Explore Business English

By Hsing-Ling Carol Wu and 吳幸玲

Explore Business English is an intermediate level of business English textbook offering basic business letter formats and useful expressions for learners in business English. It is both suitable for classroom instruction and self-learning. Learners' business English proficiency will improve by familiarizing the formats and useful expressions in

• Language: English
• Publisher: EHGBooks
• Release date: Nov 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781647848712

Book preview

Contents

Contents

Part I Explore Business Letters

Introduction

Unit 1 Shipment

1.1 Sample letter

1.2    Common expressions

Unit 2 Remitting

2.1 Sample letter

2.2 Useful expressions

Unit 3 Insurance

3.1 Sample letter

3.2 Useful expressions

Unit 4 Letter of Credit

4.1 Sample letter

4.2 Useful expressions

Unit 5 Claim

5.1 Sample letter

5.2 Useful expressions

Unit 6 Offer

6.1 Sample letter

6.2 Useful expressions

Unit 7 Order

7.1 Sample letter

7.2 Useful expressions

Unit 8 Establishment of Business Relations

8.1 Sample letter

8.2 Useful expressions

Unit 9 Trade Inquiry

9.1 Sample letter

9.2    Useful expressions

Unit 10 Response to Inquiry

10.1 Sample letter

10.2 Useful expressions

Part II Explore Business Grammar

Unit 1 Business Reports

1.1 Linguistic Tip-reported questions

Drill 1

1.2 Linguistic Tip-the passive

Drill 1

Drill 2

Unit 2 Business Agenda

2.1 Linguistic Tip-summarising

2.2 Linguistic Tip-there is /there are

2.3     Linguistic Tip-eliminating options

Drill 1

2.4 Linguistic Tip-verb /noun partnerships

Drill 1

Drill 2

2.5     Linguistic Tip-questions for details

Drill 1

2.6     Linguistic Tip-conditionals and trends

Drill 1

Unit 3 Business Presentations

3.1 Linguistic Tip-present simple active and passive

Drill 1

Drill 2

3.2 Linguistic Tip-present simple active and passive

Drill 1

3.3     Linguistic Tip-the present continuous

Drill 1

Drill 2

3.4     Linguistic Tip-adverbial linking phrases

Unit 4 Electronic Devices

4.1 Linguistic Tip-could and ’ll

Drill 1

Drill 2

4.2 Linguistic Tip-responses with ’ll

4.3 Linguistic Tip-modals

Drill 1

4.4 Linguistic Tip-adverbials

Drill 1

Drill 2

Unit 5 Business Routine

5.1 Linguistic Tip-there (be)and it (be)

Drill 1

5.2     Linguistic Tip-much and many

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.3 Linguistic Tip-they’ll future

Drill 1

5.4 Linguistic Tip-would

Drill 1

5.5 Linguistic Tip-present simple, adverbials of time

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.6 Linguistic Tip-prepositional phrases

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.7 Linguistic Tip-prepositional phrases

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.8 Linguistic Tip-prepositional phrases

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.9     Linguistic Tip-countable and uncountable nouns

