大家好,我是英语干货君,马拉松阅读的发起者,精读精析自学英语的实践者。
今日名言分享:
今天是On Writing Well马拉松阅读的第19天,开始精读精析第四章style。

今天的精读内容,建议熟记:(下面这一段很精彩,多读几遍!)
  • The point is that you have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up. You must know what the essential tools are and what job they were designed to do. Extending the metaphor of carpentry, it`s first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials, if that's your taste. But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that's based on certain principles. If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart. 

  • Nobody becomes Tom Wolfe overnight, not even Tom Wolfe. 

【原文通读】
建议先通读一遍,了解大意,看哪些表达会让你心存疑惑,或想深入探究。
So much for early warnings about the bloated monsters that lie in ambush for the writer tying to put together a clean English sentence. 
"But," you may say, "if I eliminate everything you think is clutter and if I strip every sentence to its barest bones, will there be anything left of me?' The question is a fair one; simplicity carried to an extreme might seem to point to a style little more sophisticated than "Dick likes Jane" and "See Spot run." 
I'll answer the question first on the level of carpentry. Then I'll get to the larger issue of who the writer is and how to pre-serve his or her identity. 
Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style and how it obstructs what they are trying to say. If you give me an eight-page article and I tell you to cut it to four pages, you'll howl and say it can't be done. Then you'll go home and do it, and it will be much better. After that comes the hard part: cut-ting it to three. 
The point is that you have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up. You must know what the essential tools are and what job they were designed to do. Extending the metaphor of carpentry, its first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials, if that's your taste. But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that's based on certain principles. If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart. 
I'll admit that certain nonfiction writers, like Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer, have built some remarkable houses. But these are writers who spent years learning their craft, and when at last they raised their fanciful turrets and hanging gardens, to the surprise of all of us who never dreamed of such ornamentation, they knew what they were doing. Nobody becomes Tom Wolfe overnight, not even Tom Wolfe. 

【原文精读】
精读提示:加粗为需要注意的表达,会给出参考翻译;其后若有(),则括号里的内容是对该表达进行解读,字体为红色标记为绿色的为建议熟记的内容;另外,为了阅读的流畅,会把要深入探究的内容标记为橙色背景,放在文章最后统一进行梳理。
So much for early warnings about the bloated monsters that lie in ambush for the writer tying to put together a clean English sentence. 
"But," you may say, "if I eliminate everything you think is clutter and if I strip every sentence to its barest bones, will there be anything left of me?' The question is a fair one; simplicity carried to an extreme might seem to point to a stylelittle more sophisticated than "Dick likes Jane" and "See Spot run." 
I'll answer the question first on the level of carpentry. Then I'll get to the larger issue of who the writer is and how to preserve his or her identity
【表达梳理&解读】

  1. so much for…… ……就先说这些。 
  2. lie in ambush 潜伏
  3. strip every sentence to its barest bones 把每个句子精简至极致(注意strip……to这个句式,若to后是its barest bones,则是用了隐喻了。)
  4. Will there anything left of me? 那这还是我的文章吗(注意,是left of me,不是 left for me)
  5. a fair one 一个好问题(这里one指代同一句话中的question。注意,在英语句子中,一个句子中的指代经常会用one)
  6. simplicity carried to an extreme 被精简到极致
  7. answer the question first on the level of carpentry 先从木匠这个层面来回答这个问题
  8. get to the larger issue of... 讨论更大的……问题
  9. how to preserve his or her identity 如何保留作者的身份特征

Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style and how it obstructs what they are trying to say. If you give me an eight-page article and I tell you to cut it to four pages, you'll howl and say it can't be done. Then you'll go home and do it, and it will be much better. After that comes the hard part: cutting it to three. 
【表达梳理&解读】
  1. Few people realize how badly they write 很少有人意识到他们自己写的有多糟糕(其实,在进行英语写作备考时,有一个很简单的办法来确定自己的文章到底好不好,就是在挑选训练的题目时,务必找那些有对应好范文的题目,自己写完之后,比对一下,自然可以大概知道自己哪些地方需要提升;不过,全面具体第搞清楚自己的写作问题还是比较复杂的问题。以后会单独讨论这个问题。)
  2. how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style 他们的文章风格早已变得臃肿不堪。(主语这里crept一词的使用,特别形象生动!其实不管是英语还是汉语,动词的巧妙使用都会让文章增色很多!)
  3. obstruct 阻挡
  4. you`ll howl and say it can`t be done. 你可能会大声嚷嚷,说这根本不可能办到
  5. after that comes the hard part 在此之后,就该啃硬骨头了。(主语after that comes...这是完全倒装!)

