Ⅰ.Words and express

1.Don't worry about whether the reader will "get it" if you indulge a sudden impulse for humor.

indulge to give in to a wish or desire, give oneself up to.

2.If you lose the dullards back in the dust, you don't want them anyway.

dullard? a stupid, insentive person.

3.Now I am saying you must write for yourself and not be gnawed by worry over whether the readers is tagging along.

gnaw? bite or chew on the teeth.

tagging along? to follow somebody closely.

gnawed by worry在這里十分有趣酌媒，很生動地體現(xiàn)了寫作時瞻前顧后菇存，生怕讀者不能理解的狀態(tài)

4.Simplify, prune and strive for order.

prune? weed out unwanted or unnecessary things.

strive to devote much energy or effort, try hard.

5.The English language is rich in stong and supple words.

supple? flexible 可替換

6.Condoleezza Rice, who hosts foreign notables to beef up the morale of top State Department staffers.

beef up? to make something bigger.

morale? the spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to succeed.

Ⅱ.Summary

In chapter 5 "The Audience", there is a fundamental question "who am I writing for?" Zinsser gave us a fundamental answer: "writing for yourself."

When you are writing, there is no need to pay too much attention to readers' feeling and favor. Yourself is the only one you need to express and pleased.

However, it doesn't mean the audience should be ignored. Writing is a craft. We must write clarity and simplicity which readers can get the point easily. Meanwhile, a proper attitude is essential. We should use normal and precise words, while in the contexts, we should express who am I.

Chapter 6 "Words" told us journalese caused bad influence on people's style. That kind of writing is full of inappropriate use of words.

Zinsser pointed out, two habits can save us from this plight. One is reading and other is using dictionaries. Reading can teach us learning from ourselves and others writing. Using dictionaries can make us writing more precise. What's more, rhythm and alliteration are also vital to writing.

Ⅲ.Thoughts

第五章中談到閱讀的受眾，Zinsser指出篙梢，我們首先要考慮的受眾是自己。寫作在于表達真實的自己愉烙，而不是去迎合讀者的心理預(yù)期珠漂。實際上，在寫作之初浅役，過多考慮讀者的喜好本就是個悖論，讀者或編輯在讀到作品之前原本就是沒有任何預(yù)期的伶唯。因此觉既，作者要表現(xiàn)的是自己，要取悅的也是自己。

取悅自己并非意味著隨心所欲的寫瞪讼。在語言上岭参，仍然需要修枝剪葉，使文章便于理解尝艘，這是寫作最基本的要求演侯，也是對讀者的尊重。而在寫作的內(nèi)容上背亥，則需要遵從自己的內(nèi)心秒际。第五章的內(nèi)容可簡要概括為，作家首先要忠于自己狡汉，才能忠于讀者娄徊，即“我手寫我口，古豈能拘牽”盾戴。

第六章首先指出新聞文體對寫作中個人風(fēng)格形成的不利影響寄锐。一方面在于人們在耳濡目染中不自覺的受到了影響，另一方面則是最根本的原因尖啡，人們對對于詞匯的掌握和語言的駕馭能力需要提升橄仆。Zinsser給出的解決之法有兩個，一是多讀衅斩，二是查字典盆顾。

遣詞造句的功力并非一蹴而就，而是需要日積月累畏梆。Zinsser推薦的幾本字典您宪，有基本的詞義，還有近義詞奠涌、押韻詞宪巨。抑揚頓挫顯然是對寫作的更高層次的要求，在朗讀中感受詞句的韻律溜畅，進而達到語言的流暢捏卓。