天降橫財?

背景導讀

當今的社會隨著科學技術的發展，犯罪的手段也日益高明，各種高智商的犯罪層出不窮，讓人防不勝防。如今比較猖獗的如:手機短信詐騙，電話詐騙，銀行卡詐騙等等，種類繁多，因此我們要時刻保持清醒的頭腦，時刻存著防備的心理，這樣就可以極大地降低被騙的幾率，那么要是有一天你突然收到一封來自國外的郵件，要求你去繼承一筆可觀的遺產，你會作何感想?詐騙?天降橫財?究竟是真是假，讓我們一探究竟:

Ｆｒｏｍ：＜ｊｏｓｅｐｈ＿ｙａｎａ＠ｏｒａｎｇｅ．ｎｅｔ＞

ＩＰ Ａｄｄｒｅｓｓ：１９３．２５２．２２．１１８ （ｏｒｉｇｉｎａｔｅｓ ｆｒｏｍ Ｆｒａｎｃｅ）

Ｄａｔｅ：Ｍｏｎ， ０２-Ｆｅｂ-２００９，０９：３７：０４ａｍ

Ａｔｔａｃｈｍｅｎｔ：（Ｎｏ ａｔｔａｃｈｍｅｎｔ）

Ｓｕｂｊｅｃｔ：［Ｇ-Ｓｐａｍ］ ＰＬＥＡＳＥ ＲＥＰＬＹ ＢＡＣＫ．

Ｍｅｓｓａｇｅ：

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL.

FROM THE DESK OF: MR. JOSEPH YANA.

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)

BURKINA-FASO.

Dear Sir / Madam，

I am the Bill and Exchange (assistant) Manager of the African Development Bank， MR. JOSEPH YANA.

In my department I discovered an abandoned sum of USD￥9，900，000 in an account① that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his wife and two children in July 2000 in a plane crash. Since we got information about his death， we have been expecting his next of kin(近親) to come over and claim his money， but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him in the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim②.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I in my department now decided to make this business proposal③ to you and release the money to you as next of kin or relation since nobody is coming for it and we don’t want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The banking law and guidelines here says that if such money remains unclaimed after ten years， the money will be transferred into④ the bank treasury as unclaimed fund.

The request of foreigner in this transaction⑤ is necessary because our late customer was a foreigner. We agree that 30% of this money will be for you as foreigner partner， 5% will be set aside⑥ for expenses incurred during the business and 65% would be for me， after which I shall visit your country for disbursement(開支) according to the percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged， you must apply first to the bank， and send your account number， your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be sent.

Upon receiving your reply， I will send to you by fax or e-mail the text of the application which you shall retype and fax to us. Trusting to receive your urgent reply through my alternative E-mail: jyana96 @ yahoo. co. id

Best regards.

MR. JOSEPH YANA.

閱讀點撥

這篇文章的題材是我們常見的英文郵件。郵件屬于實用文體，郵件閱讀一般要求讀者能從郵件中獲取真實、有用、確切的信息，以完成交流的過程。比如，比較常見的貿易往來的郵件，就要求讀者準確讀懂對方的要求，這樣雙方的貿易才能順利進行，因此郵件閱讀類試題常以細節題為主，有時也有揣摩作者意圖的試題，該類試題的特征是實用性較強，那么，本文是否也是一篇比較正規的商務往來的郵件呢?從表面上來看，這是一封來自于非洲開發銀行一位助理經理的郵件，格式以及稱謂等均十分正規，符合商務郵件的規范，但是我們不能被它正規的外表迷惑了，更不能受它內容的蠱惑，那看似誠懇的描述和看似合理的金錢分配，其實，無非是給你挖下一個大大的陷阱，它引誘的就是貪財的人們，相信天上會掉下餡餅的人就是它要誘騙的對象，所以我們要記住天下沒有免費的午餐，真正要致富，靠的是你勤勞的雙手和辛勤的付出。

閱讀思考

1. The person who received this e-mail message was probably______.

A. me

B. just one of MILLIONS of lucky e-mail users world-wide

C. you

D. all of the above

2. A foreigner who receives this letter should ________.

A. be a close relative of the dead

B. send hundreds of dollars to Africa

C. go to African Development Bank for the wealth

D. not take it seriously

3. Which of the following is true according to the text?

A. Many millionaires died in the plane crash.

B. Any money unclaimed will be given to a poor foreigner.

C. The division of the money seems quite reasonable.

D. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK doesn’t exist at all.

