要求:You are on holiday in London. Write an email to your friend Sarah telling her how you are spending your time.
Sarah’s email address is [email protected] You should write between 320 and 350 words.
Subject: London [1]
Hi,
How are you?[2] I’m having a wonderful time here and wish that the holiday will go on forever. Guess where I am at the moment![2] Well[2], I’ve found an internet Café just round the corner from our hostel and I grabbed the opportunity to email you and tell you how I’ve been spending my time here in London.
I’ve[3] been ever so busy the few days I’ve been here trying to visit all the interesting places. On Monday I visited Madame Tussaud’s. This is a waxwork museum. There was such a long queue to enter. Luckily our leader had booked the tickets beforehand. It was so wonderful seeing all those wax figures of so many famous people!
I’ve also visited the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, two other famous landmarks in London. Tomorrow we’re going on the London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel. This is a giant wheel that was built to celebrate the millennium in the year 2000. There are so many other places to visit. But we don’t just visit museums and other interesting places. In the evening we usually go to a pub where young English people gather for a drink. It’s fantastic meeting English people. I’ve been practising my English all along. I’m no longer self-conscious when I’m speaking in English and I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to learn a language is to visit the country where it’s spoken.
One of the other things I’ve enjoyed is visiting Hyde Park. This is one of the many parks around London. Many people go there for walks and to relax. However, what’s interesting about this particular park is the Speaker’s Corner where anyone is free to make speeches about any topic! We saw many different types of people making some very strange speeches!
I hope you’ll have the opportunity to visit London some day. It’s such an exciting place to be! I’m having so much fun!
Time’s up! Say hi to all the others.[4]
See you soon.
Debbie
[1]非正式信函的主題(Subject),和SMART原則要求的不同,SMART原則更為讀者考慮,因此也更為正式一些;但是如果對方的郵箱總是充滿了很多郵件,用一個言簡意賅的主題也不錯,比如這里,對方應該是知道Debbie現(xiàn)在身處倫敦,所以只消寫一個詞對方便知道郵件的內(nèi)容。不過,對方如果不是比較親密的朋友,或許再具體一點也是不錯的,比如:Holiday in London。
[2]這里的幾句話都是更傾向于口語的,能夠清晰表達寫信人的心情。同時,整個信件用了很多感嘆號,說明寫信人非常激動。這兩點在偏正式信函中比較少見(雖然Shirley在她《商務英語寫作實例》中強調(diào),現(xiàn)在的信函更傾向用日常的語言,包括口語,但是過于口語的內(nèi)容,比如縮寫(FYI)、俚語等等都會盡量避免。)。
[3]信函中用了很多I,因為信函的目的在于介紹(introduction)自己的假期,沒有特別需要征求對方意見,涉及對方利益關系的內(nèi)容,因此沒有特別從對方的角度考慮。如果信函是寫給新的顧客,信函的語氣,包括You,we的大量使用和對方的利益關系則需要多加考慮。
[4]最后的結(jié)尾用了比較親和的短語。這也符合非正式文體的氛圍。沒有任何違和的感覺。
[5]最后一點,雖然為非正式文體,郵件的結(jié)構(gòu)也非常清晰。因此我們可以得知,不管是書寫怎樣的郵件(當然,文學中的意識流之類的內(nèi)容除外,雖然意識流或許也是有邏輯的),為了方便讀者獲取重點信息,郵件都務必要簡短而清晰。每一段涉及的內(nèi)容固定,并且句子的長短也應適當,不要使用過長的句子(run-on sentences)。
要求:You would like to invite your friends over to your house for a party. Write the email. Your friends’ addresses are [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] and [email protected] . You should write between 60 and 80 words.
來試一試~Sample
to:[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
subjectz: Party
Hi everyone,
Great news! Do you remember the other day we were saying someone should organise a party? Well, now’s the time! How about coming over this Saturday? We can have a party on the roof. I just need to know who’s bringing what, because I’m not much of a cook(我的廚藝不怎樣). So, let me know what you can offer. I’ll take care of the drinks myself.
Hope that most of you can make it. Write back soon!
Jessica