Sentence, Claus...

[passage-header]Read the passage and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]I consider myself something of an authority on apologies because a quick temper has provided me with plenty of opportunities to make them. In one of my earliest memories, my mother is telling me, "Don't look at the ground when you say, 'I'm sorry'. Hold your head up and look the person in the eye, he'll know you mean it". My mother thus conveyed the first principle of a successful apology: it must be direct. You must never pretend to be doing something else. You do not leaf through a sheaf of correspondence while apologizing to a subordinate after blaming her for a mistake that turned out to be your fault. You do not apologize to a hostess, whose guest of honor you insulted, by sending flowers the next day without having mentioned your behaviour.