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It was already half past seven and I was running late. My wife, Eleanor and I agreed to meet at a restaurant at 7:00, ______ it was already 7:30 when I arrived. I said “sorry” and told her I didn’t mean (意欲) to be.

“You ______ mean to be late.” She answered. It was ______ that I made her angry. “Sorry,” I said again. Then I told her about my ______ meeting. But my explanation(解释) ______ to make her angrier. That started to make me ______, too.

Several weeks later, when I was ______ the thing to my father, he smiled, “You made a classic mistake. Although you explained so much, the ______ was that you were late. You did a wrong thing.” Then he told me the ______ way to say sorry to Eleanor.

“I see you are angry. You were ______ here for about 30 minutes and that’s making you unhappy. I’m really sorry you had to be here to ______ me for so long.” All these words really worked. When I made Eleanor angry again, this way helped me win her ______.

When you did ______ that made someone angry, you should always start your words by telling ______ your actions impacted(影响) the other person. Never try to find more ______ to say why you did this.