THE INTERNET, FAX, E-MAIL, MEMO.

The Internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United Slates in 1969 as a military experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one computer to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology is called packet swithing. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just route around them. One such packet-swithing network already survived a war. It was the Iraqi computer network which was not knocked out during the Gulf War.

Most of the internet host computers (more than 50%) are in the United Slates, while the rest are located in more than 100 olher countries. Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly' accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions, and their number is growing by thousands each month worldwide.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are avail- able on the (Internet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher.

In many developing countries the Internet may provide businessmen with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecommunications systems of these countries. Commercial users can communicate over the Internet with the rest of the world and can do it very cheaply. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who accually pays for sending e-mail messages over the Internet long distances, around the world? The answer is very simple: an user pays his/her service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes towards its costs to connect to a larger service provider. And part of the fee got by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.

The fax or facsimile means the exact copy or reproduction. Faxing is a means of telecommunication that has developed very quickly over the recent time. It is connected to a telephone socket and works as a system similar to the telephone. Charges are measured in telephone units and therefore vary according to the time and distance.

The advantage of fax is an instant reception of many documents, the disadvantage is that it can't transmit original documents, but only their photocopies.

The structure and presentation of a faxed letter is much the same as that of an ordinary letter.

Sample of a Fax Message

11-Sep-97 11:48

FAX MESSAGE FROM

PENELECTRO Ltd.

TEL.No. +44(0) 1702 5522 11

FAX No. 44(0) 1702 556200

TO _______________ Poltava Amalgamation Plc

FOR ATTENTION___Ms BOGATYREVA/VICTOR

FAX No. ___________ 00 380 S3 22 31405

FROM _____________A.Reynolds

SUBJECT___________Electric Furnace

DATE______________ 11/09/97

No.of PAGES. ______ 1

Dear Sir/Madam,

Weare pleased to hear that the situation on thefurnace has begun to stabilize – does this mean that the quality is improving? If possible, please could you provide more data on the operational condition of the furnace and the percentage of reject tube on both lines?

We will be interested to hear the results of samples taken from the furnace bottom drain. Some poor quality glass is normal from this position when first draining – but it should clear very quickly. When there are concerns regarding glass quality it is good practice to drain from this position for about 5 minutes each day – to remove any possible contamination or dirt from the bottom of the melting chamber.

Please can you confirm that you received our fax of 07/09/97 from Mr.Andrew Reynolds, and if so, advise us on the points/questions raised therein regarding the electric furnace.

We would be grateful also, if you can confirm that payment has been arranged as promised in your last fax and as per the final Protocol. Further delays in this payment will cause us severe difficulties. If possible, please fax to us reference details of the appropriate bank transfer so that we can follow it from the UK side.

Best regards,

for PENELECTRO LIMITED

M.C.Reynolds

General Director.

The electronic mail (e-mail) was started in the late 60s by the U.S. military that were searching for a way of communication in the event of a large-scale nuclear war. They needed a system that would be decentralized, reliable, and fast in case the central institutions were destroyed. They came up with e-mail.

In the early 70s, e-mail was limited to the U.S. military, defence contractors, and universities doing defence research. By the 70s it had begun to spread more broadly within university communities. By the 80s, academies in a number of fields were using e-mail for professional collaboration. The 90s saw an explosion of the use of e-mail and other computing networking. It is estimated that more than 25 million people throughout the world were using it in the mid-90s.

E-mail is a way of sending a message from one computer to one or more other computers around the world. A subscriber to e-mail needs a terminal, such as a PC, a telephone line, and a modem, which is a device of converting signals into text. E-mail users must also have access to a mailbox, which they can call from anywhere in the world to retrieve messages. They receive a mailbox number and a password for confidentiality. E-mail is fast, cheap, and relatively reliable. It permits to send large amounts of information to different addressees and allows people to retrieve messages at any time.

A typical e-mail address is: direct@askbooks.kiev.ua (the e-mail address of the A.S.K. Publishers House). The part to the left of the @ sign, called userid has been chosen as a personal handle. The part to the right is called the domain and represents the particular computer that receives and delivers the message.

E-mail message usually comes in two parts: the heading and the body. The heading includes: the date, the writer's name, the addressee's name, who is to receive a copy (c.c.), if any, and the subject. The body of the message bears an ordinary content of a letter but a bit shorter.

The golden rule for writing e-mail messages is KISS (keep it short and simple). Use short phrases instead of long, active voice instead of passive avoid foreign words, metaphors, and scientific terms.

There's no bold in e-mall, so use capitals or asterisks. Among the abbreviations used in e-mail there are: BTW – by the way; IMHO – in my humble opinion; CONT – container; SHPT – shipment; RQST – request; BUZ – business; ESS – message.

Amemo or memorandum (which came from the Latin “memorare” – to remember) is a written inner document which is produced by senior or middle management in order to inform the staff about the company’s policy or procedures, to give instructions, to make announcements or to summarize the data of the latestmeeting or negotiations. A memo may be displayed on a notice board or sent to the employees according to the distribution list.

A typical memo has the following layout: the title, the date, to whom it is produced, from whom it is issued, the subject, the body (usually with numbered paragraphs), the signature, name, and position of the writer.

Sample of a Memo

To: all the staff Date: 22/10/2004

From: Personnel Manager

Subject: Business English classes

1. Since November 1 free English classes will be held for all personnel in the Training Center (room #3) twice a week – on Mondays and Thursdays. All teaching materials will be provided; the size of each class will be limited to 12 trainees.

2. The deadline of applications is 6p.m. 30/10/2004. Applicants will be tested for the level of proficiency in English to form 2 groups of pre-intermediate and intermediate levels.

(Signature)

Ann McCline

Practice

Task 1. Use the following data to compose your own memo:

1. To: Department Managers; from: Managing Director; subject: reducing costs of production.

2. To: all employees; from: Director; subject: recognaziation of the company.

3. To: all staff; from: trade-union representative; subject: the annual meeting.

4. To: all shareholders; from: the President; subject: general annual meeting.

Task 2. Complete the letter choosing from the words listed below:

travel agents, previous correspondence, system, responsibility, index, personal assistant, travel arrangements, directory enquiries, circulation, references, job, international telephone operator.

Dear Susan,

Well, I’ve been working for a week, and I must say I’m still bewildered. I hope it all sorts itself out.

Mr Sutherland is going away on a business trip – isn’t it exciting? He’s going to Spain, Portugal and Italy.

The first thing I had to do was to make his (1) _______ so I had to talk to the (2) _______ the Company uses and get them to book all the trains, planes and hotels, and I also had to organise his car hire, make the appointments and fix up his meetings. I’ve used the telephone a lot. The (3) ______ has got quite used to my voice, and the lady who deals with (4) ______ must be quite tired of me! I also had to look up the (5) ______ he’s had with the people he’ll be seeing, and sort out the letters he’ll need to take with him.

We organised the (6) ______ list for memos. (He’ll be sending tapes back to me.) While he’s away, I’ve promised to reorganise his filing (7) ______ and make up an (8) ______ to the files, so that he can find things quickly. I’ve also got to learn which (9) ______ books to use when I need to find something! By the time I've done all this, I’ll be really pleased with my (10) ______! I’m really going to be a real secretary, not just a shorthand typist; in fact I’m nearly a (11) ______ – P.A. for short – as I do take complete (12) ______ for some areas of the work.

See you soon!

Jane.

Task 3. Listen to the stories of two people, who lost their jobs, prepare memoes on them for the personnel manager of your company.

UNIT 4

Text 1

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1839