Business Etiquette 礼节美语 第030讲

陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作，他到美国同事Amy的办公室去找她。

(Office ambience)

C：Amy, 你有时间吗?

A：I can always make time for you, Chen Hao. What's the matter?

C：我有个客户，听说我搬家，专门送了我一幅画儿。

A：That doesn't sound like a problem. It sounds more like a nice gesture.

C：可是那画的颜色和风格跟我的公寓格格不入。

A：That's too bad. He probably chose something he would like to have and didn't consider your taste. I hope you thanked him for it anyway.

C：我觉得也是，给别人买东西，应该买别人喜欢的才对。不过我还是打算发个电子邮件，谢谢他，但是不知道怎么写，所以来请教你。

A：Well, first of all, you shouldn't use e-mail to thank someone for a gift. A proper note of gratitude¹ should be handwritten.

C：什么是 gra--ti--tude?

A：Gratitude is the same as thanks or appreciation².

C：那一定要手写吗？

A：E-mail is impersonal³ and lacks warmth. The effort you make to show your gratitude should match the effort that your client expended⁴ in sending you the gift.

C：我能不能买张现成的感谢卡，在上面加上一句，然后签个字呢？

A：I'm sorry, but that won't do either. You need to demonstrate your good manners by composing a personal note in your own words on the appropriate stationery⁵.

C：你能陪我去买合适的卡片吗？

A：I don't have time now. But let's meet at the stationery store at noon.

******

MC：中午，陈豪和Amy一起到卡片专卖店。

C：Amy, 这种可以折叠的感谢卡挺大方的。

A：They are acceptable, but not as classy as these correspondence cards that are made of heavier stock paper.

C：噢，correspondence cards，就是回复卡。

A：You should order some with your name engraved⁶ across the top for future use.

C：我说有时候收到别人的卡片，上面还有名字的缩写，原来是可以订做的呀。好，就买这个。不过我还是不知道怎么写。

A：It's not so hard, and you don't have to be dishonest.

C：你启发启发我。

A：You can tell your client how much you appreciate his thoughtfulness and generosity⁷ in sending you a painting by this artist.

C：有了。我就说“你怎么知道我家到处都是白墙的？画儿是我最需要的。”这样写，他也不知道我是不是喜欢那幅画。

A：And you have all the elements of a proper thank you note.

C：Amy, 你能再重复一下写感谢卡的注意事项吗？

A：A note of thanks is hand written on quality notepaper. It begins with a specific reference to the gift, remarks about its quality, why you appreciate it and how you will use it.

C：这么说，其实也不难嘛。谢谢你，Amy.
 

1 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

2 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

3 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

4 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

6 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。