Content:
Part I | Principles
1. The Transaction
2. Simplicity
3. Clutter (Writing clean English Sentence)
4. Style (Preserving your identity)
5. The audience (Who am I writing for)
6. Words (The only tools you’ve got)
7. Usage (What is good usage)
Part II | Methods
8. Unity (Anchor of good writing)
9. The lead and the ending
10. Bits and pieces
Part II | Forms
11. Nonfiction as Literature
12. Writing About People: The Interview
13. Writing About Places: The travel article
14. Writing About Yourself: The Memoir
15. Science and Technology
16. Business Writing: Writing in Your Job
....
Words and Expressions:
1. ...about one of life’s central mysteries: the capriciousness of fate.
capricious:
1.ADJ-GRADED 反复无常的;善变的
Someone who is capricious often changes their mind unexpectedly.
The Union accused Walesa of being capricious and undemocratic.
工会指责威尔沙反复无常,不讲民主。
...capriciousand often brutal leaders.
任意妄为且残忍成性的领导人
capriciousness
Lady racehorse owners have a reputation for capriciousness.
赛马的女主人们出了名地性格多变。
2.ADJ-GRADED 变幻莫测的;变幻无常的
Something that is capricious often changes unexpectedly.
【STYLE标签】：LITERARY 文
Both sides were troubled throughout by a capricious wind.
双方一直在为风向飘忽不定而苦恼。
...a theatre with notoriously capricious acoustics.
音响效果时好时坏、饱受诟病的剧院
capriciousness
Pat stuck it out, despite the capriciousness and in hospitality of the English weather.
尽管英国天气变化无常、十分糟糕,帕特还是挺了过来。
2. In the national clamor over why Johnny can’t write, Dr. Fleishman was the first adult in my experience who admitted that youth has no monopoly on verbal sludge.
N-VAR 烂泥;淤泥;工业废物
Sludge is thick mud, sewage, or industrial waste.
All dumping of sludge will be banned by 1998.
从1998 年起，将禁止所有倾倒淤泥的行为。
3. He is squandering a rich resource: himself.
VERB 浪费，挥霍(金钱、资源、机遇等)
If you squander money, resources, or opportunities, you waste them.
【语法信息】：V nonn
【语法信息】：V n
Hooker didn't squanderhis money on flashy cars or other vices...
胡克没有将自己的钱浪费在豪华轿车或其他恶习上。
He had squandered his chances to win.
他白白浪费了获胜的机会。
4. ... the other is pedantic and vague.
ADJ-GRADED 过分拘泥于细节（或传统）的；学究气的；迂腐的
If you think someone is pedantic, you mean that they are too concerned with unimportant details or traditional rules, especially in connection with academic subjects.
【语用信息】：disapproval
His lecture was so pedantic and uninteresting.
他的讲座学究气太浓，没意思。
5. Perhaps that’s why bureaucratic prose becomes so turgid, whatever the bureaucracy.
ADJ-GRADED （文章、电影等）晦涩难懂的，索然无味的
If you describe something such as a piece of writing or a film as turgid, you think it is boring and difficult to understand.
He used to make extremely dull,turgid and frankly boring speeches...
他过去常作些极其乏味、晦涩难懂而且令人非常厌烦的演讲。
The rest of the arts scene looks increasingly turgid by comparison.
比较而言，艺术界的其他领域看起来越发索然无味。
6. Prominent in every issue was a message of exhortation from the division vice-president
Exhort:
VERB 规劝;劝诫;劝告
If you exhort someone to do something, you try hard to persuade or encourage them to do it.
【语法信息】：V n to-inf
【语法信息】：V n with quote
【语域标签】：FORMAL 正式
Kennedy exhorted his listeners to turn away from violence...
肯尼迪劝诫听众远离暴力。
He exhorted his companions, 'Try to accomplish your aim with diligence'.
他劝诫同伴说：“要通过勤奋努力实现自己的目标。”
exhortation
Foreign funds alone are clearly not enough, nor are exhortations to reform.
光有外资显然不够，只是劝告人们进行改革也不行。
Thoughts:
工作中的写作，其实除了Zinser说的humanity and clear thinking，还有两点我觉得也很重要。
第一，不要太长。
我曾经有一个欧洲同事，文笔很好，逻辑也很清晰，在公司也很出名。
出名的原因呢，是他的邮件一般都很长。如果看完一屏滚一次鼠标的话，他的邮件需要滚两次才能读完。
听说他是把每封邮件都当做论文来写的，作为读者，我们也希望能用充足的时间来拜读，但往往都会忙到忘了看，永远的躺在收件箱里。后来就发展成他的邮件过来，大家先用鼠标测一下长度。如果看完需要滚两次，那先搁置；如果需要滚一次，争取当天看完；如果不用滚就能看完，那就2分钟原则立即看。
可能他心里想的是 "if he spoke too simply he would look like a jerk to his peers"，可事实却是把我们这些读者变成了jerk..
第二，不要太humanity。
商务写作其实还是需要有点严肃的，曾经见过一份工程师的测试报告，是这样开头的：
“忙碌的十天出差之后，带着疲惫的身体来到公司参加晨会，外面下着雨，时差没有倒过来头很晕...”
很同情他，但我们看的头也很晕...
所以，还是照Zinser说的：
“”in its language (comfortable words), in its details that we can visualize (the pencil), and in its humanity"
每一样都有，但适度......
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