Drill 1

5.10 Linguistic Tip-negative imperative

Drill 1

5.11 Linguistic Tip-expressions with of

Drill 1

5.12 Linguistic Tip-more expressions with of

Drill 1

5.13 Linguistic Tip –expressions with have

5.14 Linguistic Tip-phrasal verbs with get

Drill 1

5.15 Linguistic Tip-do and make

Drill 1

Drill 2

Unit 6 Symbols and Figures

6.1 Linguistic Tip-numbers

Drill 1

6.2 Linguistic Tip-numbers and symbols

Drill 1

Drill 2

6.3 Linguistic Tip-comparatives

Drill 1

6.4     Linguistic Tip-being deliberately imprecise

Drill 1

Unit 7 Office Problems

7.1     Linguistic Tip-’ll and the present perfect simple

Drill 1

Drill 2

7.2 Linguistic Tip-adjectives

Drill 1

7.3     Linguistic Tip-present simple and continuous

7.4 Linguistic Tip-necessity

Drill 1

7.5     Linguistic Tip-advice

Drill 1

PROBLEMS

SOLUTIONS

7.6 Linguistic Tip-the most common words

Drill 1

7.7     Linguistic Tip-negative questions

7.8 Linguistic Tip-modals and modifiers

7.9 Linguistic Tip-have something done

Drill 1

Unit 8 Business Errands

8.1     Linguistic Tip-question formation

Drill 1

8.2     Linguistic Tip-present and past continuous

Drill 1

8.3     Linguistic Tip-fixed expressions

Drill 1

8.4     Linguistic Tip-questions

Drill 1

Drill 2

Answer Key

Unit 1

1.1

Drill 1

1.2

Drill 1

Drill 2

Unit 2

2.1

Drill 1

2.2

Drill 1

2.3

Drill  1

2.4

Drill 1

Drill 2

2.5

Drill 1

2.6

Drill 1

Unit 3

3.1

Drill 1

Drill 2

3.2

Drill 1

3.3

Drill 1

Drill 2

3.5

Drill 1

Unit 4

4.1

Drill 1

Drill 2

4.2

Drill 1

4.3

Drill 1

4.4

Drill 1

Drill 2

Unit 5

5.1

Drill 1

5.2

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.3

Drill 1

5.4

Drill 1

5.5

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.6

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.7

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.8

Drill 1

Drill 2

5.9

Drill 1

5.10

Drill 1

5.11

Drill 1

5.12

Drill 1

5.13

Drill 1

5.14

Drill 1

5.15

Drill 1

Drill 2

Unit 6

6.1

Drill 1

6.2

Drill 1

Drill 2

6.3

Drill 1

6.4

Drill 1

Unit 7

7.1

Drill  1

Drill 2

7.2

Drill 1

7.3

Drill 1

7.4

Drill 1

7.5

Drill 1

7.6

Drill 1

7.7

Drill  1

7.8

Drill 1

7.9

Drill 1

Unit 8

8.1

Drill 1

8.2

Drill 1

8.3

Drill 1

8.4

Drill 1

Drill 2

Part I Explore Business Letters

Introduction

Unit 1  Shipment

Unit 2  Remitting

Unit 3  Insurance

Unit 4  Letter of Credit

Unit 5  Claim

Unit 6  Offer

Unit 7  Order

Unit 8  Establishment of Business Relations

Unit 9  Trade Inquiry

Unit 10  Response to Inquiry

Introduction

If your business letter is to be well organized, you must do some thinking and planning before you begin to write it. It is recommend that you take the following three steps before you begin actually to write:

If you are replying to a letter, read it carefully and circle the important points you will cover in your own letter.

Take some time to familiarize yourself with the circumstances surrounding your letter. In other words, obtain as much background material as necessary. Get the file of the person to whom you are writing and read any past correspondence that bears on the present situation. It may help to discuss the case with others in your office who are more familiar with it.

Jot down in a short list the ideas you plan to include in your letter. Then go over your list and make sure you have included everything you want to say and exclude those ideas that are irrelevant.

Once you have taken these three preparatory steps, you are ready to actually write the letter. At this point, the main object is to get it down. Let the ideas flow freely and don’t worry about your sentence structure or about whether you are being wordy.

After you have got it all out, let it sit for a while and cool off. If you are dictating the letter, have a draft copy made up. So once you have let some time go by, sit down and revise the letter so that it becomes clear, concise, natural, courteous, and personal.

In addition to the planning and preparation of writing, you are advised to pay attention to your writing skills. First, you have to write concise sentences. A concise sentence says what has to be said in the fewest number of words—without losing effectiveness, clarity, or courtesy. Some words and phrases that often crop up in business letters do nothing to carry the meaning of a sentence to the reader. Such unnecessary verbiage should be ruthlessly cut out with the stroke of a pen.

And clarity is always a prerequisite for the business letter that best does the job. Thus, it is extremely important that you choose words that exactly express your meaning. You may have a very clear and precise thought that you wish the reader to understand, but if you do not choose the right words to express it, the reader may misunderstand—with unpleasant consequences for yourself and your organization. Sometimes, business writers have a tendency to use general words when specific words are needed. These general words are often clichés and are usually plugged in without much thought.

Furthermore, your writing should be as easy to read as you can make it. You are advised to use the devices called links and parallelism. Links are words that serve readers in much the same way as road