In the office

The word commerce suggests buying and selling, the exchange of goods between countries. The word industry suggests the production of goods by mining and manufacture. When we see or hear the word business, however, we think first of all not of shops, factories or mines but of offices. Modern business is done chiefly in offices, and office work usually means various forms of communication.

A business man needs to communicate with other business men. He can do this by using the telephone. He can also do it by writing, but the modern business man docs not write his letters by hand. He dictates them to a shorthand typist, usually a woman. She types the letters on her machine and later takes them to be signed. When all the letters have been signed, they are put in envelopes and are ready for the post. Small offices employ a boy to stick stamps on envelopes, but large offices today have a machine which, as enve­lopes are passed through it, automatically prints a stamp on them in ink. There is a meter in the machine. This is set and locked by a Post Office official according to the amount of money that is paid in advance. When this amount is reached the machine no longer works and must be reset.

It is not necessary to type an address on an envelope. There are envelopes with a 'window' of transparent paper, and the letter can be folded so that the name and address typed on the letter can be seen through this 'window'.

The telephone is an important part of the communications system. The head of a large department usually has two tele­phones on his desk. One is con­nected, through a switchboard, to the public Post Office system. The other is connected to a private internal system. This makes it possible for members of the staff in different parts of the same building to talk to one another without leaving their rooms.

Telephone bells are noisy, so in most offices telephones usually have a quiet buzzer instead of a bell. The loud ringing of bells does not help a man to think about his work.

Departments can also communicate with one another by using another useful kind of apparatus. The head of the department has a kind of box on his desk, and when he wishes to speak to another department, he has only to lift a small key. There is a buzz in the department he has called. The head can then talk to his staff, in several departments at the same time if he wishes, and hear their replies. The apparatus has a loud-speaker like that in a radio receiver. Instead of calling his staff to his office for a short discussion, the head of the department can talk to them and hear their replies as they sit at their own desks. Perhaps one day the apparatus will also have a television screen so that the persons will see each other while they talk. Some office workers would not like to know that they could be watched by the head of the department.

A business man need not call in shorthand typist when he wants to dictate letters. He can use a dictating machine. This makes a record of his voice, either on a flat record like those we play on gramophones, or on a small roll of plastic material. The typist plays back the record or roll, listens to the letters that were dictated (perhaps several hours earlier), and types them. She then takes them in for the signatures. Some kinds of plastic roll small and light enough to be put in envelopes and sent by post.

If a business firm wishes to send out a circular letter to thousands of people, the letter can, of course, be printed in the ordinary way by a firm of printers. If, however, only a few hundred copies are needed, these can be produced more quickly and at a lower cost in the office. A sheet of paper coated with wax is put into the typewriter. Then, without using the ribbon, the typist strikes the keys in the usual way and the words are cut on the waxed sheet. The sheet is then put on a machine which will make as many copies as are required.

Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. What do the words commerce and industry suggest?

2. What are the ways of communicating for businessmen?

3. Why do more offices use quiet buzzer instead of a bell in the telephones?

4. What’s the use of a dictating machine?

5. How can a hundred of copies be produced?

Текст 4

Jane's New Job

Jane works in the modem office of a large international company. On her desk she has the usual office equipment, such as a telephone, a typewriter, and filing trays for letters and papers. She uses an electronic typewriter, instead of the manual typewriter she used to have, and the company has just bought a computer with a word processor and a printer. With this computer the typist (operator) can type a letter, and then see what she has typed on an electronic screen (display), and correct any mistakes before the printer types the letter. The computer can print many separate copies of a letter and put a different name and address on each one.

If she has to do some calculations, Jane uses an electronic calculator, and there is a photocopier in the office for making copies of letters and other papers.

Jane normally sends letters by post, but if she wants to send a written message quickly she uses the telex. This is a machine like a typewriter: a message is typed, and then another telex machine somewhere else receives the message and types it out again some time later.

A fax machine is more popular now. It makes copies and sends it to any other fax machine you like. Messages can be writ­ten by hand or typed, and include drawings. A fax machine is connected or combined with a telephone, that's why it is also called telefax. The quickest way of sending photo messages is by E-mail (electronic mail).

Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. Where does Jane work?

2. What does she use for typing letters and papers?

3. What is there on her desk?

4. What are the advantages of a computer with a word processor?

5. What kind of office equipment is there in your office?

6. What is telefax?