文秘英语 Unit 5 Business Correspondence

Unit 5Business CorrespondenceBy the end of this unit, you should be able tol handle business letters,l write e-mails,l know about business correspondence, l write invitation letters,l have a general understanding of getting along well with colleagues.Learning ObjectivesSession One SpeakingZhang Hong works hard in Rainbow Group and now she is quite familiar with most of the routine office work, such as office automation, file management, business reception, and so on. But she is not sure about business correspondence handling. She knows it is an essential skill for a good secretary to handle business letters well, so she needs more practice. Below are some core words, phrases and sentences about business correspondence.Activity One Core Words and PhrasesZhang Hong has studied a course named Business Writing in college, and she has some basic writing knowledge about business correspondence. The only thing for her to do is to have some more practice in the use of her knowledge obtained at school. Below are some key words of business correspondence. Discuss them with your partner orally and match the English words with their corresponding Chinese terms.1. enquiry letter2. quotation letter3. facsimile 4. complaint letter5. claim letter6. collection letter7. acknowledgement letter8. electronic mail 9. contract10. invitation letter11. order letter12. introduction letter电子邮件订购函投诉函报价函询价函催收函确认函 邀请函合同索赔信介绍函You may find these words and phrases are quite easy to understand. They are most frequently used in business correspondences. Lets check your answer with the key below:1. 询价函2. 报价函3. 4. 投诉函5. 索赔函6. 催收函7. 确认函8. 电子邮件9. 合同10. 邀请函11. 订购函12. 介绍函The most important thing for you is not to know the Chinese terms of business correspondence, but to know how to write them correctly and smoothly. If you have some trouble writing them, dont worry. You can have a good command after you finish this unit. Come on! Activity Two Core SentencesZhang Hong and her colleague Linda are talking about handling business correspondence. Below are some core sentences extracted from their conversation. Read them aloud and try to memorize them.1. Mr. Black told us to write a quotation letter to Mr. White.2. What shall we do with the complaint letter from ABC Company?3. We look forward to receiving your early reply.4. This is an urgent letter which should be sent by registered express airmail.5. Do you have the email addresses of all the staff in our company?1. 布莱克先生让我们给怀特先生写一封报价函。2. 我们如何处理ABC公司的投诉信？3. 盼您早日回信。4. 这是一封急件，需用航空挂号快递寄出。5. 你有我们公司全体职员的电子邮件地址吗？ The above sentences could be used in your daily work. Please use them flexibly. For example, if you dont know how to write a certain business letter effectively, you can use the second sentence for help, just replacing the letter name. For the third sentence, please pay attention to the phrase “look forward to. Here you should use a gerund (动名词) or a noun behind, not a verb.Session Two ListeningThis session is to provide you with some listening activities regarding secretarial practice. There are two activities in this session: five short dialogues in one activity and one passage in the other. Activity One Short DialoguesThis activity is to check your ability to understand five short dialogues. After each dialogue, there is a recorded question. Both the dialogues and questions will be spoken twice. When you hear a question, you should decide on the correct answer from the four choices marked A), B), C), and D) given in the course book, and then choose the correct answer. Before you listen to the dialogues, first have a quick look at the following words, which might be helpful.copy 副本 invitation 邀请stationery 文具ceremony 典礼 workshop 工场，车间dining hall 餐厅heading 信头inside address 信内地址 salutation 称呼complimentary close 结尾敬语 signature 署名 enclosure 附件1. How many copies of the invitation letter are needed?A. 350.B. 250. C. 315.D. 215. 2.What is the mans email address?A. . B. . C. .D. . 3.Where did the conversation probably take place?A. In a workshop.B. In an office. C. In a dining hall.D. In a bank.4. Does the man have time to go to the ceremony?A. No, because he has nothing to do tomorrow morning.B. Yes, because he has nothing to do tomorrow morning. C. Yes, because he has to check his schedule.D. No, because he has to check his schedule. 