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20天，继续精读精析第四章style。如果昨天的还没读，建议看一下，再看今天的：
第19天 | 马拉松阅读 第一辑： 英语原著On Writing Well精读精析
。

今天的精读内容，建议熟记： 
  • if what you build is sturdy and serviceable, take satisfaction in its plain strength. 
  • style is organic to the person doing the writing, as much a part of him as his hair, or, if he is bald, his lack of it. Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the formerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance—and with a toupee there's always a second glance—he doesn't look quite right. The problem is not that he doesn't look well groomed; he does, and we can only admire the wigmaker's skill. The point is that he doesn't look like himself. 
  • Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself. 
  • No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible. They must relax, and they must have confidence. 
【原文通读】提示：标记为绿色的为建议识记的内容。
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。
这几段写的极其精彩，尤其是作者为了表明很多人自以为是的所谓风格是多么荒谬，用秃子戴假发所作的类比；以及搞写作的人无法放松时的描述特别惟妙惟肖。
First, then, learn to hammer the nails, and if what you build is sturdy and serviceable, take satisfaction in its plain strength. 
But you will be impatient to find a "style—to embellish the plain words so that readers will recognize you as someone special. You will reach for gaudy similes and tinseled adjectives, as if "style" were something you could buy at the style store and drape onto your words in bright decorator colors. (Decorator colors are the colors that decorators come in.) There is no style store; style is organic to the person doing the writing, as much a part of him as his hair, or, if he is bald, his lack of it. Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the formerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance—and with a toupee there's always a second glance—he doesn't look quite right. The problem is not that he doesn't look well groomed; he does, and we can only admire the wigmaker's skill. The point is that he doesn't look like himself. 
This is the problem of writers who set out deliberately to garnish their prose. You lose whatever it is that makes you unique. The reader will notice if you are putting on airs. Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself. 
No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible. They must relax, and they must have confidence. 
Telling a writer to relax is like telling a man to relax while being examined for a hernia, and as for confidence, see how stiffly he sits, glaring at the screen that awaits his words. See how often he gets up to look for something to eat or drink. A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing. I can testify from my newspaper days that the number of trips to the water cooler per reporter-hour far exceeds the body's need for fluids. 
What can be done to put the writer out of these miseries? Unfortunately, no cure has been found. I can only offer the consoling thought that you are not alone. Some days will go better than others. Some will go so badly that you'll despair of ever writing again. We have all had many of those days and will have many more. 
【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；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。
First, then, learn to hammer the nails, and if what you build is sturdy and serviceable,take satisfaction in its plain strength. 
But you will be impatient to find a "style—to embellish the plain words so that readers will recognize you as someone special. You will reach for gaudy similes and tinseled adjectives, as if "style" were something you could buy at the style store and drape onto your words in bright decorator colors. (Decorator colors are the colors that decorators come in.) There is no style store; style is organic to the person doing the writing, as much a part of him as his hair, or, if he is bald, his lack of it. Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the formerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance—and with a toupee there's always a second glance—he doesn't look quite right. The problem is not that he doesn't look well groomed; he does, and we can only admire the wigmaker's skill. The point is that he doesn't look like himself. 
【表达梳理&解读】
  1. hammer  锤打; 反复敲打，连续击打
  2. sturdy 强壮的，健全的
  3. serviceable  耐用的
  4. take satisfaction in 从……中获得满足感
  5. embellish 装饰; 润色; 修饰;
  6. reach for gaudy similes and tinseled adjectives 使用华丽的辞藻
  7. drape onto 悬垂（即：修饰）
  8. decorator colors 装饰色彩
  9. is organic to 是……的一部分（注意organic的这种用法！）
  10. doing the writing 搞写作
  11. as much a part of him as his hair, or if he is bald, his lack of it.就和他的头发是他的一部分一样，或者，如果他是个秃头，秃头就是他的一部分。
  12. toupee 遮秃假发
  13. doesn`t look quite right 看起来不太好
  14. doesn`t look well groomed 看上去不太整洁
  15. wigmaker 假发制作者
  16. doesn`t look like himself 不像他自己
This is the problem of writers who set out deliberately to garnish their prose. You lose whatever it is that makes you unique. The reader will notice if you are putting on airs. Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself. 
