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The Basics of Business E-Mail Netiquette 商用电子信的基本礼节

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Spam e-mail aside, business are often flooded with legitimate e-mails. Given this volume of correspondence, business must choose which e-mails to deal with promptly and which to relegate to the recycle bin. A few guidelines can help your business e-mails receive the attention they deserve.

除了垃圾邮件外，通常企业也还有许许多多合法的电子邮件。因为来信的数量很大，所以企业必须选择优先处理哪些电子邮件，哪些丢到垃圾信匣。我们有一些指导原则能协助你不错失任何重要的电子邮件。

E-mail programs display header, or summary, information about e-mails in the inbox. It is at this stage that e-mails are usually filtered and prioritized. E-mails that grab attention are usually those with a succinct subject that is relevant to the reader. If the e-mail is urgent, the message priority should be set to high. However, do this sparingly; senders who rate every e-mail as high priority are generally ignored for crying wolf.

电子邮件程序会显示收信匣里电子信的信头（或称「摘要」），也就是每封邮件的重要信息。收信人通常会在这个阶段过滤邮件、给予优先级。通常与收信人相关密切而且主旨简洁有力的信最能取得读者的注意。如果信件紧急，优先级就要设得高。不过，这招不能常用，若把每封信都设为优先，通常会被收信人当作是喊狼来了而忽视掉。

The text of the e-mail should be as user-friendly as possible. Some writers prefer to start with a summary of action items or questions, instead of a wordy preamble. This might include any relevant deadlines or refer to additional information found in attachments.

电子信的内容应该让使用者尽量方便。有些作者喜欢以议题摘要或问句作为开场白，而不是长篇大论。这种作法可能会提及相关的截止日期或是附件文件里的补充数据。

These days, e-mail is an indispensable business tool, but its limitations need to be understood. Even following the above precautions, e-mails may still lie buried in the inbox. If immediate action is required, your e-mail should be followed by an old-fashioned telephone call.

现在，电子信是不可少的商业工具，不过使用者必须了解它所受的限制。即使遵循上述的谨慎做法，电子信很可能还是被埋在收信匣里一片信海中。如果有必要立即采取行动，寄出电子信后，最好还是用老办法打一通电话招呼一声。

Vocabulary

单词发音

netiquette [ˋnɛtɪkɛt] n. 供计算机网络上使用的习惯规定（是由net"网络"和etiquette"礼仪，同业之间的规矩"两字所造成的）

spam [spæm] n.【计算机】垃圾邮件（在用户网络或新闻组中，一大堆未经筛选的广告或对收件者来说根本无用的邮件）

flood [flʌd] v. 充满，充斥[（+with）]

correspondence [͵kɔrəˋspɑndəns] n.（总称）信件

promptly [prɑmptlɪ] adv. 迅速地；立即地

relegate [ˋrɛlə͵get] v. 抛弃; 把……归类

guideline [ˋgaɪd͵laɪn] n.〔尤指可能是困难或危险的事的〕指导方针﹐行动准则

header [ˋhɛdɚ] n.（文件的）页眉

prioritize [praɪˋɔrə͵taɪz] v. 把事情优先级排好

succinct [səkˋsɪŋkt] adj.【褒】言简意赅的﹐简明扼要的﹐简练的

urgent [ˋɝdʒənt] adj. 紧急的，急迫的

sparingly [ˋspɛrɪŋlɪ] adv. 保守地；谨慎地; 节俭地；爱惜地

crying wolf  喊“狼来了”; 发假情报  raise a false alarm

wordy [ˋwɝdɪ] adj. 唠叨的；冗长的

preamble [ˋpriæmb!] n.【正式】〔书﹑文件﹑讲话的〕前言; 序言; 开场白

attachment [əˋtætʃmənt] n. 附件

indispensable [͵ɪndɪsˋpɛnsəb!] adj. 必不可少的，必需的

precaution [prɪˋkɔʃən] n. 警惕；谨慎; 预防措施

Sentence of the Day

Clear, careful presentation helps ensure that your e-mail won’t slip through someone’s fingers.

把电子信写得清楚详细能使你的信不至于成为漏网之鱼。

slip through someone’s fingers  从指缝中滑掉, 失去, 错过

课文讲解 

Peter drops into Jenny’s office Monday afternoon to welcome her back from vacation:  周一下午彼得去珍妮的办公室打招呼，欢迎她休假回来：

P: Long time no see. How was your diving trip?

好久不见了。妳的潜水之旅情况怎样？

J: Wonderful, except now I’m swimming in a sea of e-mail. I have half a mind to just purge my inbox and tell everyone the system crashed.

很棒，只不过我的电子信现在真是一片汪洋大海了。我有股冲动，很想把收信匣全部清空，然后告诉大家说我的系统当掉了。

P: That probably wouldn’t be very good for business. How are you going to read them all and identify the important ones?

那样对做生意恐怕不好。妳打算看完全部的信以区分哪些才是重要的来信吗？

J: Well, this morning I started reading the e-mails flagged as high priority and then moved onto the ones from management. Now I need to find a way to sift through the rest.

今天早上我开始看有优先标帜的电子信，然后再处理管理阶层来的信。现在我必须找个好方法把其他信做筛选。

P: You know, one way to optimize your e-mail reading time is to display only the first few lines of each e-mail. Then you can read the beginning and decide which ones to deal with first.

妳晓得，若妳想要以最快的速度读来信，最好只显示每一封信内容的头几行。这样妳就能读完起头部份，决定处理的优先级。

J: Good idea. That way I can spot where the real deal-breakers are. Also, I think I’ll sort them according to size and read the smaller e-mails first. That way I can get through as many as possible. Who has time to read huge e-mails anyway?

好主意，这样做我就能尽快发现急需处理的信。而且，我想我会依照数据量大小做个排序，优先处理容量较小的简单信件，这样我就尽可能可以处理完多一点的信件。反正，谁有时间读这么多长篇大论啊？

P: Sounds like you’re flooded with work. Don’t forget to come up for air.

听起来妳的工作真是堆满了。别忘了上来透透气哦。

J: Yeah, just don’t remind me with an e-mail!

好，但是别发电子信来提醒我！

－by David Wand

Vocabulary

单词发音

drop into 顺便走进

have half a mind to do something 【口】有点想做某事物 to consider possibly doing something

purge [pɝdʒ] v. 清除；清洗

inbox [ˋɪnbɑks] n.【计算机】收件箱

crash [kræʃ] v.【计算机】当机

flag [flæg] v. 打旗号表示

sift [sɪft] v. 详查，细究[（+through）]

optimize [ˋɑptə͵maɪz] v. 使最优化﹐使尽可能完善﹐使尽量有效

spot [spɑt] v.【口】认出，发现

deal-breaker  阻碍成功交易的关键因素  any issue or factor that is significant enough to terminate a negotiation, esp. in business or politics

get through 完成

come up for air 喘口气；调节一下精神；歇口气

Sentence of the Day

Jenny needs a way to separate the wheat from the chaff.

珍妮需要方法来区别重要与不重要的信。

chaff [tʃæf] n. 粗糠，谷壳

separate the wheat from the chaff  鉴别优劣(有价值的人或事物同无价值的分开); 分辨好坏