4. A person who believes “_________” will fall into it.

A. Nothing ventured， nothing gained.

B. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

C. All rivers run into the sea.

D. A short cut is often a wrong cut.

答案與解析

1. D。文章讀到最后我們要能判定出這是一封詐騙性質的郵件，因此該郵件的發送對象必然是隨機的，因此收到該郵件的可能是任何人。

2. D。本題正確解答的關鍵還是建立在對這封郵件性質的判定上，確認郵件的詐騙性質后我們可以知道，收到該郵件的人，應該不要太當真，否則就很容易上當受騙。

3. C。文章中間有一段對財產分割的描寫，郵件的發送者是這樣給出分割比例的:收到本郵件的人得30%，5%作為額外的各項開支，65%歸郵件發送者，即所謂的“非洲開發銀行助理經理”所得，這樣的分配比例從表面上看起來是十分合理的，這也是誘騙人上當的一個陷阱。

4. A。本題要求選擇一個恰當的諺語，試題要求考生判斷信奉選項中哪一諺語的人會上當，根據含義分析，我們可以知道信奉A項“不入虎穴，焉得虎子”的人很容易會去冒險上當;B項意為“天下沒有免費的午餐”，信奉這一格言的人比較理性;C項意為“海納百川”;D項意為:“欲速則不達”。

讀有所得

一、有用的詞匯和短語

①account (n.) 此處意為“(銀行)賬戶”，例如:

(1) open an account開一個銀行賬戶

(2) draw money out of an account從一賬戶中取錢

此外，account還可以表示“描述，敘述”，如:

She gave the police a full account of the incident.

她把事件向警方作了詳細的敘述。

●短語拓展:

(1) take...into account/consideration把……考慮在內

When judging his performance， don’t take his age into account.

評定他表現時，不必考慮他的年齡。

(2) on no account絕不可以，切莫

My name must on no account be mentioned to anyone.

我的名字絕不能向任何人提及。

(3) on account of由于

I was thinking of going down to the countryside for a fortnight， on account of my health.

由于我的健康狀況，我正在考慮去鄉下待兩周。

②claim (n.) 索款(作為保險金、賠償、增薪等)

make a claim for damages/a pay rise 提出損害賠償/增薪水要求

此外，claim還可以作動詞用，表示“聲稱，宣稱;索要，索賠;奪去(生命)，如:

The man claimed to have been badly treated when he was shopping in that supermarket yesterday.

那人聲稱當他昨天在超市購物的時候受到了不好的待遇。

Have you claimed the insurance yet?

你索取保險金了嗎?

The earthquake claimed thousands of lives.

地震奪去了數以千計人的生命。

③proposal (n.) 提議，建議

I’ve decided to accept their proposal and spend my vacation on the farm.

我已經決定接受他們的建議去農場度假。

proposal的動詞形式為propose，該詞的用法主要如下:

After I had finished eating， he proposed to set off immediately.

我吃完后，他就建議立即出發。

I propose resting for half an hour.

我建議休息半個小時。

The chairman proposed that they should stop the meeting.

主席建議他們停止開會。(propose后接從句時，從句中需使用虛擬語氣，虛擬的構成是should+動詞原形，should可以省略)

It was proposed that this matter be considered at the next meeting.

建議這件事情下次會議再討論。

④be transferred into (phr.)該短語表示“被轉變成……”，如:

In the past ten years， Suzhou has been transferred into an advanced industrial city.

在過去十年里，蘇州已經變成了一個先進的工業城市。

⑤transaction (n.) 業務，交易

Payments by cheque easily outnumber cash transactions.

用支票付款在數量上大大超過了現金交易。

⑥set aside (phr.)

該短語表示“把……置于一旁，留出”的含義，如:

He set aside his book and lit a cigarette.

他把書放在一邊，點了一支香煙。

I try to set aside a few minutes each day to do some exercises.

我每天盡量騰出一些時間鍛煉一下身體。

二、有用的語法和句型結構

1. It is therefore upon this discovery that I in my department now decided to make this business proposal③ to you and release the money to you as next of kin or relation since nobody is coming for it and we don’t want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund.

本句是一個強調句型，強調句的判斷依據為:去掉it is和引導詞that之后，所剩部分仍然是一個完整的句子。再如:

It is I who am to blame. (強調主語)

該受譴責的是我。(強調句的引導詞通常為that，但若被強調部分是表示人的名詞或代詞，引導詞也可以使用who)

It is for this reason that the clear sky over the mountain appears blue. (強調原因狀語)

是因為這個原因山頂上的天空才顯得那么藍。

It was when she was about to leave for work that the telephone rang. (強調時間狀語)

那是在她正準備出發去工作時電話鈴響了。

It was in the bookstore that I met your brother the other day. (強調地點狀語)

那是在書店我前幾天碰見了你的哥哥。

It was how the young man had learned five foreign languages that attracted the audience’s interest. (強調主語從句)

吸引讀者的是那個年輕人是怎樣學會五種外語的。

It is/was not until...that...表示“直到……時候才”，也是一個強調句型。

It was not until 1920 that regular radio broadcasts began.

那是直到1920年， 定期的廣播播音才開始。

It was not until quite recently that they knew the secret about Jack’s failure.

那是直到最近他們才知道杰克失敗的秘密。

2. Upon receiving your reply， I will send to you by fax or e-mail the text of the application which you shall retype and fax to us.

Upon/on doing sth...表示“一……就”這一含義，再如:

On entering the room， she found the man lying dead on the floor.

一進入屋子， 她就發現那個男的躺在地上死了。

On reaching the town， he went directly to the hotel.

一到那個鎮， 他就直接去了旅館。

編輯/梁宇清