礼节美语 030 Thanking Notes

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 gratitude should be handwritten.

C：什么是 gra--ti--tude?

A：Gratitude is the same as thanks or appreciation.

C：那一定要手写吗？

A：E-mail is impersonal and lacks warmth. The effort you make to show your gratitude should match the effort that your client expended 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 stationery.

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 engraved 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 generosity 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.