WORDS

1.Nail something down

Slowly the two men piece together fragments of evidence that seem to defy medical history until the case is nailed down and the villain identified as a type of poisoning so rare that many standard texts on toxicology don’t even mention it.

To specify something; If you nail down something unknown or uncertain, you find out exactly what it is. 弄清;确定

Eg.It would be useful if you could nail down the source of this tension.

如果你能弄清这种紧张的根源，将会大有益处。

I'd like to nail down the dates we want to fly so I can start looking at ticket prices.

I think we've nailed down the cause of the electrical failures.

仿写：If we can nail down the pathology of this disease, it would be more possible to cure it.

Defy

If something defies something,you mean this thing disobey that thing and goes to the opposite side.反抗，违抗

This was the first (and last) time that I dared to defy my mother...

这是我第一次(也是最后一次)胆敢反抗我的母亲。

文中的 defy the medical history意思应该是违反之前的医学事实。

2.Deduction

This is no place for fanciful leaps or implied truths. Fact and deduction are the ruling family.

(1).a process that you draw a conclusion by logic推断，演绎

His guess was based on intuition rather than deduction.

(2).a conclusion that based on logic推论，论断

Our deduction was based on the information given to us at the time.

It was a logical deduction.

文中应该是第一种意思。事实和推断是最主要的。

Something and something are the ruling family.可用于表示什么是起主要作用的。

3.linear

Nowhere else must you work so hard to write sentences that form a linear sequence.线性序列

A linear process is a process that changes straight from one stage to another based on logic.It has a start and an end.线性的

Eg.Her novel subverts the conventions of linear narrative. It has no neat chronology and no tidy denouement.

她的小说颠覆了线性叙事的传统，没有清晰的时间线索，也没有简单明了的结局。

//...the linear view of time, with the idea that the past is moving into the present and the present into the future.

线性的时间观，认为过去通向现在，现在通向未来。

仿写：In the movie “Arrival”,there is a planet that has the rounded time rather than the linear one.

5.elate

I was elated by his overnight change into a writer who had learned to write
sequentially, and so was he.

To elate is to fill with happiness. If you are elated, you are thrilled. You are walking on air.使。。欢欣；

Eg.I was elated when he won the California primary over Rockefeller.

Cook said she was both elated and relieved at the reception the cake got.

仿写：I was elated and reliefed when I finish my presentation on the public.

Overnight change 一夜之间的变化，形容极快

REFLECTION

[science and technology]

In this chapter, Zinser introduces how to write science and technology articles to us.As for writers, they are often fear of science.And for scientists, they often have a common affliction:fear of science.But Zinser eases us by telling us that anyone who thinks clearly can write clearly about anything at all.He emphasizes that fact and deduction are the essence of a good article of science.What's more, he says that the principle is to lead the readers step by step from the begining of knowing nothing to getting into the article without being confused.Helping the readers to connect with the scientific work that has been already known to the public is another good approach.Another method is to start with someone that involved with the scientific story.And replacing the abstract principle to a familar visualized image to help them to understand the unfamiliar facts is also a valid way.Another helpful approach is to write like a person with gusto about the fields and not like a scientist.So don't be afraid to write a scientific subject,and any subject can be made clear and robust if you keep practicing the principles above.