2. Section C Practical Writing Letters of Acceptance or Declination

3. Letters of Acceptance or Declination Sample Reading Useful Patterns Exercises CONTENTS

4. Letters of Acceptance or Declination 受邀请人在收到请柬后应尽快答复，回复方式一般 没有请柬那么严格，但也分正式与非正式两种。如果是 严肃场合, 应该用回柬 。其格式与请柬相类似。对一般 的请柬，可以写一封短信表示接受邀请或者遗憾 。如 果非常要好的朋友，打电话表示接受或拒绝也是可以的。 不管你是否接受邀请，都应该表示感谢。如接受邀 请, 就该提一下你是多么盼望去参加；如果你不得已需 要谢绝邀请，就应该以适当的理由表示歉意。回复的格 式和措词都应与邀请信一致。

5. Sample Reading Sample 1 Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Beamer accept with pleasure Mr. and Mrs. Black Smith’s kind invitation to be present at the marriage of their daughter Susan Anna to Mr. Robert Christ on Saturday, the eighth of December at five o’clock.

6. Sample Reading Mr. and Mrs. George Smith regret that a previous engagement prevents their acceptance of Mr. and Mrs. Harry King’s kind invitation to dinner on Tuesday, July 1st at five o’clock pm, at the Lotus Hotel. Sample 2

7. Sample Reading Dear Mr. Brown, Thank you very much for your kindness in asking us to attend your opening ceremony, but we regret very much that we will not be able to go there as we already have an important previous engagement that day. We send our congratulations and best wishes to you and will be together with you in spirit on this happy event. Sincerely, Mark Sample 3

8. Useful Patterns The following are some sentence patterns commonly used in invitation cards or invitation letters. 1. Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Lin accept with pleasure Mr. and Mrs. Bryn Adams’ invitation to dinner on the fifth of May 7:00 pm, at the Peace Hotel. The following are some sentence patterns commonly used in invitation cards or invitation letters. 1. Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Lin accept with pleasure Mr. and Mrs. Bryn Adams’ invitation to dinner on the fifth of May 7:00 pm, at the Peace Hotel.

9. Useful Patterns 2. It was very kind of you to invite me to spend next weekend with you, but unfortunately, I can’t come because I shall be away for a conference in Beijing. 3. I can’t tell you how sorry I am not to be able to accept your invitation to the party next Friday. I’m going away on Monday and won’t be back until next Saturday. Thank you all the same. 2. It was very kind of you to invite me to spend next weekend with you, but unfortunately, I can’t come because I shall be away for a conference in Beijing. 3. I can’t tell you how sorry I am not to be able to accept your invitation to the party next Friday. I’m going away on Monday and won’t be back until next Saturday. Thank you all the same.

10. 1. Fill in the following invitation card according to the information given below in Chinese. The receiver of the letter is Mrs. Marks. The sender is Liu Ying, who accepted the invitation to have dinner and to see the play Hamlet on Monday evening, February 11th.The date is January 25th, 2008. Exercises

11. ________________ _______________ Thank you for your invitation. I shall be delighted to come to dinner on ________________________________ (2 月 11 日星期一晚上 ). I know that Hamlet is a wonderful play and ____________________________________ ( 我期待着看演出 ). ___________ _______ January 25th, 2008 Dear Mrs. Marks Monday evening, February 10th I am looking forward to the performance Sincerely yours, Liu Ying Exercises

12. 2. Fill in the following invitation card according to the information given below in Chinese. 福斯特先生（ Mr. Foster ）因 为要参加重要的商业谈判 （ business negotiation ） 而无法出席贵公司 2008 年 12 月 26 日周五下午 3 点在大饭店 （ Grand Hotel ）举行 的鸡尾酒会（ Cocktail Party ）。 Exercises

13. ___________________ regrets that _____________________________ prevents his acceptance of your company’s invitation to _____________________ on __________________________, 3:00 pm, at the _________________. Mr. Foster an important business negotiation the Cocktail Party Friday, December 26th, 2008 Grand Hotel

14. THANK YOU The End