Note: This article doesn't have the right to copy from the author of Business Correspondence.  I post this translation just for my own test skill.

Chapter 2    What Is A Good Business Letter?

第二章 何谓优秀的商业信函？

Business letters deal with so many subjects and are written in so many different circumstances that it seems impossible to answer this question with a strict definition applicable to all letters.

商业信函应用在不同的领域和许多不同的环境之中，对所有信函而言，严格定义之下很难回答这个问题。

Dealing with the question in a loose way, we may say, however, that a business letter is ‘good’ if the following conditions are met:

但是宽松地来处理这个问题，我们可以说，“优秀”的商业信函符合以下几点：

Note: This article doesn't have the right to copy from the author of Business Correspondence.  I post this translation just for my own test skill.

Chapter 1    Why Do We Still Send Business Letters?

第一章 为什么我们仍需要商业信函？

Despite the constant use of the telephone in modern life and despite the popularity of the telex and the ubiquitousness of printed forms, letters continue to be written in millions. Why is this so? Why have letters retained their importance in an age of electrical and electronic communications? Why is it reasonable to think that letters will retain their importance? We shall find the answers if we study some ideas that we associate with letters as a means of communication in business.

不管现代生活中的电话普遍应用，也不管电报的流行和铅印格纸普遍使用，仍有成千上万的信函。为什么如此？为什么在电子信息时代信函仍保持它们的重要性？是什么原因让我觉得信函仍是那么重要？联合其作为商业中一种通讯的手段来看看几个观点就会知道答案。

这是上个月尝试着翻译经济学人上 的文章，相当于编者语的类型。

本周政局
二零零六年七月二十日
来自《经济学人》印刷版

From The Economist print edition Israel continued to batter Lebanon in response to an attack on July 12th by the militant group Hizbullah, which still holds two Israeli soldiers captive. Israel hit targets across the country, causing some 300 deaths in the past week for the loss of at least 25 Israeli soldiers and civilians, many killed by Hizbullah rockets reaching as far south as Haifa, Israel's third city. Israel also continued to attack Hamas militants in Gaza in an effort to get them to free another recently captured Israeli soldier.

以色列继续攻击黎巴嫩以回应军事组织真主党在7月12日的袭击，真主党仍然监禁两名被俘虏的以色列士兵。以色列袭击了全国范围各个目标，在过去一周导致超过300人死亡，而至少25名以色列士兵和居民的死亡，大部分是由真主党发射到以色列第三大城市海法南郊的火箭造成的。以色列也继续攻击加沙的哈马斯武装，以此希望能够让他们释放另外一名最近被绑架的以色列士兵。