UNIT ONE
Basic Knowledge of Business English Letter
Exercises
1. Complete the following sentences by translating the part in Chinese into English.
(1) We are pleased to tell you that （贵方167
号订单已于昨天发出）.
(2) We hope you will (考虑我方建议). (3) We will （寄予你小册子）next month. (4) Thank your for (你方合作).
(5) (我方想提出的是) that our contract shall remain in force for another three months.
2. Rewrite the following sentences according to the writing principles.
(1) The managers will discuss your proposal in due course. (2) Please remit the relevant amount as soon as possible. (3) You can deposit checks at designated ATMs.
(4) The check has not been received by us and if you want to stop payment of it please sign
and return the enclosed form.
(5) I acknowledge receipt of your letter which was written on 4 June.
(6) Kindly fill in the enclosed form and forward it to us at your earliest convenience. (7) You should fill in the application form.
(8) You must send the documents by Friday or we cannot prepare a Letter of Credit. (9) We are disgusted with your manner of doing business. (10) For the past two years, you did not give us any order.
3. Arrange the following parts of a letter in the correct order and form, either in block style or indented style.
(1) Sender’s name: Hunan Embroidery Export Corporation
(2) Sender’s address: 78 Huangxing Road, Changsha 410025, China (3) Sender’s telephone: (0731) 8746520 (4) Sender’s web site: http://www. hneec.com (5) Sender’s fax: (0731) 8746521
(6) Receiver’s address: 58 Lancaster House, Manchester, UK (7) Receiver’s name: Manchester Trading Company (8) Salutation: Dear Sirs (9) Complimentary close: … (10) Reference initial: XXX/lj (11) Body of the letter:
We owe your name to the Chamber of Commerce of New York, and are writing to you with the hope of establishing business relations with you.
We specialize in the exportation of Chinese Embroideries which have enjoyed great popularity in world market. We enclose a copy of our latest catalogue for your reference and hope that you would let us know if any item is of interest to you. (12) Date: (today’s date) (13) Enclosure: 1 catalogue
(14) Signature: (your own name) (your position title: Sales manager) (15) Carbon copy notation: Mr. James Brown
(16) Postscript: The latest catalogue will be sent you on … (tomorrow’s date) (17) Attention line: Marketing Manager (18) Subject line: Embroideries
(19) Reference number: Our ref.: HNE/ 325
4. Address an envelope for the above letter, either in block style or indented style. 5. Answer the following questions.
(1) What is the definition of the business letter? (2) What are the functions of the business letter?
(3) Why the Chinese business executives should promote their capabilities to write good
business English letters?
(4) How many standard parts are there in a business letter? What are they? (5) How many optional parts are there in a business letter? What are they? (6) What is the feature of the block style?
(7) What is the difference between the block style and the simplified style?
(8) Can you describe the main difference between the modified block style and the indented
style?
(9) What does “seven Cs” refer to?
(10) Which principle do you think is the most important principle in business letter writing?
Why?
Answer
1. Complete the following sentences by translating the part in Chinese into English.
(1) We are pleased to tell you that your Order 167 was dispatched yesterday （贵方167号订单已于昨天发出）.
(2) We hope you will consider our proposals (考虑我方建议). (3) We will send you the brochure （寄予你小册子）next month. (4) Thank your for your cooperation (你方合作).
(5) We’d like to mention (我方想提出的是) that our contract shall remain in force for another three months.
2. Rewrite the following sentences according to the writing principles.
(1) The managers will discuss your proposal in due course.
Rewriting: The managers will discuss your proposal on Monday. (2) Please remit the relevant amount as soon as possible.
Rewriting: Please send your check for US$60 by 11 March 2007. (3) You can deposit checks at designated ATMs.
Rewriting: You can deposit checks at designated Automatic Teller Machines.
(4) The check has not been received by us and if you want to stop payment of it please sign
and return the enclosed form.
Rewriting: We have not received your check yet. To stop payment, please sign and return
the enclosed form.
(5) I acknowledge receipt of your letter which was written on 4 June. Rewriting: I received your letter of 4 June.
(6) Kindly fill in the enclosed form and forward it to us at your earliest convenience. Rewriting: Please fill in the enclosed form and forward it to us by 4 June. (7) You should fill in the application form.
Rewriting: Would you please fill in the application form?
(8) You must send the documents by Friday or we cannot prepare a Letter of Credit. Rewriting: If you send us the documents by Friday, we can prepare a Letter of Credit. (9) We are disgusted with your manner of doing business.
Rewriting: We are not completely satisfied with your manner of doing business. (10) For the past two years, you did not give us any order.
Rewriting: For the past two years, no order has been given to us.
3. Arrange the following parts of a letter in the correct order and form, either in block style or indented style.
(1) Sender’s name: Hunan Embroidery Export Corporation (2) Sender’s address: 78 Huangxing Road, Changsha 410025, China (3) Sender’s telephone: (0731) 8746520 (4) Sender’s web site: http://www. hneec.com (5) Sender’s fax: (0731) 8746521
(6) Receiver’s address: 58 Lancaster House, Manchester, UK (7) Receiver’s name: Manchester Trading Company (8) Salutation: Dear Sirs (9) Complimentary close: … (10) Reference initial: XXX/lj (11) Body of the letter:
We owe your name to the Chamber of Commerce of New York, and are writing to you with the hope of establishing business relations with you.
We specialize in the exportation of Chinese Embroideries which have enjoyed great popularity in world market. We enclose a copy of our latest catalogue for your reference and hope that you would let us know if any item is of interest to you. (12) Date: (today’s date) (13) Enclosure: 1 catalogue
(14) Signature: (your own name) (your position title: Sales manager) (15) Carbon copy notation: Mr. James Brown
(16) Postscript: The latest catalogue will be sent you on … (tomorrow’s date) (17) Attention line: Marketing Manager (18) Subject line: Embroideries
(19) Reference number: Our ref.: HNE/ 325 Answer:
Block Style
Hunan Embroidery Export Corporation 78 Huangxing Road, Changsha 410025, China Tel: (0731) 8746520 Fax: (0731) 8746521 http://www. hneec.com Our ref.: HNE/ 325 September 18, 2008 Manchester Trading Company 58 Lancaster House, Manchester, UK Attention: Marketing Manager Dear Sirs, Subject: Embroideries