I. Words and express
1. Who doesn't possess some cluster of vivid images that can be recalled from an inconceivably early life?
some cluster of vivid images "一些栩栩如生的画面"
inconceivably adv.不可思议地 synonymous: impossible, out of the question, unimaginable
2. Just because you're dealing with a scholarly discipline that's usually reported in a style of dry pedantry is no reason why you shouldn't write in good fresh English.
pedantry an ostentatious and inappropriate display of learning
dry pedantry 和 fresh English 对应，干巴巴的卖弄学问和生动的英文。
3. Loren Eiseley was a naturalist who refuse to be cowed by nature as he passed on to us.
cow v.subdue, restrain, or overcome by affecting with a feeling of awe; frighten (as with threats).
4. Speaking of compression, that paragraph is a gem of tight linear writing.
“若说简明扼要，那一段可谓是紧凑连贯的文章中的精华所在。”
5. 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。
6. 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
7. 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
8. The answer is that these words have become even cheaper currency than the coins they were meant to replace.
用要被替换的硬币来表示一些写作中用词的陈旧，cheaper currency与coins对应，十分有趣
9. They come flooding automatically out of the typewriter of every scribe (sportswriter) in every press box.
come flooding automatically "flooding"用在这里十分形象，如水流般不经思索地流出
10. American sport has always been interwoven with social history, and the best writers are men and women who make the connection.
interweave vt.使（与……交织） (twist, twine, distort)
11. They will trot out the hard-won words of their college education.
trot out to bring forward, as for approbation or admiration, esp repeatedly
hard-won achieved only after a lot of effort and difficulty
12. Criticism is the stage on which journalists do their fanciest strutting. It's also where reputations for wit are born.
strutting someone who struts walks in a proud way, with their head held high and their chest out, as if they are very important.
"It's also where reputations for wit are born" （评论文体）同时也是智慧展示声望的地方
13. Humor may seem to be an act of gross exaggeration.
an act of gross exaggeration “夸张的行为”
14. If this strikes you as a paradox, you're not alone.
strikes you 用在这里十分巧妙，比起"If you find this is a paradox" 的平铺直叙，用strike显得十分机智。
II. Summary
III. Thoughts
本周阅读的内容为各类文体的写作，Zinsser首先指出，nonfiction虽然是写实，但并非缺少文学性，实际上它的外延十分广泛，这就给作者留下了许多自由发挥的空间，但作者该如何表达自我？Clarity and humanity，二者是贯穿全文的核心。
其次，在我们一度误认为难以展现个性的文体中，Zinsser为我们指出了一条路。科技类写作令人生畏，公文写作充满了繁文缛节，运动报道千篇一律，的确，我们日常见到的这类文章多半令人厌倦，但是，它们其实不应该被写成这样。
科技的确复杂，但写作何必故弄玄虚？作者理应放下身段，让文风更加平易近人一些，而不是把自己定位成一个古板的老学究。商务公文是典型的应用文体，写出来是给人看的，那么就要简明扼要的说人话，不要把官僚主义的做派带到文章中。至于运动报道，读者其实并不只是关心输赢，比分的几个数字自然是一目了然，而报道最重要的再现比赛中的精彩或是运动员的心路历程。
至于评论与谐趣，前者需要丰富的学养积淀，而后者，Zinsser的观点更加的发人深省——谐趣写作是一件严肃的工作。的确，文章并不是写来玩的，并非仅为博人一笑，使人有所深思、有所启发才是写作的价值。在当今“娱乐至死”的环境中，这未尝不是一记警钟。
思考On Writing Well时，我忽然想起了刘勰的《文心雕龙》。On Writing Well显然不能与“体大思精”的《文心雕龙》相提并论，但二者在涉及文章之“道”时，倒是有些许相似之处。在On Writing Well里，Zinsser的主要观点是作者需要在写作中展现personality与humanity，而《文心雕龙》曰：“情者，文之经；辞者，理之纬。经正而后纬成，理定而后辞畅。”虽然刘勰将《原道》、《徵圣》、《宗经》作为整部《文心雕龙》的主旨，但他认为文章并非是仅有“道”与“理”，而是要有与“理”、“志”、“气”相结合的“情”。至于言辞，刘勰同样提倡简洁，“辞约而旨丰，事近而喻远”，Zinsser的clarity与brevity与之相映成趣。可见，尽管中西方审美迥异，文论更是大相径庭，但对于什么才是好的文章，总有一些相近的观点。