On Writing Well CH16

I. Words and express

1.Just as in science writing, anxiety is a big part of the problem and humanity and clear thinking are a big part of the solution.

这一句的表述非常优美，a big part of 重复使用，problem 与 solution 分别对应，整个句子的结构十分精巧。

2. Countless careers rise or fall on the ability or the inability of employees to state a set of facts, summarize a meeting or present an idea coherently.

rise or fall 和 the ability or the inability 对应，简练地表明商业写作对职员的工作的影响

3. Information can be imparted clearly and without pomposity.

pomposity n.浮华；虚夸；炫耀；自负；浮华的言辞、虚夸的作风

4. We don't want to go anywhere with a mind that expresses itself in such suffocating language.

suffocating adj.令人窒息的，憋气的  (breathless, dyspneic)

5. Dr. Fleishman was the first adult in my experience who admitted that youth has no momopoly on verbal sludge.

sludge any thich messy substance

synonymous: slime, muck, gook

has no monopoly on  对……没有垄断地位

6. I told them not to use the special vocabulary of education as a crutch, almost any subject can be made accessible in good English.

crutch  anything that serves as an expedient

can be made accessible in good English  在这里指任何素材都能够通过流畅的英文表达出来

II. Summary

Humanity and clear thinking are the solutions of writers anxiety in sicence writing. Even people work for an institution, that doesn't means they should use a cold and pomposity way in their writing. The style of writing is define who we are. So we should use "I" more often in our writing, because ourselves are the rich resource.

Zinsser mentioned that, clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity are also enssential in businiess writing. What's more, we should avoid use concepts nouns and long words instead of active verbs. The key we should remember is that the business writing is for readers, try to make it like a plain talk. We are writing to hunman being, so we should showing our personality.

III. Thoughts

本章讨论的是商务写作的问题。众所周知，我们经常接触的那些公文、信函，几乎全是一副冷冰冰的口吻，让人颇有距离感。甚至于一些政府公文，在语言上故弄玄虚，让人十分费解，不明所以。对此，Zinsser指出，并不是说人们在政府机构、企事业单位工作，写出来的文章就要一板一眼，像是机器人写的那样；更不能因为同行们都那么写，于是就不敢发挥出自己的特色。

简而言之，本章可以用两句话概括，一是“写给人看”，二是“写人话”。在商务写作中，虽然看起来是作者代表一所机构在发声，但实际上和客户打交道的是人而并非机构，并且文案本身会给客户留下深刻的印象，甚至于决定成败，因此，写作中的人性关怀尤为重要。弄清楚了我们面对的受众，接下来就是要调整自己的写作风格，既然我们是要写给一群读者们，那么我们也就无需像机器人那样机械化的写作，抛弃那些长难句和故作深奥的名词，以简练易读为首要原则，以自己的风格与打动他们。