Exercises

I. Answer the following questions.

1．What are the functions of a business letter?

2．What is one of the important bases of a good business letter?

3．We often hear people say the three Cs. What are they?

4．What will be the result if a letter is ambiguous? How can this be avoided?

5．If conciseness conflicts with courtesy, what would you do?

6．How many principal parts does a business letter consist of ?

7．What are the three letter styles?

8．What must we consider first before writing a business letter?

II. Improve the following sentences.

1．Mr. Smith wrote to Mr. Wang that he had received his order.

2．We have duly received your order, for which please accept our thanks.

3．We have ordered the goods, and they will be received by us in two weeks.

4．We hope to receive your catalogue by the return mail. Thank you in advance.

5．We need to know the date of delivery. Tell us by mail.

III. Try to address an envelope according to the names and addresses given below.

Sender: Kenneth Harvey Co., 321st Cross Street, New York, N.Y., USA

Receiver: John Simmon Co., Dernhall Drive, Aredbridge, London EC 1, England

IV. Plan the layout according to the following particulars.

Sender: China National Import & Export Corporation Zhengzhou Branch, Zhengzhou, China

Receiver: Alfred & Co. Sherman Oak, California 23914, USA

Date: 20th of March, 2006

Our Ref. No. 123/10848

Remarks: This letter is to be signed by a staff member on behalf of the firm.

V. The sentence pattern of the following paragraph is onotonous. Please rewrite it to avoid boring reading.

Note the attached charts, and please submit to me a written report explaining irregularities. Obviously, corrective actions were ineffective, and I cannot accept this situation. You will need to give me a written report of all past financial procedures, and also you will need to delineate new ones to establish and maintain effective controls. I will review your corrective proposals personally, and I would like for you to be conversant with the appropriate publications. These proposals should be in my office no later than October 21, and our conference will follow within the next few days.