便箋也是一種簡單的書信，經常用于朋友、同事和家人之間臨時有事相告而又無法與對方面談的場合。便箋通常可以表達通知、請求和留言等內容。便箋通常包括日期、稱呼、正文、署名四個部分。

（1）日期。一般只寫星期幾或幾月幾號，必要時也可寫上某天的上下午和鐘點，由于便箋所涉及內容多為當日或近日要辦的事，因此年份則完全不必要了。

（2）稱呼。可以直接用姓和名，如：Smith（姓），John（名），Wang，Weifang;也可用頭銜加姓，如：Mr. Smith，Prof. Lin等。

（3）正文。用詞要通俗，開門見山，簡短扼要。

（4）署名。非常熟悉的人之間，只寫上姓或名即可。否則，要寫上留條人的姓和名。

從上面可以看出，便箋寫作（Note Writing）實際上與書信寫作（Letter Writing）大致相似，但有三點主要不同：

1. 便箋較隨便，因此語氣通常更輕松，格式和語言都是如此。

2. 通常便箋較短，應言簡意賅，這意味著你必須略去冗余信息。

3. 便箋寫起來往往更具個性化，通常語言更接近口語，更直接。

例如：

May 14th

Dear Miss Stone，

I'm really sorry that I shall not be able to attend class today. I have got a fever of 39℃。 Enclosed please find a certificate from the doctor of our college which says I must stay in bed for three days.

I'll resume my studies as soon as I feel better.

Sincerely yours，

Li Ming

樣 題：

Directions:

You are late for an appointment with a professor. You also have books that are due at the library in a few hours. Write a note to your roommate asking if she could return the books for you. In return for the favor, offer to buy her lunch.

You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2.

范文：

Dear Jane,

I have a big favor to ask you. I am late for my appointment with Professor Jones, and need to go directly to his office. I also have two books that are due back at the library this evening. As I will not be able to get to the library before it closes, I was wondering if you would possibly have the time to return the books for me.

I realize this is a big favor to ask of you, as you are also very busy. In return for help, I would like to buy you lunch tomorrow. Thanks in advance!

譯文：

親愛的簡，

我要請你幫個大忙。我與瓊斯教授有個約會，現在已經晚了，我得直接去他的辦公室。可我還有兩本書要還圖書館，今晚就到期了。我可能在圖書館關門之前趕不到那里，所以我想知道你能否有時間幫我還。

我知道你也很忙，這可真太麻煩你了。為了感謝你幫忙，我明天請你吃午飯吧。謝謝！