重新认真学英语-阅读0318
--White is typing on a manual typewriter, and the only other objects are an ashtray and a nail keg.
钉桶是个什么鬼？
--I first wrote On writing well in an outbuilding in Connecticut that was as small and as crude as White's boathouse.
Outbuilding: a building (such as a stable or a woodshed) separate from but an accessory to the main house.
附属建筑物？大概就是Monica和Chandler结婚后家里给Joey盖的供其蹭吃养老的小屋子吧。
Crude:
1: marked by the primitive, gross, or elemental or by uncultivated simplicity or vulgarity
a crude stereotype crude tools crude jokes
2: existing in a natural state and unaltered by cooking or processing
crude oil crude ore
3: rough or inexpert in plan or execution a crude shelter
大概是这个意思？ 中文可以用“破”这个词么？陋室？
4: lacking a covering, glossing, or concealing element: OBVIOUS crude facts
5: tabulated without being broken down into classes the crude death rate
--His was the seemingly effortless style-achieved, I knew with great effort-that I wanted to emulate, and whenever I began a new project I would first read some White to get his cadences into my ear.
a rhythmic sequence or flow of sounds in language. 韵律？
--As America has steadily changed in 30 years, so has the book. I've revised it six times to keep pace with new social trends.
--How can they even begin to impose a coherent shape on the past-that vast sprawl of half-remembered people and events and emotions. Many are near despair.
Sprawl:
Verb：
1: to lie or sit with arms and legs spread out. 思想仰八叉？
2: to spread or develop irregularly or without restraint 无序拓展，蔓延
Noun：
1: an irregularly spread or scattered group or mass
2: the act, posture, or condition of sprawling
--Bloggers are saturating the globe.
--But as always, there is a catch. Nobody told all the new computer writers that the essence of writing is rewriting. (a concealed difficulty or complication，陷阱！！我的妈！！还有这个意思)
--Good writers welcomed the gift of being able to fuss endlessly with ( to move or handle (something) in a nervous or uncertain way )their sentences-pruning ( to remove as superfluous 修剪) and revising and reshaping-without the drudgery （dull and fatiguing work: uninspiring or menial labor ）of retyping.
--E-mail is an impromptu medium, not conducive to ( tending to promote or assist ) slowing down or looking back. It is ideal for the never-ending upkeep ( the act of maintaining in good condition: the state of being maintained in good condition ) of daily life.
--They sit down to commit an act of literature, and the self who emerges on paper is far stiffer(not easy to bend, lacking flexibility,僵硬？) than the person who sat down to write.
--Good writing has an aliveness (marked by much life, animation, or activity) that keeps the reader reading from paragraph to the next, and it is not a question of gimmicks( a trick or device used to attract business or attention ) to "personalize" the author. It's a question of using the English language in a way that will achieve the greatest clarity and strength.
--Clutter is the disease of American writing.
a: a crowded or confused mass or collection a clutter of motels and restaurants
b: things that clutter a place tried to minimize the unnecessary clutter in her house
--By using a more pompous ( excessively elevated or ornate )phrase in his professional role, he not only sounds more important; he blunts the painful edge of truth. It is the language of the flight attendant demonstrating the oxygen mask that will drop if the plane should run out of air. "In the unlikely possibility that the aircraft should experience such eventuality( a possible event or outcome: POSSIBILITY )", she begins-a phrase so oxygen-depriving in itself that we are prepared for any disaster.
Blunt: None: 1: having an edge or point that is not sharp 2a: abrupt in speech or manner She tends to be blunt.a blunt refusal b: being straight to the point: DIRECT To be perfectly blunt, I don't think he can do it. 3 a: slow or deficient in feeling: INSENSITIVE… Verb: to make less sharp, definite, or forceful. to become blunt
--Companies that go belly-up( hopelessly ruined or defeated especially: BANKRUPT ) have a "negative cash flow position".
