11.6-On Writing Well

10 Bits & Pieces

Expressions

The second is necessarily longer and it has an insipid quality: something was done by somebody to someone else.

insipid 1. having almost no taste or flavour【SYN】 flavourless

»a cup of insipid coffee一杯淡而无味的咖啡

这里意思 2. not interesting or exciting     【SYN】 dull

»After an hour of insipid conversation, I left.经过一个小时乏味的谈话之后,我离开了。

A style that consists of passive constructions will sap the reader’s energy.

sap  1.（尤指经过一段很长的时间）使伤元气；削弱；使耗尽

•Constant criticism saps you of your confidence.不间断的批评会消磨信心。

另一常见意思2.（植物运送养分的）汁，液

These are brief thoughts on punctuation, in no way intended as a primer.

primer  美国英语中，1读作 /'praɪmə/，2读作 /'prɪmə/。

1[物质名词] 底漆；底层涂料；Primer is a type of paint that is put onto wood in order to prepare it for the main layer of paint.

这里意思a short informative piece of writing

2[可数名词] 初级读本；启蒙书；入门书；A primer is a book containing basic facts about a subject, which is used by someone who is beginning to study that subject.

Read that aloud and hear how stilted it sounds.

stilted (言谈)呆板的，生硬的，不自然的；If someone speaks in a stilted way, they speak in a formal or unnatural way, for example because they are not relaxed.

--We made polite, stilted conversation.我们客套了一番。

--His delivery was stilted and occasionally stumbling.他的发言很生硬，有时还打结巴。

This is a new American disease that strings two or three nouns together where one noun—or, better yet, one verb—will do.

disease 弊端；恶疾；痼疾

[C] 可数(formal) something that is very wrong with people's attitudes, way of life or with society

»Greed is a disease of modern society.贪婪是现代社会的恶疾。

Thoughts

1.讲了动词，形容词和副词。除非必要用被动语态更合适，否则使用主动语态动词。The Elements of Style中也说使用有力的名词和动词。名词和动词是支撑整个文章的灵魂，形容词和副词可以填补血肉，却不能替代它们。然而我们很喜欢堆砌很多不必要的形容词和副词修饰，学会节制吧。

2.去掉小修饰词the small words that qualify how you feel and how you think and what you saw: “a bit,” “a little,” “sort of,” “kind：一点，也许，可能，相当，非常等等。作者说好的写作精练而自信。在写作上，我基本同意。不过个人感觉在口语中有时候用这些词表达会更委婉亲切。

3,标点符号，我也同意破折号有时很有用。语气变化词的作用也赞同：Learn to alert the reader as soon as possible to any change in mood from the previous sentence. (“but,” “yet,” “however,”“nevertheless,”“still,”“instead,” “thus,” “therefore,” “meanwhile,” “now,” “later,”“today,” “subsequently”)

5.always use “that” unless it makes your meaning ambiguous.

6.说到名词，不要堆砌概念名词或名词串，作者认为加入人和动词会更生动。

7.夸大其词降低可信度。

8.口述的句子很容易夸大其词，废话连篇，最好适当修改。

9.写作不是竞赛，按照自己的步调走。同自己比。

10.保持段落简短。写作具有视觉性。但也不要使用连续的短段落。长短结合。