Vocabulary
serve
You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose.
有用,有助于實現(xiàn)
don't serve any purpose 沒有任何用途
The judge said the fine would serve as a warning to other drivers. 法官說此次罰款對其他疏忽駕駛的司機(jī)會是一種警告
How can we serve the needs of future generations? 我們怎么才能滿足子孫后代的需求?
physician & physicist
personal physician 私人醫(yī)生
physicist 物理學(xué)家
blunt
By using a more pompous phrase in his professional role he not only sounds more important; he blunts the painful edge of truth.
使變鈍 to make sth less sharp
e.g. blunt the knives
也可表示削弱感情锅纺,to make the feeling less strong
My recent bad experience had blunted my enthusiasm for travel. 最近的倒霉經(jīng)歷已經(jīng)使我對旅游的熱情減弱了不少。
hang on
Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful?
hang on 抓住 to keep hold
hang on (informal) 可表示稍等一會
Hang on - I'll just see if he's there.
Hang on a minute - I'll be with you in a moment!
Summary
Clutter是很常見的吭狡,比如委婉的說辭,官方的說法丈莺,寫作文強行拓展短語湊字?jǐn)?shù)等等划煮,但是站在寫作的角度,clutter完全是多余的缔俄。Zinsser的方法是用括號標(biāo)注不必要的和無意義的語句般此,對文章就進(jìn)行刪減,但是對于新手來說牵现,這樣有可能會刪掉大半內(nèi)容铐懊,失去作者本來的意思。
But soon the students learned to put mental brackets around their own clutter, and by the end of the term their papers were almost clean.
在不斷的練習(xí)中瞎疼,學(xué)生們會逐漸在思考的時候就“標(biāo)注”括號科乎,think clearly and write clearly,文章也會逐漸變得清晰贼急。
Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly.
Be grateful for everything you can throw away
Reexamine each sentence you put on paper.
Ch.4 Style 講到寫文章的要表現(xiàn)一個真實的自己茅茂,be yourself,向讀者展示一個放松的并且自信的自己太抓,不要刻意的寫作空闲。
Writing is an intimate transaction between two people, conducted on paper, and it will go well to the extent that it retains its humanity.
寫作中的“我”是真實的也是虛擬的,虛擬的人物來自真實的作者走敌,會體現(xiàn)作者的人文關(guān)懷/人性碴倾。Zinsser提倡使用第一人稱寫作,但也講了很多不能使用第一人稱的情況掉丽,比如新聞跌榔、學(xué)術(shù)等一些需要客觀態(tài)度的文章。
另外捶障,這本書是在教給我們?nèi)绾螌懳恼律耄⒉煌耆m用于academic writing,就好語文考試中的寫作文和寫文章并不一樣项炼。
句子摘抄
Fighting clutter is like fighting weeds—the writer is always slightly behind.
He blunts the painful edge of truth.
You can develop the same eye.