Dear David:
I am afraid that you will think me unpardonably negligent in not having answered your letter dated 7， December sooner， but when I have told you the reason， I trust you will be convinced that the neglect was excusable。 When your letter arrived， I was just in Hong Kong。 As my family could not forward it to me during my absence， it has been， therefore， lying on my desk until the moment when I took it up。 Now the first thing I have to hasten to do is to write to you these few lines to express my deep reGRE t。
I enjoyed many pleasant sights during my trip。 I shall be pleased to give you an account to of them when I see you next。
Sincerely yours，
Tom
道歉信是指因过失或疏忽做错了事，给别人带来了麻烦或损失，发觉后要立即写信给对方赔礼道歉时写的信件。道歉是一种礼貌，道歉信要写得坦率，诚恳。
道歉信通常包括三部分内容：1、表示歉意，道歉的原由;2、出现差错的原因，提出弥补措施;3、请求原谅。语言要诚挚，解释的'理由要真实。好的道歉信不仅会取得对方的谅解，还会增进彼此的感情。
写作"三步曲"：
表示歉意→说明具体原因、提出补救办法→再次致歉，希望得到理解。注意：
理由要尽量合理，违反生活常识将导致扣分;尽量提供一个合适的补救办法，使行文更加顺畅。
范文解析：
Directions: You were unable to attend Mr. Smith's examination on International Business English Writing because you got sick that morning. Write a letter to express the reasons for not being able to attend it and apologize.
Write the letter with no less than 100 words. Do not sign your own name at end of the letter. Use "Wang Hua" instead. Do not write the address.
Dear Mr. Smith,
I am indeed very sorry that I missed the examination on International Business English Writing you gave last Friday. I feel awful about it and want you to know what happened that day.I suddenly fell sick early that morning and my parents had to send me to the hospital. Please find enclosed a copy of the medical bill.
I sincerely ho
pe you can understand my situation and accept my apology. I would appreciate your allowing me to take a make-up examination. I will come to your office during your office hour on Monday to discuss this possibility with you. Once again, I apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Sincerely yours,
Wang Hua
Dear Dr. M.C.(note: name of the editor),
I am terribly sorry to write this letter to you for my apology.
When I know about this affair, I was not too much startled and shocked, because after the student sent the same article to two of your magazines, I had found it from my E-mail massage. Immediately I gave the student very serious criticizes.
Anyhow, on the following day, the “AFM”(Note: name of the journal), one of the two magazines, gave the feedback response, saying that this article is rejected for some reasons. Therefore, I took it for granted that there is no more problem of “one paper for two magazines”, and neglected apology. Now I do realize this serious matter and feel absolutely sorry about that.
As for this irrecoverable thing, I am to blame. I was so careless with my student’s action. This is a warning to me to be more careful in the future. Although the student’s distributing one article to two magazines is without my permission but only her own action, I do not want to escape from my responsibility as a teacher. In this regard, I am deeply disappointed and saddened. However, I wish this matter will teach my student a lesson.
Lastly, I would like now to apologize to you for all the troubles and problems that have happened. I promise that this kind of thing will never happen again. I hope I can have your forgiveness, and please give me chances to contact with you in the future.
Thank you for listening to what I have said.
Sincerely yours,
A.B.C.(Miss)
Dear Yangling:
Congratulations on your coming birthday.
Thanks for your invitation, but I am sorry that I am afraid I am not able to attend your birthday party.
You know, there is an important English test in our school on the same day. I will have to attend the test . I am terribly sorry for that.
Anyway, I hope everything goes well in your birthday party. Remember to show me the pictures taken in the party.
Best regards! Yours ever Susan