一、字词表达
1.Consider all the prepositions that are draped onto verbs that don't need any help.
preposition A word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word.
drape a covering for a widows.
drape在这里用的十分巧妙，表明写作中需要简化的是一些无意义的连接词。
2.Clutter is the ponderous euphemism that turns a slum into a depressed socioeconomic area ……
euphemism An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant.
euphemism在句中为笨拙的隐语
3.Clutter is political correctness gone amok.
amok freaked out and violently pissed off.
4. Beware of all the slippery new fad words: paradigm and parameter, prioritize and potentialize. They are all weeds that will smother what you write.
slippery being such as to cause things to slip or slide.
句中指那些夺人眼球但转瞬即逝的生僻用法，如用paradigm代替model和example。
5.So much for early warnings about the bloated monsters that lie in ambush for the writer trying to put together a clean English sentence.
bloated （unpleasantly）swollen or puffed as with water or air.
ambush a surprise attack.
6.If what you build is sturdy and serviceable, take satisfaction in its plain strength.
sturdy strong and firm.
serviceable 意为useful，与句中的build对应，将写作比喻为建筑，建造的楼房和写出的文字一样，是扎实且实用的。
7.This is the problem of writers who set out deliberately to garnish their prose.
garnish decorate; add a garnish to; decorate sth. with small items.
二、阅读感悟
第三章Clutter是对第二章Simplicity的进一步延伸，可简要概括为“删繁就简”、“唯陈言之务去”。本章开篇，Zinsser将clutter比喻为文章中的杂草，杂草生命力极强，一如繁琐的用词层出不穷、传播极快，除去它们确实需要花一番功夫。
Fighting cultter is like fighting weeds——the writer is always slightly behind. New varieties sprout overnight, and by noon they are part of American speech.
随后，Zinsser给出了几个clutter的定义。
1.Clutter is the laborious phrase that has pushed out the short word that means the same thing.
2.Clutter is the ponderous euphemism that turns a slum into a depressed socioeconomic area.
3.Clutter is the official language used by corporations to hide their mistakes.
可见，那些看起来冗长晦涩的表达正是clutter。Zinsser告诉我们，那些long words并没有显得多么好、多么高级，写作的关键在于清晰、明确，几个简单的词汇和语句可以表达清楚时，何必大费周折写出那些令人费解的表达呢？当然，那些隐语和委婉用词也有用武之地，比如有些企业想要用来遮掩自己的错误，于是就替换掉了敏感用词。
最后，Zinsser告诉我们发现并解决文章中clutter的方法。用括号把句子中无用的成分圈出来，这些无用的成分可能是一到两个词，也可能是意义重复的句子，如果发现删掉这些词句对文章意义并无影响，那么就可以放心地删去。他强调，在删去之后，要仔细审视存留下来的部分。
Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it's beautiful?
写作并非是要写出一堆华丽而毫无用处的辞藻，而是用于实际的沟通与表达，即“文从字顺各执意”。
在第四章Style中，Zinsser首先指出，写作犹如木工，要从最基础的木料与钉子做起，打好基础，实用而有力的词句才能够保证整篇的文章的完整性，而不至于分崩离析。
在谈到个人风格的问题上Zinsser认为，风格并非体现在修饰词句之中，而是个人特点的一部分，盲目的给文章增加华而不实的修饰就好像是带了个假发套一样，只会失去自己的特点。形成风格的基本原则是“be yourself”。
那么该如何做呢？Zinsser指出，在写作中应当放松、充满自信。许多人在写作时思前想后，总是进入不了状态，而事实上，写作应当是作者在放松的状态下表达自己，这样才能在文字中流露出个人特色。
Zinsser认为在nonfiction的写作中，直接使用第一人称能够让读者更容易领会作者意图，但在某些文体中需要避免直接出现“I”。不过，在思考或者打草稿时我们可以使用第一人称，因为写作本身是一件非常个人化的事。
Belive in your own identity and your own opinions. Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it.
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