No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible. They must relax, and they must have confidence. 
Telling a writer to relax is like telling a man to relax while being examined for a hernia, and as for confidence, see how stiffly he sits, glaring at the screen that awaits his words. See how often he gets up to look for something to eat or drink. A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing. I can testify from my newspaper days that the number of trips to the water cooler per reporter-hour far exceeds the body's need for fluids. 
What can be done to put the writer out of these miseries? Unfortunately, no cure has been found. I can only offer the consoling thought that you are not alone. Some days will go better than others. Some will go so badly that you'll despair of ever writing again. We have all had many of those days and will have many more. 
【表达梳理&解读】
  1. garnish 装饰，文饰; 给…加配菜; 
  2. putting on airs 装腔作势
  3. sound genuine 听起来是真的
  4. a fundamental rule 基本规则
  5. by their metabolism 通过他们的新陈代谢（这是字面意思，实际所在的句子是说：这不是自然而然就能做到的）
  6. hernia 疝气
  7. testify 作证; 证实
  8. ...far exceeds...远远超过……(雅思小作文数据表述是常用)
  9. put the writer out of these miseries 把作家从这些苦难中解脱出来
  10. the consoling thought 令人颇感欣慰的一点
  11. despair of...对…绝望
【深入探究】
  • You will reach for gaudy similes and tinseled adjectives, as if "style" were something you could buy at the style store and drape onto your words in bright decorator colors.
    这里as if后所表述的内容是其他人的想法：在这些人看来，style是一种可以在商店里买来去让你的用词显得更有文采的玩意。
    在托福雅思等议论文作文考试，以及英语外刊中的议论性文章中，经常要表达其他人的想法（即常说的反方观点）。但使用as if来表达，还是不常见的。特别注意！
  • style is organic to the person doing the writing, as much a part of him as his hair, or, if he is bald, his lack of it.
    在英语动词中，像do、make、go、get等都是使用频率超级高的词汇。这些单词所构成的短语，大多是表一个比较宽泛的动作。这类搭配一定要特别注意，因为在写作中如果你不知道要使用什么精准动词时，往往可以使用由do等构成的短语来大概表达其语意。比如这里do the writing中do的搭配，常用的还有：do the dishes/laundry/shopping; do an exercise; do your hair/nails; do nothing/anything/everything do...; do harm/a favor/one`s best to...
  • But at second glance—and with a toupee there's always a second glance—he doesn't look quite right.
    两个破折号中间的内容，使得表达显得幽默起来。
  • It requires writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible.
    这里by their metabolism可不是介词短语作了主语（介词短语根本不能做主语）；也不是介词短语放在句首构成了完全倒装。而是，作者为了强调by their metabolism这个信息，把它放在了比较靠前的位置。这样写应该就很容易理解了：do two things that are impossible by their metabolism
  • What can be done to put the writer out of these miseries? 
    …out of...这种结构在阅读英语文章时是非常常见的。其中，介词of后是抽象名词时都要注意。如out of action/bounds/breath/control/danger/order/power/practice等。这类短语超级多，不再一一罗列。在写作中，能用好这个介词，能为作文增彩不少，值得全面深入学习。
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：
  • if what you build is sturdy and serviceable, take satisfaction in its plain strength. 
  • style is organic to the person doing the writing, as much a part of him as his hair, or, if he is bald, his lack of it. Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the formerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance—and with a toupee there's always a second glance—he doesn't look quite right. The problem is not that he doesn't look well groomed; he does, and we can only admire the wigmaker's skill. The point is that he doesn't look like himself. 
  • Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself. 
  • No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible. They must relax, and they must have confidence. 
▼
更多精彩内容，请关注英语干货君
▼
精读精析
学好英语
继续阅读
阅读原文