Filing

Vocabulary
Alphabetical: arranged in order of the letters of the alphabet.
We arrange the file in alphabetical order by name.
Cabinet: a case with drawers or shelves
Each file cabinet has four drawers.
Central filing system: procedure that organizes all the filing in one place
Each department has its own filing system instead of a central filing system.
Clerk: a person who does general office work in an office there are many clerks,
such as file clerks, mail clerks, and shipping clerks.
Correspondence letters written or received a copy of all correspondence is put in
the files.
Cross-reference a note in one place pointing out related information in another
place The Smith folder has a cross-reference to the product folder.
Department a major division of a business both the billing department and the
shipping
department are on this floor.
Duties the services included in one’s job my secretarial duties include taking
shorthand, typing and filling.
Employer a person who provides a job. My new employer shows me about the
office.
Folder a folded cardboard holder for loose papers there are some folders missing
from the file cabinet.
Index an alphabetical list of items the index for each set of files shows what the
files contain.
Miscellaneous dealing with different subjects the folder labeled “miscellaneous
“contains letters from several different companies
report a formal, detailed statement the annual report includes information on sales
for the past year
sales representative a person who sells merchandise We have only one sales
representative on our staff.
 timetable schedule of departure and arrival times of trains, planes, etc. The annual
report includes information on sales for the past year. The sales representative
consults the timetable for the earliest departure to Rome.
Exercises
Complete each sentence by filling in the most appropriate vocabulary word.
.1. A formal, detailed statement is called a_____
2. Filing by number is called____ filing.
3. The company has many offices, including a____in Europe.
4. The person who sells our products is a_____
5. Filing by location is called_____ filing.
6. A memorandum from one department to another is an___ memo
7. When you take something out of the files, you___it.
8 A list of items with descriptions is a______

Filing
Part Two
VOCABULARY
branch a section
My company has branches in many cities
Bulletin. a brief notice or statement The head office issues a bulletin every week.
catalog a list of items with descriptions Our catalog shows every piece of
equipment we make,
circular a notice distributed to many people The monthly circular goes to all our
branches
to follow up to repeat or continue an earlier action we must follow up We must
follow up on this matter until the sale is made.
Geographical regarding a region or area geographical They file the letters from
the branch offices according to geographical location
inter-office, inter-departmental taking place between the office or departments of
an organization There is a lot of inter-office mail in large companies.
memo, memorandum a short, informal note, usually for inter-office
correspondence The memo on accounting procedures came to the office.
to notice to observe, to see Did you notice the new file cabinets?
numerical regarding numbers Each customer's order has a number on it. It is kept
in a numerical file.
out-slip, out-guide, out-card a note placed in the file to show that a folder has
been removed There is an out-slip in the correspondence file instead of the folder
for the Gray Business Company.
pending waiting for Please put this memo in the pending file until we receive more
information the subject.
to purchase to buy The customer wishes to purchase the products on page 3 of
our catalog.
to remove to take away, to take out I tell the clerk not to remove any folders from
the confidential file.
Part Three
VOCABULARY
card file a file in which entries are arranged on small pieces of paper The
secretary keeps telephone numbers in a card file.
Chronological arranged by date The daily reading file is arranged in
chronological order. It starts with the first day of the month and goes to the last day
confidential private, secret Do not discuss the matter with anyone; it is very
confidential.
Dictation I take dictation from my employer every morning and transcribe it every
after- noon
dictation material written in shorthand noon
inactive not active, out of use We no longer need these folders Please place them
in the inactive file
microfilm a photographic record of printed matter greatly reduced in size.
Sometimes we put inactive files on microfilm to save space
to remind to cause to remember My secretary reminds me when I have a
luncheon date
 tickler a file that serves as a reminder. Please bring me the correspondence from
the tickler for today.