Using English at Work：12 Checking Mail,Email,and Voicemail(5)

"Trash" is another word for garbage, or something that you throw away, that you don't want.

So your "trash folder¹" is where the email program may put trash - things you don't want.

Many email programs have a separate² "spam folder," where all the spam messages go.

When I check through my trash folder, I look at all the messages in the folder, just to make sure they're really trash or things I don't want anymore, so I can read any messages that were put there by accident.

We're not supposed to, at my office, get personal emails at work, but sometimes my friends send or forward me messages to my work address.

"To forward (something)" in this case means³ to send an email that you have received to other people.

Sometimes my friends and relatives forward funny jokes - although usually they're not very funny!

They didn't write the jokes, but they receive them from other people and then forward them to their friends.

When my friends forward messages to my work email address, I have to make sure I respond⁴ to or answer them using my personal email address, not my work email address.

When I don't have time to finish a message, or when I get interrupted⁵, I save my message into my draft⁶ folder.

A "draft" is an unfinished document, or something that you have begun to write but have not yet finished.

You go through many drafts⁷, usually, when we write things, especially formal reports.

We hope that each time we write a new draft, or revise⁸ or change the draft it gets better.

A "draft folder" is where an email program puts messages that you have started writing but aren't ready to send yet, you still haven't finished them.

Later, when you have time, you can go back to your draft folder, finish writing the message that you started earlier, and then send it to someone after you've finished it.

Finally, or lastly, I check my voicemail.

"Voicemail" is a system of recorded voice messages from people who call your phone number when you aren't able to answer the phone.

1 folder   

n.纸夹，文件夹

参考例句：

• Peter returned the plan and charts to their folder.彼得把这份计划和表格放回文件夹中。
• He draws the document from its folder.他把文件从硬纸夹里抽出来。

2 separate   

n.分开，抽印本；adj.分开的，各自的，单独的；v.分开，隔开，分居

参考例句：

• Are they joined together or separate?它们是合在一起还是分开的？
• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering.洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

4 respond   

vi.回答，响应

参考例句：

• I offered him a drink but he did not respond.我请他喝酒，但他未作回答。
• I greeted him but he didn't respond.我跟他打招呼，他没答理我。

5 interrupted   

adj. 中断的 动词interrupt的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He could not conceal his annoyance at being interrupted. 他因受扰而难掩怒色。
• She was interrupted by the entrance of an attendant. 服务员进来，打断了她的话。

6 draft   

vt.起草，作...的草稿；n.草稿，草图，草案

参考例句：

• He's now revising the first draft of his essay.他目前正修改他的文章初稿。
• The draft of this article has been done。这篇文章已经定稿。

7 drafts   

n.精绵；汇票( draft的名词复数 )；草稿；选派；（尤指房间、烟囱、炉子等供暖系统中的）（小股）气流v.起草( draft的第三人称单数 )；制定；征募；拟稿

参考例句：

• Brimelow, as did we, judged existing Soviet drafts unacceptable. 布赖姆洛和我们一样，认为苏联现在的这个草案是不能接受的。 来自辞典例句
• Modern controlled drafting systems use drafts of the order of 30. 新式的牵伸控制系统使用大约30倍牵伸。 来自辞典例句

8 revise   

vt.修订，校订，修正

参考例句：

• You should revise your opinion of him.你应该纠正对他的看法。
• In the light of these changes,we must revise our plan.鉴于这些变化，我们必须重新修订我们的计划。