Information Letter. Going on a Business Trip

Mr Petrov

General Director

Beta Ltd

Dear Mr Petrov

I would like to inform you that a delegation from our company of two people will arrive in Moscow in the end of October.

I would be grateful if you could arrange their visit to some of the development laboratories to see the equipment in operation.

I thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Yours faithfully

Christian Baker

Note! No abbreviations can be used in business letter.

Chris - Do you like the idea of taking a month’s trip to Moscow?

Susan - What? You are kidding!

Chris - No. First of all I must say it will be a business trip.

The company wants us to visit some of our operations.

Susan - You mean we’ll have meetings about the new computer we are

developing?

Chris - Yes, one of the development laboratories is in Moscow.

The company has got an office there.

Susan - Is it a joint venture?

Chris - Yes, it is.

Susan - It’ll be very exciting.

Exercise 1. Write an information letter about your arrival in London.

You are coming to get acquianted with a new line of

metallurgical equipment. Discuss the business trip with

your colleague.

Exercise 2. Telephone you English colleagues and make all necessary

appointments. Use the patterns from the previous units.

not to be in the office for a moment; to leave a message for smb; to phone back; to connect with; to make an appointment; could you put me through to smb; I’m sorry; I am fully booked for that day; could you come over to the office tomorrow; can I confirm the appointment; would it be too much to ask you to arrange a trip to?; I’m sorry he is in a conference now; etc.

Unit 4 Text 1

2. Aluminum

Aluminium is the most common metal on Earth. It occurs naturally in many different kinds of rocks. But most of the aluminium we use is extracted from an ore called bauxite, which is formed over long periods by the weathering of rocks containing aluminium silicates (aluminium, silicon and oxygen).

Aluminium is extracted from bauxite by the Bayer process and electrolysis. In the Bayer process, bauxite is mixed with caustic soda and heated. This produces sugar-like crystals of pure aluminium oxide. These are dissolved in molten sodium aluminium fluoride, called cryolite. Electrolysis is then used to split up the aluminium and oxygen.

In 1886 two chemists independently discovered how to extract aluminium using electricity. Their discovery reduced the price of aluminium to a fraction of the price of silver in four years. The two chemists were Charles Martin Hall (1863 - 1914), a student at Oberlin College in the USA, and P.L.T. Heroult (1863 - 1914), a young chemist working in France. By coincidence, they were not only the same age when they made their discovery, but also died within eight months of each other.

Before this, the metal was much more expensive than silver and gold. The Emperor of France, Napoleon III, for example, used aluminium plates to impress the most important guests. Today we use aluminium foil to wrap food because it is so cheap.

Aluminium is also durable, light and a good conductor of electricity. It is used to protect metals against corroding because when the surface of aluminium reacts with oxygen in the air, a thick coating of aluminium oxide forms that seals a metal from the air. It is also used to make parts for planes, cars, and lorries, to make electric cables.