Documents for Life

Workplace Documents

Public Documents

Consumer Documents

Practice

Reading Informational Texts

Feature Menu

A document is a written text that records important information.

During your lifetime, you will create, fill out, and receive thousands of documents.

Documents for Life

Even a simple act such as going to a movie may involve the use of many documents.

tickets

Documents for Life

newspaper listings (show times)

film reviewsthe official Web site

movie ads

Life today requires a strong working knowledge of the information superhighway.

Documents for Life

Fortunately, the documents we use to navigate our world tend to share the same basic patterns and structures.

Knowing those patterns may help you keep moving ahead—instead of getting lost or left behind.

Most of the documents you will use can be divided into three categories.

Documents for Life

• workplace documents

• public documents

• consumer documents

Each category of documents has its own specific purposes and characteristics. [End of Section]

Most jobs require you to read for information. The workplace documents you will read serve two basic functions:

Workplace Documents

communication

instruction

This doctor is reading a patient’s chart. What kind of information does the chart communicate?

Workplace Documents

Workplace documents that communicate information include e-mails, memorandums, and reports.

Workplace documents that instruct include employee manuals, user’s guides, and other guidelines related to tools or skills needed for the job.

[End of Section]

Workplace Documents

This doctor is reading about a new drug. What would she hope to learn from such a document?

Public documents exist to tell people what is happening in their own community, city, state, and nation and even on the planet.

This document tells people that the neighborhood they are entering has an organized crime watch.

Public Documents

Public documents inform people about

Public Documents

[End of Section]

• situations

• rights and responsibilities

• schedules

• decisions

• events

Consumer documents give you the information you need to select, purchase, and use the things you buy.

What documents would you expect to receive with a new laptop computer?

Consumer Documents

• product information • an invoice or receipt• a warranty• an instruction manual• technical directions

As a consumer, you are responsible for finding out if the goods you buy are what you want or need—before you buy them.

Consumer Documents

product information

tells about the product’s characteristics and features

If you buy it, you’re stuck with it.

contracts define what you’re getting, how much it costs, and how long the agreement lasts

If you sign a contact, you are legally bound by it.

Always read the fine print in the following types of consumer documents.

Consumer Documents

warranties guarantee that the product will work for a specified amount of time; tell what problems the company will fix

If it’s not in the warranty, the company won’t fix it.

instruction manuals

tell you how to use the product

If you break the product by misusing it, the company won’t fix it.

Always read the fine print in the following types of consumer documents.

Consumer Documents

technical directions

tell you how to assemble and operate complicated devices

If you skip a step or do it out of order, the device may not work.

Always read the fine print in the following types of consumer documents.

When you follow technical directions, always

Consumer Documents

[End of Section]

• read the directions all the way through before you begin

• check off the steps one by one as you complete them

• compare your work with the diagrams and drawings for each step

Let’s Try It

Practice

1. What service is this agreement for?

2. Does the subscriber have to let WarpSpeedNet employees into her home ?

SERVICE AGREEMENT

1.EquipmentA.Equipment includes renting of cable modem and necessary connections to permit use of one (1) computer to WarpSpeedNet service.B. WarpSpeedNet will install equipment. Subscriber will grant company reasonable access to install, inspect, repair, maintain, or disconnect the equipment. Refusal to do so may result in discontinued service.

Let’s Try It

C. Cable equipment remains the property of WarpSpeedNet. Upon termination of service, equipment shall be returned in original condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted.

2. ChargesA. Subscriber agrees to pay for the monthly service subscribed to, including charges for installation, in advance. Monthly charges are set forth on a separate price list and are subject to change.

Practice

3. When does the subscriber pay for WarpSpeedNet to install the equipment in her home?

Let’s Try It

B. Subscribers who discontinue service will be required to pay all due and past-due charges. If the subscriber reconnects service, a charge will apply.C. If cable equipment is lost, damaged, or stolen, subscriber must pay $300 to WarpSpeedNet for replacement.

________________________________Company representative signature and date________________________________Subscriber signature and date

Practice

4. If the subscriber ends the service, does she have to pay $300?

5. What happens when the document is signed?

The End

Reading Informational Texts