文秘英语Unit5BusinessCorrespondenceBusiness CorrespondenceZhang 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 withActivity 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？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.1. How many copies of the invitation letter are needed?A. 350.B. 250.C. 315.D. 215.2. What is the man’s email address?A. lynnhncs@gmail .B. lynhncs@email .C. lynhnncs@email .D. lynhnscn@gmail .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.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.These dialogues are all about business correspondence. Check your answer with the following key:1. B2. A3. B4. B5. CTry to use the tape scripts at the end of this unit if you feel the dialogues aredifficult to understand.extensive 广泛的medium 媒介 stand for 代表carbon copy 抄送 blind carbon copy 密送knowledge 明白 subject line 主题行consist of 由……组成 6 7The CC Line8 910The bodyThe closingSession 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. You’d better use words to replace phrases and clauses.Courtesy: Courtesy doesn’t 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, 2010.2.We received your letter on June 12, 2010.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.Activity Two A Brief Introduction to Business CorrespondenceTill now, you’ve got the basic requirements when writing business correspondence. Then, how to write a typical business letter will be your concern. There’s 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 organization’s 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 correspondence 通信essential 必要的trademark 商标confusion 混淆recipient 收件人salutation致意marital 婚姻的(Dear) first name only : For close friends5. The Writing BodyThis is the main part of the letter. This part carries the message youwant 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 typedname 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 businessletter. The following are some optional parts of a business letter:1. The Subject LineThe subject line helps the recipient know the subject quickly. It shouldbe written very briefly, and it is usually not a complete sentence but aphrase. If you want to provide a subject line, it usually comes before thewriting body.2. The EnclosureWhen something else is sent together with the letter, you add theenclosure to tell the reader what is enclose d.3. The PostscriptThe postscript (often shortened to P.S.) is used to add something thatis not included in the writing body.Knowing the above points, you will be able to write an effectivebusiness letter. variation 变化 optional 可任意选择的 enclosure 附件 enclose 随件附上 postscript 附言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 :// hnrtu .Notes1. Communication through letters is known as correspondence.通过信件进行的交流被称为通信。