今天我們開始非正式書信(informal letters)系列。Letter to friends就是考試常見的題目。寫信給朋友一般有以下的目的：
1. 閒談 （Chit-Chat）
2. 邀請 （Invitation）
3. 尋求建議 （Asking for Advice）
4. 給出建議（Giving Advice）
5. 請求幫助 （Asking for a Favor）
6. 道歉/拒絕 (Apology / Rejection)
我們看看以下題目：
A friend you made while you were studying abroad has written to ask you for help in finding a job in your country. You have heard about a job in a local company that might be suitable for his/her.
Write a letter to this friend. In your letter
Tell your friend about the job and what sort of work it involves
Say why you think the job would be suitable for him/her
Explain how to apply for the job.
Sample Essay
Dear Jenny,
I hope this finds you and your family well, and I ‘m sorry I haven’t been in touch recently. I’m writing now to let you know that I have found a new job which may be suitable for you.
I think I told you about Brian before. He is now working as an engineer in an international corporation. I heard from my friend Brian that his company is now recruiting a graduate engineer.
I think you should consider this position as you have excellent academic qualifications—you have a first-class honour degree in civil engineering. You have also acquired work experience. I believe that your personality makes you a suitable candidate for the job. You have an inquiring mind. You have always been curious. You have always been hungry for knowledge.
You can email your resume together with your academic certificates and reference letters to human.resources@abcengineering.com. You may also apply this position by including my name as the referee.
Best,
Chris Wong
範文分析：
非正式信函和正式公事書信不一樣，正式公事書信一般在第一段的第一句話就直接說了寫信的目的。但是現在是非正式信函，而且是寫給朋友的信，所以第一段的寫法是不一樣的。
在第一段，作為朋友，作者一開始免不了先要問候她的朋友珍妮，”I hope this finds you and your family well, and I ‘m sorry I haven’t been in touch recently”, “我希望你和你的家人都好，很抱歉我最近一直沒有聯繫你”。緊接著，作者才說出這次寫信的目的，”I’m writing now to let you know that I have found a new job which may be suitable for you”, “我現在寫信是為了讓你知道我已經找到了一份可能適合你的新工作”。
在第二段，作者告訴了珍妮那份工作是工程師，”I heard from my friend Brian that his company is now recruiting a graduate engineer”, “我從朋友布萊恩哪里聽說他的公司正在招聘一名研究生工程師”。
在第三段和第四段，作者闡述她為什麼認為這份工作適合珍妮，比如說”you have excellent academic qualifications—you have a first-class honour degree in civil engineering”, “你有出色的學歷—土木工程一流的榮譽學位”; “your personality makes you a suitable candidate for the job”, “你的個性使你成為這份工作的合適人選”； 另外，範文中提到的”inquiring mind”（探究精神）, “always been curious”（總是很好奇）和”always been hungry for knowledge”（總是渴望知識），這些都是工程師這份工作所需要的。
在第五段，作者告訴珍妮怎麼去申請這份工作，也就是需要珍妮把自己的簡歷、學歷證書和推薦信一起發送到指定郵箱。同時告訴珍妮可以把作者的名字作為推薦人來申請工程師這個職位。
從這篇範文的第三段和第四段，我們可以看出作者對她的朋友珍妮是非常瞭解的。如果這篇範文還有什麼值得改進的地方，那就是在第二段可以用幾句話描述研究生工程師這個職位，這樣一來珍妮就知道她自己是否對這個職位感興趣了。
