Unit 2 Letters, faxes and memos

2.1 It’s in the mail

Choose the missing words from the box. The first one is done for you as an example.

memorandum courier pencil reference clear registered

enclose zip code post code p.p. acknowledge printer
stationery word-processed

1. A clear layout is important in a letter.

2. I a cheque for ￡19.99.
3. An urgent document may be sent by instead of by mail.
4. Your ref. is short for Your .
5. Remember to put the on a letter to the USA.
6. Remember to put the on a letter to the UK.
7. If you sign a letter on someone else's behalf, add the letters before the other person's
name.
8. We receipt of your letter.
9. That flashing light means the is out of paper.
10. Letters used to be typed, but now they are
11. Paper, envelopes, paper clips, etc. are all items of .
12. Memo is short for .
13. If you make notes in you can erase them easily.
14. Valuable items can be sent by mail.
15. This unit is all about .

2.2 Can you tell me how to spell that?

A. Look at the pairs of words below: one word in each pair or wrongly spelt, the other
correctly spelt.
Decide which spellings are correct and underline the correct ones.

B. Play the recording and PAUSE it after each number. Then spell the correct word out
loud, like this:
Recorded voce: one.
YOU—PAUSE the recording then speak: A-C-K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E—then release PAUSE.
Recorded voice giving model answer: Acknowledge: A-C-K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E.

1 acknowlege acknowledge 9 itinerery itinerary

2 accommodation accommodation 10 permanent permanent
3 aquire acquire 11 pronounciation pronunciation
4 across across 12 received received
5 adress address 13 reccomend recommend
6 altogether altogether 14 recipient recipient
7 approximatively approximately 15 separate separate
8 independent independent
2.3 Correcting spelling and punctuation mistakes
A. This extract has 13 spelling mistakes. Find the mistakes and correct them.

Dear Madame,
Thank you very much for your letter and the inclosed literature, wich
we recieved on Thursday 7 July. The infomation it contained was
quiet interesting and we would like futher details on several produkts
in the cataloge:

No. 44/77 Is this availaible in white?

No. 78/612 What is the diskount price of this for orders of over 500
peices?
No.34/009 Is this compatable with your 55/88 device?

B. This extract has several punctuation mistakes. Find the mistake and correct them.

I am afraid, that we have not been able to contact you by telephone

My secretary called throughout the day yesterday at half hourly-
interval’s but was told that you were not available"; please contact me
personally as soon as possible. Because we need to check a number of
detail’s in your order?

You can reach me by telephone at any time this afternoon or

tomorrow morning. Our office hours’ are 8.30 to 5 you can leave a
message for me, to call you back if necessary.

2.4 Abbreviations
1. Just as Rd is short for Road , St are short for and
2. 12/7/99 means 1999 in Britain but it means 1999 in America.
3. #24 in the USA and No.24 in Britain both mean 24.
4. On an envelope c/o means and Attn means that the letter is for the of a particular
person.
5. In a report or textbook eg means , ie means and etc.or etc stands for
6. A British firm’s name may be followed by the abbreviation plc or PLC (short for ), Ltd (
) or & Co. ( ).
7. An American firm’s name may be followed by Corp. ( ) or Inc.( ).
8. If you buy something by mail order the price may not include p&p ( ) and VAT( ).
9. At the end of a business letter you may see the abbreviations c.c. ( ), enc. or encl. ( ).
But only an informal letter would have a P.S. ( ) at the end.
10. What do these abbreviations stand for?
@ ￥3,000 ea.
© Cambridge University Press 2000 ( )
Apple® MacintoshTM
WYSIWYG

2.5 Make a good impression

We think that you’ll agree that this letter doesn’t make a very good impression on the
reader.
1 Decide what parts can be improved to give a better impression.
2 Rewrite the letter in your own words.
3 Compare your version with the letter in the Answer Key.

Dear Mr Brown,

What an unexpected pleasure to hear from you after all this time! We
thought you must have forgotten us since you placed your previous order
with us two years ago.

May I tale this opportunity of enclosing for your attention our new catalogue
and price lists. One of he things you’ll probably notice is that all the prices
have gone up by 15% since your last order but still, never mind, everyone
else’s have gone up too – even yours I expect! Nevertheless, for your current
order, we shall be delighted to supply you at the old price, so you’re quite
lucky.

Oh, and another thing, I nearly forgot: you can contact us by fax if you feel
like it. The number is 998321, all right?

So, there we are, nice to be writing to you again.

Yours faithfully,
A. Burke
Sales Director

References
2.1 It’s in the mail
1. clear 2. enclose 3. courier
4. reference 8. acknowledge 12. memorandum
5. zip code 9. printer 13. pencil
6. post code 10. word-processed 14. registered
7. p.p. 11. stationery

2.2 Can you tell me how to spell that?

The correct spellings are given in the recording:
In the odd-numbered sentences, the second spelling is correct.
In the even-numbered sentences, the first spelling is correct.
Make sure you can spell the words out loud easily and fluently, and not just write them correctly.

2.3 Correcting spelling and punctuation mistakes

A. These are the 13 spelling mistakes:
Madam enclosed which received information quite further
products catalogue or catalog available discount pieces
compatible
B. The punctuation mistakes have been corrected here.
I am afraid that we have not been able to contact you by telephone. My secretary called
throughout the day yesterday at half-hourly intervals but was told that you were "not available".
Please contact me personally as soon as possible because we need to check a number of details in
your order.
You can reach me by telephone at any time this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Our office hours
are 8.30 to 5. You can leave a message for me to call you back if necessary.

2.4 Abbreviations
1. Street Square
2. 12th July，7th December
3. number
4. care of attention
5. for example that is and so on (et cetera)
6. public limited company Limited and Company
7. Corporation Incorporated
8. postage and packing value added tax
9. carbon copy enclosed/enclosures postscript
10. at 3,000 yen each copyright registered trade mark
trade mark `What you see is what you get'

2.5 Make a good impression

This improved version of Mr Burke's letter shows just one way the letter could be written --
many variations are possible.

Dear Mr Brown,
Thank you very much for your order.
Unfortunately, in common with other suppliers, our prices have risen since you placed an order
with us two years ago, but you will be pleased to hear that we will supply your current order at the
old price.

1 enclose our new catalogue and price lists, which contain several exciting new products and our
latest prices.

I will keep you fully informed about the progress of your order. If you would like to get in touch
with me urgently, our new fax number is 998321 or, of course, you may prefer to phone me.

Yours sincerely,
A. Burke
Sales Director