Text 3. Sending Letters (A)

David Foster wanted to send a letter from Hong Kong to London. He wanted it to arrive in London as soon as possible. Read this dialogue between Foster and the hotel reception clerk.

Foster: Good afternoon.

Clerk: Good afternoon, sir.

Foster: I’d like to send this letter to London.

Clerk:Oh, yes. Sure. I’ll have to weigh it first. That’s three dollars, sir.

Foster:Well, how long does it take to get to London?

Clerk:It’s about three or four days.

Foster:Three or four days?

Clerk:Yes.

Foster: Could I send it Express?

Clerk:Yes, of course you can. But you’ll have to pay another three dollars.

Foster:That’s fine.

Compare the first dialogue with the next one. Here a traveller wants to send a registered letter from a Post Office in London to Hong Kong.

Traveller:Good afternoon.

Clerk:Good afternoon, sir.

Traveller:I’d like to send this letter to Hong Kong, please. Could I send it by Registered Mail?

Clerk:Of course, sir. Please fill in this form, giving your name, address and contents of the letter.

Traveller:Yes. The contents are rather valuable. Will they be covered up to 250?

Clerk:You’ll have to pay a surcharge. Now, the rates are seventy pence for a hundred pounds of insurance cover and one pound for two hundred and fifty pounds of insurance cover.

Traveller:That’s all right. How much do I have to pay altogether, then?

Clerk:Let’s see. That’s twenty-six pence for the airmail letter, plus sixty pence for the registration, plus a pound for the extra cover, which makes ₤1.86 altogether.

Traveller:There you are.

Clerk:Thank you very much. And here’s your receipt.

Important words and expressions from the dialogue:

Will the contents be covered up to ₤250? –The contents are worth ₤250. Will the Post Office pay the full amount if the letter is lost?

surcharge – the extra charge

Text 4. Sending Letters (B)

Nowadays, most people send letters abroad by air mail. It’s cheaper to use surface mail, which goes by land and sea, but it takes very much longer for the letters to arrive. If you are sending a letter abroad or inland which you want to arrive very quickly, it’s probably a good idea to send it Express.

Valuable goods for an inland destination or abroad can be sent by Registered Mail. This means that the contents of the letter or package can be insured by the Post Office. The sender pays for this insurance according to the value of the contents of the letter or package.

Finally, if you want to be sure that the letter you send does arrive, you can send it Recorded Delivery. This means that the receiver signs a receipt on delivery. Recorded Delivery is often used for documents that are important, but have little or no financial value. You cannot send letters abroad by Recorded Delivery: it is only an inland service.

Read the passage again and decide whether you would send the following by Express, Recorded Delivery, or by Registered Mail:

1. a roll of film with your holiday photographs on it;

2. a letter with information which is urgently needed for an important meeting

3. a small but valuable gift for your friend’s birthday.

Text 5. Telegrams

A.Bill Marsden told Ron Howells to send Foster a telegram, asking him to tell them what he was doing in Hong Kong, and to inform them of the details of his future arrangements. Here is the full text of the message that Howells wanted to send:

It is important that we have information on your activities. Could you send us urgently details of your present activities and your future arrangements? The information we have received so far is not adequate. We hope every thing is going well.

Ron Howells

When he sent the telegram, it looked like this:

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 850