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03/JB/VL
Mr. Michel Lesage 26th May, 2007
141, rue Saint-Jacques
75005 Paris – France
Dear Mr. Lesage,
I have pleasure in confirming your appointment as our representative in France with effect from July 1st 2007.
We have considered the large scale potential of developing our exports to Europe. With your experience in the French market we feel sure that you will be able to make a substantial contribution towards promoting the name “Score”, our image and our merchandise, which has already proved so acceptable in the UK and other countries.
As we have already discussed, we would be pleased to make a commission rate of 10 % of orders which are placed with us and which we have confirmed and delivered.
We would also bear expenses for visits to this country which are made specifically on behalf of “Score” and by prior arrangement. We would also be prepared to reimburse you for expenses incurred on behalf of our executives who visit France.
It is our intention to review the terms of our cooperation at six-months’ intervals.
We are looking forward to our further cooperation and the prospect of developing our activities in France.
Sincerely yours,
John Baxter
Managing Director
Vocabulary of the Text
With effect from – a literary expression and official cliché: начиная с [Подтверждаю Ваше назначение в качестве нашего представителя во Франции, начиная с 1 июля 2007 года].
Merchandise – an economic term of French origin: товары [Принимая во внимание Ваш опыт работы на французском рынке, мы уверены, что Вы сможете в значительной мере способствовать продвижению на рынке имени “Score”, нашего имиджа и наших товаров, которые уже приняты на рынках Великобритании и других стран].
Commission rate – an economic terminological expression: комиссионные ставки [Как мы уже ранее обсуждали, мы готовы выплачивать Вам комиссионные в размере десяти процентов от суммы размещенных у нас заказов, которые мы приняли к исполнению и по которым осуществляем поставку].
Reimburse – an economic term: возмещать, компенсировать [Мы готовы возместить Вам затраты, связанные с пребыванием наших руководящих работников во Франции].
Text 1
Speech of Viscount Simon of the House of Lords
…The noble Earl, Lord Jowitt, made a speech of much persuasiveness on the second reading raising this point, and today as is natural and proper, he has again presented with his usual skill, and I am sure with the greatest sincerity, many of the same considerations. I certainly do not take the view that the argument in this matter is all on the side. One could not possibly say that when one considers that there is a considerable academic opinion at the present time in favour of this change, and in view of the fact that there are other countries under the British Flag where, I understand, there was a change in the law, to a greater or lesser degree, in the direction which the noble and learned Earl so earnestly recommends to the House. But just as I am very willing to accept the view that the case for resisting the noble Earl’s Amendment is not overwhelming, so I do not think it reasonable that the view should be taken that the argument is practically and considerably the other way. The real truth is that, in framing statuary provisions about the law of defamation, we have to choose the sensible way between two principles, each of which is greatly to be admitted but both of which run into some conflict.
Text 2
The Carburetor
(An extract from an instruction manual)
The purpose of the carburetor is to provide a mixture of petrol and air for combustion in the engine. The mixture normally consists of one part (by weight) of petrol to fifteen parts of air, but this mixture varies quite considerably with temperature and engine speed. If there is a higher proportion of petrol the mixture is said to be “rich”. A higher proportion of air gives a “weak” mixture.
Very simply, the carburetor consists of a tube through which the air is drawn, and a series of very small holes known as jets which break the petrol up into tiny droplets and pass it into the airstream in the form of a mist. The mixture of petrol mist and air is sucked along an inlet pipe and then, by way of branches in the pipe, into each cylinder. A float chamber in the carburetor provides a small reserve of petrol for the jets and ensures an even supply.
The flow of air into the carburetor is controlled by a “butterfly throttle”, which is a flap that can be opened and closed by operating the accelerator pedal in the car. Pressing the accelerator opens the throttle. This lets in more air which in turn sucks more petrol vapour through the main jet. The mixture passes into the cylinders making the engine run faster.
Text 3
A commercial letter
September 16, 2001
FRAMES-BY-YOU
126 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 17503
ATTENTION: MS. CYBEL MEGAN
Dear Sirs:
We are pleased to have received your order of September 15 and would like to welcome you as a new customer of Payton’s Plastics.
Your order (No. 62997) for one dozen 4’’ x 5’’ sheets of 1/8’’ Lucite is being processed and will be ready for shipment on September 21. It will be delivered to your workshop by our own van, and payment will be c.o.d. (our policy for all orders under $100).
We are sure you will appreciate the clear finish and tensile strength of our entire line of plastics. Ms. Julie Methel, your sales representative, will call on you soon with a catalogue and samples.
With kind regards,
PAYTON’S PLASTICS, INC.
Howard Roberts
Customer relations
Text 4
Ageism Factor
(A newspaper article)
I blame Prince Philip, rather than the Queen, for the extraordinary silly decision to support Jeffrey Archer’s private bill which will allow a female child of the monarch to inherit the crown if she is born before her brothers. Although it may seem vaguely progressive and modern, even feminist, the truth is that it will do nothing for women’s dismal role within the reproductive system which is the basis of all disadvantages.
If the monarchy is seen as a prize which anyone would want, then it might make some sort of sense to open it up further to women, but in those circumstances, the proposal emphasizes another injustice. If the former arrangement was sexist, the new one is unacceptably ageist. Why should one child be preferred to another just because it is older?
In the new spirit of the age, we have to accept that the younger our leaders or rulers, the better their image. That is why the Conservatives are now led be exciting, 36-year old William Hague. Some of us might be regretting the choice. Most, I think, would agree he made a mistake in allowing his spin-doctors to persuade him to adopt the accents of Wallace, the television entertainer of Wallace and Gromit fame, to promote his “young” image.
Even so, the superiority of youth is now unassailable. Before too long, when the monarchy falls vacant, it will go to the youngest child of either sex… are we soon to be told that the Queen will become such a law? We rather look to the monarchy to protect us from such nonsense. In point of fact, as I said, I suspect that Prince Philip is to blame for this latest bit of mischief. He and Jeffrey Archer are simply sending rude messages to their sons. Lord Archer is a Life Peer, so his opinions are not of the slightest interest on this or any other subject, but Prince Philip deserves a small rap on the knuckles. Some things are too important to joke about.
(The Daily Telegraph, March 2, 1998)
Text 5
Appearance and Reality
(An extract from a short story)
I do not vouch for the truth of this story, but it was told me by a professor of French literature at an English university, and he was a man of too high a character, I think, to have told it to me, unless it were true. His practice was to draw the attention of his students to three French writers who in his opinion combined the qualities that are the mainsprings of the French character. By reading them, he said, you could learn so much about the French people that, if he had the power, he would not trust such of our rulers as have to deal with the French nation to enter upon their offices till they had passed a pretty stiff examination on their works. They are Rabelais, with his gauloiserie, which may be described as the ribaldry that likes to call a spade something more than a bloody shovel; La Fontaine, with his bon sens, which is just horse sense; and finally Corneille with his panache. This is translated in the dictionaries as the plume, the plume the knight at arms wore on his helmet, but metaphorically it seems to signify dignity and bravado, display and heroism, vainglory and pride. It was le panache that made the French gentlemen at Fontenoy say to the officers of King George II, fire first, gentlemen; it was le panache that wrung from Cambronne’s bawdy lips at Waterloo the phrase: the guard dies but never surrenders; and it is le panache that urges an indigent French poet awarded the Nobel prize, with a splendid gesture to give it all away. My professor was not a frivolous man and to his mind the story I am about to tell brought out so distinctly the three master qualities of the French that it had a high educational value.
(W.S. Maugham)
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