5. Which one is NOT NECESSARY for a typical business letter?A. The heading.B. The salutation. C. The enclosure.D. The complimentary close.These dialogues are all about business correspondence. Check your answer with the following key:1. B2. A3. B4. B 5. C Try to use the tape scripts at the end of this unit if you feel the dialogues are difficult to understand. Activity Two A Short PassageIn this activity, you will hear a recorded passage. The passage is printed below, but with some words or phrases missing. The passage will be read three times. For the first reading, you should try to get the main idea of the passage. During the second reading, you are required to put the missing words in the numbered blanks according to what you have heard. The third reading is for you to check your answer. Before you listen to the passage, first have a quick look at the following words, which might be helpful.extensive 广泛的 medium 媒介stand for 代表carbon copy 抄送blind carbon copy 密送knowledge 知道 subject line 主题行consist of 由组成 6 7 The CC Line8 9 10 The body The closing In this activity, you can see what an English e-mail is like. You may feel it difficult, but the answers for the blanks are very easy, because you can get tips from their Chinese names. Now check your answer with the key below:6. The From line 7. The To line 8. The Bcc line 9. The Subject line 10. The salutationYou can use the tape scripts at the end of the unit if you have some difficulty in finding out the answers.Session Three ReadingActivity One Principles of Business CorrespondenceWriting business correspondence differs in some ways from writing common articles. We shall discuss three major principles in business correspondence writing. We call them the 3C principles, which are clarity, conciseness and courtesy.Clarity: It means expressing your message clearly. You should choose short, familiar words instead of long, unfamiliar words, as you cannot expect the reader to look in the dictionary from time to time while reading your letter.Conciseness: This principle means that you should use as few words as possible to express your message. You may use abbreviations and simple sentence patterns to achieve this goal. Youd better use words to replace phrases and clauses. Courtesy: Courtesy doesnt simply mean that you should write politely. Skillful business writers will take the readers thoughts, feelings, and points of view into consideration when writing business letters. For example, such words as please, thank you, etc. appear in business letters frequently. Below are some examples for you to compare. Pick out the better writings according to the 3C principles, and give your reasons. Group One1. We are in receipt of the letter you sent to us on June 12, 2021.2. We received your letter on June 12, 2021.Group Two1. Mail your samples at once.2. Could you please send your samples to us as soon as possible?Group Three1. Our group especially issues the most novel products for you.2. Our group especially promulgates the most novel products for you.What are your choices? The following key is for your reference:Group One: 2Group Two: 2Group Three: 1In Group One, we think Sentence 2 is better because it uses one word “receive to replace the phrase “in receipt of. So Sentence 2 is more concise than the first one (Conciseness). In Group Two, the second sentence is better than the first one, because it is much more polite (Courtesy). In Group Three, Sentence 1 is better, because it is easier to understand. Thats to say, it is clearer (Clarity).We hope you have so far got your own principles of writing business correspondence. Activity Two A Brief Introduction to Business CorrespondenceTill now, youve got the basic requirements when writing business correspondence. Then, how to write a typical business letter will be your concern. Theres a passage for you to make a brief introduction to business correspondence. Try to answer the following questions after you finish the first reading.Questions on the passage: 1. What is business correspondence? 2. How many parts are essential for a business letter? What are they? 3. What does the P.S. mean in a business letter? A Brief Introduction to Business CorrespondenceCommunication through letters is known as correspondence. We communicate our feelings or thoughts to our friends and relatives through letters, which is called personal correspondence. Businessmen also exchange ideas and information by writing letters to their customers, suppliers and others, which may be called business correspondence.The Essential Parts of a Business LetterIn order to ensure the quality of business letters, we should pay attention to each part of the letter. The essential parts of a business letter are as follows:1. The HeadingIt usually includes your organizations name, address, telephone number, fax number and the