Chapter 3&4 Lexi

1. Drape sth across/on/over, etc. sth

     to put something such as cloth or a piece of clothing loosely over something

            • He draped his jacket over the back of the chair and sat down to eat.

            • She draped the scarf loosely around her shoulders.

thesaurus 

           Hanging and suspending

          Covering and adding layers

2.Debase

      to reduce the quality or value of something

            • Some argue that money has debased football.

            • Our world view has become debased. We no longer have a sense of the sacred.

thesaurus 

            Deteriorating and making worse

3.Summon

         If you summon someone, you order them to come to you. [V n] [be V-ed prep/adv] [be V-ed to-inf] [Formal]

          Howe summoned a doctor and hurried over.

4.Camouflage

          only singular or uncountable something that is meant to hide something, or behaviour that is intended to hide the truth

           • Using smoke as (a) camouflage, the army advanced up the hill.

            • He believed that her kindness was merely a camouflage for her real聽intentions.

5.Arsenal

            a collection of weapons

             •The country has agreed to reduce its nuclear arsenal.

6.Drive the nail钉钉子

               Extending the metaphor of carpentry,it’s first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails.

7. put on airs摆架子

               pretend to be very grand

              •She puts on airs all the time to try to impress new acquaintances

              •I'm tired of those who put on airs

8.Go out on a limb冒风险

               Americans are unwilling to go out on a limb.

summary

In Chapter3, Zinsser illustrates clutter by defining and quoting various examples in daily life, business and politics. To recognize clutter at first sight, he suggests writers can put brackets in their mind and delete unnecessary components when reexamining.

Chapter 4 firstly illustrates the importance of eliminating writing by analogy with building a house: if the verbs and sentences are weak, the house of writing will collapse. With a sturdy base, the writer should find the style of his own by doing two things, relaxing and having confidence. In order to put writers themselves out of anxieties and stiffness, they can try to write in the first person or convey their identity in their writings.

不光是写作者需要警醒，从自身来讲，在完成任务时，我也总会信心膨胀地幻想成功之后的情景。的确，从某种意义上，会对任务的完成有一定激励作用，但也会无形中加大自己的压力（awesome responsibility）如果失败，失落感也会加深，希望以后还是能够以平常心面对未知，比如：未来如果被爱丁堡拒绝的话也不要太难过。（最后一句玩笑话。。）