III. Reading assignments.

Ex 1. Skim through the text and answer the questions

1. What is a letter?

2. Why are letters so important to the employer and the employee?

3. What may the reputation of a firm depend on?

4. What are the functions of the modern business letter?

Ex 2. In some circumstances the frequency with which certain categories of letter are despatched makes it worthwhile having them produced on a word processor. Standard paragraphs may thus be used in all letters, and variables such as names, addresses and amounts of money typed on individual letters by the word processor operator. Such letters are called "form letters".

What are the advantages and disadvantages of its use? Complete the following table.

Advantages	Disadvantages

Ex 3. Business letter format.

1 Student Bookshops Ltd

21-25 High Street 2 Oxford OK19 4QZ Telephone: Oxford 46912 Telex: 8694173

Telegrams: Stubooks Oxford

3 Your ref ND/TM

Our ref KH/SV WC 1

4 7 th June 19--

5 N Dawson

Management Studies Department

Cherwell College of Further Education

West Grove

OXFORD OK12 3BG

6 Dear Mr Dawson

7 MANAGEMENT STUDIES BOOK EXHIBITION

8 Thank you for your letter of 28 th May 19--, in which you invite our Oxford branch to mount an exhibition of management studies books early in the coming autumn term at your college.

Mr. Peterson, branch manager at Oxford, has passed your letter to me, and I am delighted to accept your kind offer and appreciate the extension of the facilities of your main lecture hall to my company.

I should be grateful if you would notify me in due course of the proposed date for the exhibition, the number of students for whom we should plan and the nature and levels of their courses.

I look forward to hearing form you, and enclose a copy of our current management studies catalogue to give you an indication of the scope of our stocks.

9 Yours sincerely

10 K. Harris

11 K Harris

12 Managing Director

13 Encl

Look at the business letter and decide which word from the list below corresponds to which part of the letter. Make a list of the numbers and the correct parts of the letter, like this:

1 - letterhead

body of the letter

letterhead

writer’s name

date

references

logo

signature

opening salutation

writer’s position in the company

reader’s name and address

subject

enclosure

closing salutation

NB The way you close the letter depends on how you open it and write reader’s name and address.

Reader’s name and address	Simple Stationers 15 Mowbray Road London NW6 5EJ	Sales Manager Simple Stationers 15 Mowbray Road London NW6 5EJ	Ms Meiners Sales Manager Simple Stationers 15 Mowbray Road London NW6 5EJ
Opening salutation	Dear Sirs,	Dear Sir, Dear Sir or Madam,	Dear Ms Meiners,
Closing salutation	Yours faithfully	Yours faithfully	Yours sincerely

You don’t know the reader’s name

You know the reader’s name

Ex 4. Match the English words and phrases in column A with the correspondent Russian equivalents in column B.

A

1. Body of the letter

2. Letterhead

3. Thank you for your interest in the company

4. We look forward to doing business with you

5. Yours sincerely

6. Reference

7. Yours faithfully

8. I enclosed a catalogue as requested

9. Signature

10. I look forward to hearing from you soon

11. Please find enclosed a cheque for…

12. Writer’s position in the company

13. I would be grateful if you could send me a catalogue

14. Could you send me a brochure?

B

1. Подпись

2. С уважением

3. Штамп

4. Не могли бы Вы переслать мне брошюру

5. Содержание письма

6. Входящие или исходящие данные

7. Буду Вам признателен, если Вы вышлете мне каталог

8. Искренне Ваш

9. Должность отправителя письма в компании

10. Благодарим за проявленное к нам внимание

11. Пожалуйста, обратите внимание на прилагаемый чек

12. Надеемся на развитие делового сотрудничества с Вами

13. По Вашему запросу высылаю каталог

14. Надеемся на скорейшее получение Вашего письма

Ex 5. Fill in the blanks using the words from the box below.

A

trace, about, the reader, useful, invoice number, the initials, a letterhead, also, you

A company always has its address at the top of each letter so that ________ knows where to reply. This address is often printed on the paper and called _________. Companies keep a copy of each letter for future reference so the reader's name and address is_________ written on the letter. The date is important, it helps ___________ follow a sequence of letters and can be a __________ reference for either the writer or the reader. The references are also useful for helping the writer and reader __________ the letter, or decide what it is _________. The references are often _________ of the writer and the person who typed the letter, but they can also be an order or _____________, the name of a department, etc.

B