跡,對(duì)嗎?
Tom: Yes, we've visited many places such as the Imperial Palace, the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall. Well, during my visit to Xi'an, I suddenly got an idea that we should build a synthetic fiber works there. It will be a joint venture. 是的。參觀了許多地方,比如說故宮、天壇和長城。對(duì)了,在西安參觀時(shí),我突然產(chǎn)生了一個(gè)想法:我們應(yīng)該在那里開辦一家合資性質(zhì)的合成纖維廠。
Wang Ping: That's a great idea. We'll surely try our best to cooperate with you. We have many favorable conditions to run a joint venture there. You can get full support from the local government there.那太好了。我們一定盡全力與貴方合作。我們有許多有利條件。貴方可以得到當(dāng)?shù)卣矫娴娜χС帧?br> Tom: That sounds really attracting. And what about the details? 聽起來確實(shí)很有吸引力。那么,有哪些細(xì)節(jié)?
Wang Ping: If it is convenient for you, we can go and visit the local government for those details. 如果你有時(shí)間,我們可以去拜訪一下當(dāng)?shù)氐恼私庖幌录?xì)節(jié)。
Tom: All right. Let's make it 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. 好的,就定在明天早上九點(diǎn)鐘吧。

Notes:
常用表達(dá)道歉與接受道歉的表達(dá)方式:

致歉
Sorry.
I'm really / awfully / terribly sorry.
I cannot tell you how sorry I am.
Please forgive me. I don't mean that.
Please forgive my carelessness.
Please excuse me. I have to run.

接受道歉
That's okey.
It's nothing.
It doesn't matter at all.
Never mind.
Don't worry about that.
Just forget it.

常用句型:
I'm really sorry to be late again.
I'm awfully sorry. I didn't realize.
It was wrong of me.
I hope you will excuse me.
I apologize for that.
...but I'm afraid I'll have to put off the meeting.