The point is that you have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up. You must know what the essential tools are and what job they were designed to do. Extending the metaphor of carpentry, it`s first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials, if that's your taste. But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that's based on certain principles. If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart.
【表达梳理&解读】
  1. The point is that you have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up. 关键是你必须把你的文章拆分开来,这样才能真正组织成文章。(这句话是写好文章很关键的一个观点,一定要牢记于心)
  2. saw 锯开
  3. drive nails 钉钉字
  4. bevel 把(某物)切成或磨成斜边或斜角
  5. finials 物件顶端的装饰物
  6. rickety 连接处不牢固的,快要散架的;

I'll admit that certain nonfiction writers, like Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer, have built some remarkable houses. But these are writers who spent years learning their craft, and when at last they raised their fanciful turrets and hanging gardens, to the surprise of all of us who never dreamed of such ornamentation, they knew what they were doing. Nobody becomes Tom Wolfe overnight, not even Tom Wolfe. 
【表达梳理&解读】
Tom Wolfe 托马斯·沃尔夫(1900-1938),20世纪美国作家。代表作品有长篇小说《天使,望故乡》
Norman Mailer  诺曼·梅勒二战以后美国最重要的作家。他在美国文坛活跃了足足60年,被视为“美国最伟大的当代作家”。
turret 塔楼
ornamentation 装饰

【深入挖掘】
One表指代时,和it,that的区别
1. it/one /that三者均可用作代词, 指代前面提到的名词。一般说来, it指代同名同物; one与that则指代同名异物。
I have lost my umbrella; I'm looking for it. (该句中it就是指前面的my umbrella)
I have lost my umbrella; I think I must buy one. (one在该句中表泛指, 因为my umbrella已经丢了)
The umbrella you bought is cheaper than that I bought. (替代词that在该句中特指“the umbrella I bought”, 以区别“the umbrella you bought”)
2. one与that虽可用来指代同名异物, 但one为泛指, 相当于a/an+名词; that为特指, 相当于the +名词。所以one所指代的名词的修饰语一般为 a/an /some /any; that所指代的名词的修饰语往往是the /this /that。
A chair made of steel is stronger than one made of wood. (该句中one可以换成a chair)
The water in the cup is hotter than that in the pot. (该句中that可以换成 the water)
3. one只能代替可数名词单数, 代替可数名词复数时用ones; that既可以代替不可数名词也可以代替可数名词单数, 代替可数名词复数时用 those。
I like this pen more than that one. (one代替可数名词单数pen)
There were a few young people and some older ones in the house. (ones代替可数名词复数people)
Mary's handwriting is far better than that of Peter. (that代替不可数名词 handwriting)
These pictures are more beautiful than those. (those代替可数名词复数 pictures)
4. one既可代替事物, 也可代替人, that只能代替事物而不能代替人。有时可以用the one或the ones代替that或those。
The one /That on the table is mine. (该句中The one代替事物, 并且也可以用That)
He is the teacher, the one who is loved by the students. (该句中the one代替人, 不能用that)
He advised the farmers to choose the best seed-heads, the ones /those that had the best color. (该句中the ones代替事物, 并且也可以用those)
5. one一般有前置修饰语, 有时也可有后置修饰语或不用修饰语。而 that不能有前置修饰语, 但可有后置修饰语。
Cook was a strict but good captain, one who took good care of his sailors.
The water in the well is cleaner than that in the river.
6. it可以替代句中的不定式或从句等, 充当形式主语或形式宾语。one与that均无此用法。
It is known to everybody that the moon travels around the earth once every month.
I found it hard to get on with her.
7. it与that均可以替代上文全句的内容或部分内容, 而one /ones则不可以。
He has saved my life; I'll never forget it. (it代替第一分句)
Tom is painting his house. I am told he does it every four years. (it代替前面分句的部分内容painting his house)
Let's say we meet here at three o'clock. That ought to give you

这次的On Writing Well就到此结束。明天继续精读第四章style。 
如果手里没有On Writing Well这本书,可以在公众号里回复:On Writing Well(不是留言!)获取该书电子版的下载链接。这本书是最好的英语写作指导书之一,条件允许的话,建议入手一本。
On Writing Well在豆瓣读书的评分:
On  Writing Well京东购买链接:

最后,再回顾下这篇精读中建议熟记的内容(建议选择其中至少一个,翻译并留言,这样可以加深印象,也能一起学习讨论!)
  • The point is that you have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up. You must know what the essential tools are and what job they were designed to do. Extending the metaphor of carpentry, it`s first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials, if that's your taste. But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that's based on certain principles. If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart. 

  • Nobody becomes Tom Wolfe overnight, not even Tom Wolfe. 
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