Writing Personal Letters (1)

私人信函通常由以下五个部分组成：

日期（Date）：通常出现在信页右上角。

称呼语（Opening）：称呼收信者，通常是Dear 后跟收信者姓名，再加逗号或冒号。
信的正文（Body）：写信者想表达的信息，由一个或数个段落组成。
结尾（Closing）：表示礼貌、谦恭、祝愿等的短语（如All the best，Best wishes，或者Yours truly），后跟逗号。
签名（Signature）：如收信者是熟人，签上写信者的名即可；如不是则签上姓名。

Sample

May 1, 2014 

Dear Professor Li, 

I think you will be pleased to learn that I have been hired by a British company. The company manufactures car radios.
      Thank you for allowing me to use your name as a reference. I'm certain your recommendation carried a lot of weight in their decision to hire me. I will do my best to prove that I deserve your confidence.
      I hope to see you from time to time to let you know what and how I'm doing. When you are next in Xiamen, please visit me at my office. The company is located at 1100 Evergreen Road.

                                                                                                                 Sincerely yours,           
                                                                                                                  Wang Hong

Punctuation (2)

标点符号使用规则（2）：
1. 分号用于连接意思密切联系的两个句子，例如：
    I voted for John Smith two years ago; I would not vote for him today.
    Simon was watching Monday-night football; he was doing his homework as well. 
2. 冒号的作用：
    1) 引导有关前面名词或名词词组的说明性文字，例如：
        Here is another example: last week I was in a car with three friends. 
    2) 引导直接引语。例如：
        Andrew says: "My wife and I agree to help him."
3. 破折号用于：
    1) 隔开补充信息，特别是当这些信息由一连串逗号连起来的时候，例如：
        Everything—the grips, the pedals, the brakes—was broken.
    2) 表示语义转折或插入成分，例如：
        Forget it－I mean－cheer up!
    3) 强调或总结前半句的意思，例如：
        I like watching TV very much－I watch TV almost nine hours a day.