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1、Unit 1Text AHit the nail on the head恰到好处Alan Warner 1）Have you ever watched a clumsy man hammering a nail into a box? He hits it first to one side, then to another, perhaps knocking it over completely, so that in the end he only gets half of it into the wood. A skillful carpenter, on the other hand,
2、 will drive the nail with a few firm, deft blows, hitting it each time squarely on the head. So with language; the good craftsman will choose words that drive home his point firmly and exactly. A word that is more or less right, a loose phrase, an ambiguous expression, a vague adjective, will not sa
3、tisfy a writer who aims at clean English. He will try always to get the word that is completely right for his purpose.你见过一个笨手笨脚的男人往箱子上钉钉子吗？他先是左敲敲，然后右敲敲，有时还会将整个钉子锤翻，结果钉子只敲进一半。而一个娴熟的木匠，只需坚实巧妙地正对钉头敲几下，就能一钉到底。语言也是如此。一位优秀的艺术家选择词语时会力求准确有力地表达自己的观点。差不多的词，不准确的短语，模棱两可的表达，含糊不清的修饰，都无法满足一个力求用词精确的作家的要求。他会一直寻找那个能准
4、确表达他意思的词。 2）The French have an apt phrase for this. They speak of “le mot juste,” (the exact word) the word that is just right. Stories are told of scrupulous writers, like Flaubert, who spent days trying to get one or two sentences exactly right. Words are many and various; they are subtle and deli
5、cate in their different shades of meaning, and it is not easy to find the ones that express precisely what we want to say. It is not only a matter of having a good command of language and a fairly wide vocabulary; it is also necessary to think hard and to observe accurately. Choosing words is part o
6、f the process of realization, of defining our thoughts and feelings for ourselves, as well as for those who hear or read our words. Someone once remarked: “How can I know what I think till I see what I say?” this sounds stupid, but there is a great deal of truth in it.法国人有一个很贴切的短语来表达这个意思，即“le mot ju
7、ste”,恰到好处的词。有很多关于精益求精的作家的故事，比如福楼拜可以花几天时间力求使一两个句子在表达上准确无误。在浩瀚的词海里，词与词之间有着微妙的区别，这使我们很难找到能准确表达我们意思的词。这不仅是扎实的语言功底和相当的词汇量的问题，还需要人们绞尽脑汁，细致观察。措辞是认识过程的一个步骤，也是自我情感表达，使自己以及听众和读者深刻理解的一个环节。有人提出：“在我思想未成文前，我怎么知道自己的想法？”这听起来似乎很离谱，但它确实很有道理。 3）It is hard work choosing the right words, but we shall be rewarded by the
8、satisfaction that finding them brings. The exact use of language gives us mastery over the material we are dealing with. Perhaps you have been asked “What sort of a man is so-and-so?” You begin: “Oh, I think hes quite a nice chap but hes rather” and then you hesitate trying to find a word or phrase
9、to express what it is about him that you dont like, that constitutes his limitation. When you find the right phrase you feel that your conception of the man is clearer and sharper.选择正确的词并非易事。一旦找到了那个词，我们就会感到很欣慰。准确的用语有助于我们深入了解我们描述的事物。可能有人问过你：“某某是怎样的人？”你回答：“我觉得他是个很不错的家伙，但他非常”接着你犹豫了，试图找到一个词或短语来说明他到底讨厌在哪
10、里。当你找到一个恰当的短语时，你发觉自己对他的看法更清楚更准确了。 4）Some English words have a common root but are used in very different senses. Consider human and humane, for example. Their origin is the same and their meanings are related, but their usage is distinct. A human action is not the same thing as a humane action. We c
11、annot speak of a Declaration of Humane Rights. - There is a weapon called a humane killer, but it is not a human killer.有些英语词汇词根相同但意思却大不相同。例如human和humane,这两个词的词根相同，意思也是相关的，但是用法完全不同。human action 是人类行为，而humane action是人道行为，两者截然不同。我们不会说人道权力宣言，而是说人权宣言。就像有一种工具叫做humane killer,即麻醉屠宰机， 而不是叫human killer的杀人机器。
12、 5）We dont have to look far afield to find evidence of bad carpentry in language. A student, replying to an invitation to dinner, finished his letter: “I shall be delighted to come and I am looking forward to the day with anxiety.” Anxiety carries with it suggestions of worry and fear. What the writ
13、er meant was possibly eagerness. Anxiety has some kinship with eagerness but it will not do as a substitute in this context.语言中用词不当的例子在我们身边随处可见。有人邀请一名学生去吃饭，他写信给予回复，结尾是这样的：“我将很高兴前来赴约，并且满怀不安期待着这个日子的到来。”anxiety 这个词含有烦恼和恐惧的意思。那个学生可能是想表达一种期盼的心情。虽然anxiety跟期盼有一定的关联，但在这个语境中的意思是不能等同的。 6）The leader of a polit
14、ical party in Uganda wrote a letter to the Press which contained this sentence: Let us all fight this selfishness, opportunism, cowardice and ignorance now rife in Uganda and put in their place truth, manliness, consistency and singularity of mind.乌干达一名政党领袖给新闻界的一封信中有句话这样写到：让我们打破这被自私、投机、懦弱和无知充斥的乌干达，代
15、之以真理、刚毅、坚定和奇异的精神。 7）This stirring appeal is spoilt by a malapropism in the last phrase, the word singularity. What the writer meant, I think, was singleness of mind, holding steadfastly to the purpose in mind, without being drawn aside by less worthy objects. Singularity means oddity or peculiarity,
16、 something that singles a man out from other men.这一振奋人心的呼吁被最后一个词singularity的误用破坏了。我猜想作者真正想要表达的意思是思想的专一，即坚定一个信念永不改变，咬定青山不放松，不被次要的目的干扰。而singularity指的是古怪或特性，是将一个人从其他大部分人中区分出来的那种依据。 8）Without being a malapropism, a word may still fail to be the right word for the writers purpose, the “mot juste”. A journalist, writing a leader about Christmas, introduced a quotation from Dickens by saying:All that was ev