trademark. In addition, you can provide the email address and web site.2. The Date LineThe date line differs from country to country. The common ones are M/D/Y (typical American), D/M/Y (typical British). The month is usually written in letters because figures may create confusion.3. The Inside AddressThe inside address is the name and address of the person or the company to whom the letter is to be sent.4. The SalutationThe salutation is the greeting to your recipient. It is usually followed by a comma (,). The salutation varies according to the writer-recipient relations and the formality level of the letter. The following are some common salutations:Dear Sir/Madam: For official and formal correspondenceDear Mr. XXX: For menDear Mrs. XXX: For married womenDear Miss XXX: For unmarried women and girlsDear Ms. XXX: For women, marital status unknown(Dear) first name only: For close friends5. The Writing BodyThis is the main part of the letter. This part carries the message you want to send. The 3C principles should be applied here.6. The Complimentary CloseThis part is like saying goodbye to the recipient. Like the salutation, the complimentary close has some variations. It matches the salutation. Below are some examples:Dear Sir/Madam, Yours faithfully,Dear Mr. Dickens, Yours sincerely,Dear John, Sincerely,7. The SignatureIt includes three parts: the handwritten name of the writer, the typed name of the writer, and the title of the writer.Some Optional Parts of a Business LetterYou sometimes may need more parts to be included in a business letter. The following are some optional parts of a business letter:1. The Subject LineThe subject line helps the recipient know the subject quickly. It should be written very briefly, and it is usually not a complete sentence but a phrase. If you want to provide a subject line, it usually comes before the writing body. 2. The EnclosureWhen something else is sent together with the letter, you add the enclosure to tell the reader what is enclosed. 3. The PostscriptThe postscript (often shortened to P.S.) is used to add something that is not included in the writing body. Knowing the above points, you will be able to write an effective business letter.correspondence 通信essential 必要的trademark 商标confusion 混淆recipient 收件人salutation致意marital 婚姻的variation 变化optional 可任意选择的enclosure 附件enclose 随件附上postscript 附言After youve read this passage, you should be able to write standard business letters in the future. The answer to the three questions are:1. Business correspondence is the communication of business information by letters. 2.Seven parts. They are the heading, the date line, the inside address, the salutation, the writing body, the complimentary close, and the signature. 3. P.S. means postscript. It is used to add something that is not included in the writing body. If you feel it difficult to understand the passage, read the following notes, and try to watch the video tutorials where the tutor will give you a detailed explanation of the whole passage. The video tutorials can be accessed on the Internet at .Notes1.Communication through letters is known as correspondence.通过信件进行的交流被称为通信。句中短语be known as意为“被称为；以著称。注意它与短语be known for和be known to三者在用法和意义上的区别，be known for指“因而著名， be known to指“为所知。试比拟以下三句话：Yao Ming is known as a basketball player. 姚明被称为篮球运发动。 Yao Ming is known for playing basketball. 姚明因打篮球而著名。The basketball player Yao Ming is known to every Chinese. 篮球运发动姚明为每个中国人所知。2. The inside address is the name and address of the person or the company to whom the letter is to be sent.信内地址是收信人或收信公司的名称和地址。 句中，to whom the letter is to be sent是修饰the person or the company的定语从句，其中介词to被置于关系代词whom之前，此时关系代词不能用who或者that，一般也不能省略。3. If you want to provide a subject line, it usually comes before the writing body.如果要提供一个主题行，那么它通常置于写作正文之前。句中短语come before通常指时间，指“在之前。在本句中用于表示排序、排位，指主题行的位置在写作正文之前。4.The postscript (often shortened to P.S.) is used to add something that is not included in the writing body.附言通常缩写为P.S.用于增补在正文中未包含的内容。句中，be used to是被动语态，to为动词不定式符号，后接动词原形。be used to也可用作固定结构，意为“习惯于，其中to为介词，后接名词或动名词。试比拟：This knife is used to cut watermelons. 这把刀是用来切西瓜的。John is used to taking a walk after dinner. 约翰习惯在饭后散步。 Activity Three Working with Words Complete the following sentences with appropriate words or expressions in the box. Each one is used only ONCE.essential correspondence confusion optional variationcome before in addition enclose trademark recipient1.In fact, business has its particular writing principles. 2.Some courses in college are required while others are .3.The date line should the salutation in English letters, while in Chinese letters it comes after the signature. 