三.便笺

　　从本质上来讲，便笺也属于英文信函的一种，应被包括在广义的英文信函之中。我们之所以将其单列出来讲，是为了区别于一般的英文信函。作为一种简单的书信，便笺经常用于熟识的朋友、同事之间，因而临时性强，内容简短，格式简便。

　　从格式上来讲，便笺的称呼和结尾谦称部分是比较随意的，可以直接写上对方以及自己的名字，省略类似于Mr., Dear, Sincerely yours等的礼貌用语。日期的写法也相对来说比较随意，写星期几或者月日都是可以接受的，同时还可以写上几点钟等具体时间。

　　便笺的内容一般是涉及请假、预约、通知、访友不遇留言、接电话留言等等，接下来我们就请假条和约会条作一个简单介绍，其他类型的便笺考生可以根据我们介绍的这两种便笺来举一反三。

　　1． 请假条

　　请假条可以由别人代写，也可以由请假人自己写。无论采取何种形式，其内容必须包括请假的缘由和期限，必要时还须附上医生的诊断或其他的可以证明请假事由的书面材料。根据请假事由的不同，可将请假条分为事假条和病假条。下面给出三个以请假为内容的便笺，前两个为病假条，一个是请假者自己写的，另一个是由别人代写的；第三个为事假条。

　　例一：

　　To Dean’s Office

　　Dear Mr. Black:

　　I am terribly sorry to inform you that I am unable to go to school today owing to a severe headache. I enclose a certificate from the doctor who is attending on me, as she fears it will be two days before I shall be able to resume my study. Could you kindly excuse my absence on Monday and Tuesday? Thanks.

　　Peter

　　Monday

　　例二：

　　Miss Boffin,

　　Please excuse Tom’s absence from school this morning. He caught a bad cold and had a high fever last night and could not fall asleep until midnight. I felt it would not be fair to the other children to allow her to attend school. So I am writing to ask you for three day’s sick leave and will let her resume her study if she feels better.

　　Yours sincerely,

　　Steven

　　例三：

　　Mr. Zhang,

　　I have just received a telegram saying that my father is seriously ill and urging me to go home at once. Because of this I would like to have a leave of two days beginning on August 26. I hope that my request will be given due consideration.

　　Wang Ming

　　August 25

　　Encl: A telegram from my home

　　2． 约会条

　　约会条主要用于邀朋友相聚等，内容上必须包含约会的事由，如果已经定了时间和地点，则应将具体的时间地点写在便笺上。

　　例：

　　Andy,

　　Fred is now with us. He is going to New York tomorrow morning to pursue his graduate study and we will not be able to see him for a long time. We are having a dinner party at 7 p.m. this evening at my home. It would be nice if you could come over and see him.

　　Michael

　　四．备忘录

　　备忘录其实也是广义的信函中的一种，主要用于公司内部对公司的职员、部分通报信息，如会议安排、情况报告、问题处理等等。在英语中称之为interoffice memorandum，其复数为memoranda，简称memo。除了可以采用书面形式之外，备忘录也可以通过e-mail 发出。

　　备忘录的一般格式如下：

　　MEMORANDUM

　　To:

　　From:

　　Date:

　　Subject:

　　Body

　　其中To项是收笺人，在其姓名前可以加上Mr., Mrs., Dr.等，在其姓名后可加上职位和部门。From项是发笺人，其姓名前一般不加尊称，但姓名后同样可加上职位和部门。Subject即内容主题，一般用简短的几个字做简略陈述，不需要是一个完整的句子，几个词或词组即可。

　　Body即内容是备忘录的主要部分，写作应力求简明、确切。首先应直入主题，列出最重要的信息，然后可以具体说明事由、情况，提出意见和建议等，最后可以根据具体情况或重申主题或表示意愿或感谢。

　　需要指出的是，在备忘录的末尾不需要签名。但是，如果备忘录还发给了收笺人以外的其他人，须在末尾cc: 之后写上其姓名。请看下面的示例：

　　Microsoft, Inc.

　　Interoffice Memorandum

　　To: Peter Clark, Rachel White

　　From: Linda Larson

　　Date: September 16, 2004

　　Subject: Scheduling the project meeting

　　As you know, we are having the project meeting next week in the projection room. Since the room holds only fifty people comfortably without overcrowding. I suggest we hold the meeting to the forty-one people in the Assembly Section on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. and to the remaining forty-three from the other sections on Friday at the same time.

　　If there’s any problem about this arrangement, please let me know.