Nov.13 On Writing Well（Ch15）

今天又get到一本书Slience Spring，这本书之前听老师提过大概讲化学农药危害，我们使用化学农药杀虫，会积累于昆虫的体内，这些昆虫成为其他动物的食物后，一层一层直至到食物链顶端的我们。Zinsser几乎每章都会举例大量书，把感兴趣的都记下来以后看。

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PART ONE VOCABULARY

1.affliction

The students have a common affliction: fear of science.

affliciton:something that causes pain or suffering, especially a medical condition痛苦折磨，尤指病痛

2.demystify

Writing, demystified, is just another way for scientists to transmit what they know.

demystify:to make a subject that seems difficult or comlicated easier to understand， especially by explaining it in simple lanuage浅显易懂地解释

3.flunked

I once flunked a chemistry course taught by a woman who had become a legend with three generations of students, the legend being she could teach chemistry to anybody.

flunk：If you flunk an exam or a course, you fail to reach the required standardt

e.g.I flunked a chinese course last term.

动词短语:

flunk out of  sth:to be forced to leave a school or college because your work is not good enough

4.layman

But as a writer I’ve learned that scientific and technical material can be made accessible to the layman.

layman：A layman is a person who is not trained, qualified, or experienced in a particular subject or activity.外行；门外汉；它的相反词就是expert

5.fanciful

This is no place for fanciful leaps or implied truths.

fanciful：If you describe an idea as fanciful, you disapprove of it because you think it comes from someone's imagination, and is therefore unrealistic or unlikely to be true.[disapproval]空想的

6.chaos

I was sure we were in for chaos.

Chaos is a state of complete disorder and confusion.混乱

e.g.It is impossible to establish democracy amid economicchaos.

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PART TWO THOUGHTS

writing is not a special language owned by the English teacher. Writing is thinking on paper. Anyone who thinks clearly can write clearly, about anything at all. Science, demystified, is just another nonfiction subject. Writing, demystified, is just another way for scientists to transmit what they know.

如Zinsser在文中举例当他要求文科的学生写一些理科类科技的文章的时候，学生会有痛苦，害怕理科。所以Zinsser建议文科生把科技类当做非小说。之前高考语文阅读总会出一篇说明文或者议论文搭配一篇记叙文，我们总是在记叙文上拿高分，但只要一碰到科普类的文章，分数立马下降，总觉得看不懂说什么。

想象把科技类写作当成一个倒立的金字塔，最底层的从已知知识出发，逐渐拓宽了解更多内容。这个和我之前学的《教育心理学》里面提到的认知心理学很相似，认知过程是完整的，新的知识必须建立在原有的知识之上，层层递进。心理学家奥苏伯尔提出建构主义，把学习看作一种重构，或是建构的过程。人的学习过程永远不是从平地建房子，而是在一个地基上建房子。你如何建好新的房子，要取决于你的建房方式如何适应最开始的地基。

对于如何写科技类文章，作者提出很多建议，如写你自己的经验、编制科学故事、将读者不熟悉的部分与原先熟悉的部分连接起来。

Zinsser不断提及简短，speaking要精简，而且写科技文要有人情味，毕竟科普书籍不是科研书籍。