4.As requested, we our price list and hope that we will have good cooperation in the near future. 5.Without good preparation and organization, the meeting ended in _. 6.The company has a registered of a good reputation.7.The development of science and technology and the of companys environment make traditional company structural form face new challenges.8.In this competitive society it is to know how to sell yourself in order to get the job you want. 9. , we have to adjust our sales and marketing plan to ensure the sales goal.10.The above message is for the intended only and may contain confidential information. As you may find out, these words are chosen from the passage. Compare your answer with the key below:1. correspondence2. optional3. come before4. enclose5. confusion 6. trademark 7. variation 8. essential9. In addition 10. recipientActivity Four TranslationTranslate the following into Chinese: 1.It is necessary to let the recipient know from the very first sentence what your letter is about.2.Would you please send us details of your products, including sizes, colors, prices and samples? 3.We ask you to accept our sincere apology for the trouble and inconvenience caused. 4.Send a letter to Mr. Li asking him why the payment has not been made yet. If theres no reply in one week, write him a collection letter.5.Business letters are absolutely necessary for any companies so the knowledge about them is significant to a secretary. When doing translation, if you meet some sentences difficult to understand, please dont feel nervous that you cannot translate them well. You need to analyze the source language calmly. For example, when translating English into Chinese, you should firstly distinguish the skeleton of a sentence by asking yourself where the subject and predicate are, and then the modifiers. This method is of special help when you meet long sentences. You can check your work with the Chinese translation below.1有必要在开头就告知收信人你的信件内容是什么。2贵方能否将产品的详细信息，包括尺寸、颜色、价格以及样品寄给我方？3对于给贵方造成的麻烦和不便，请接受我方诚挚的抱歉。4写封信给李先生，问他为何还未付款项。如果一星期之内没有回音，就写催收信给他。5商务信函是任何公司都绝对需要的，因此了解商务信函的知识对于秘书来说意义重大。Session Four WritingThe General Manager is planning to invite his business partner Mr. John Robinson to attend the new office opening ceremony on Friday, June 25, 2021. In this case a letter of invitation is needed. He asked Zhang Hong to write one today. Generally speaking, there are formal invitations and informal invitations. Formal invitations are used for formal occasions directed by companies, organizations, government agencies, etc. Informal invitations are usually used among friends, individuals, families, etc. Zhang Hong will have to write a formal invitation letter. Before you start writing a letter of invitation, do some exercises in Activity One.Activity One Invitation LettersRead the following sample, and pay attention to the labels on both sides. The General Manager of Rainbow Grouprequests the pleasure of the company ofMr. John Robinsonat the New Office Opening Ceremonyat 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 25, 2021at 168 Qingyuan RoadChangsha, HunanR.S.V.P.The occasion or reason for the invitationThe name or title of the inviterThe name or title of the inviteeLocationTimeNotes:1. inviter n. 邀请者2. invitee n. 受邀者3. R.S.V.P. 请赐回复请帖用语，相当于please replyAfter a quick look at the sample above, you may find there are five parts in an invitation letter. Write the main contents of a letter of invitation below:1) _ 2) _ 3)_ 4) _5) _ Now compare your answers with the key below:1) The name or title of the inviter 2) The name or title of the invitee3) The occasion or reason for the invitation4) Time5) Location The sample is a formal invitation letter. An informal invitation letter should also include the above-mentioned information. The difference is that the format is much simpler, and the language is more casual.Activity Two Writing Invitation LettersBy now, we hope you have had a good command of invitation letter writing. Write a letter of invitation for Zhang Hong according to the information given below. You can model your writing on the sample above.邀请者：天虹集团受邀者：东方股份Oriental Co. LtdMichael Barbara女士事 由：天虹集团为庆祝成立二十周年，定于6月29日星期二下午2时在喜来登酒店Sheraton Hotel举行盛大庆典，特邀请Michael Barbara女士光临。要求尽快回复。We dont think this task is difficult for you as you may refer to the sample in making your design. Now compare your work with the invitation below:Rainbow Grouprequests the pleasure of the company ofMs. Michael Barbarafrom Oriental Co. Ltdat the 20th anniversary of the founding of