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1、Unit1hitthenailonthehead恰到好处Haveyoueverwatchedaclumsymanhammeringanailintoabox?Hehitsitfirsttooneside,thentoanother,perhapsknockingitovercompletely,sothatintheendheonlygetshalfofitintothewood.Askillfulcarpenter,ontheotherhand,willdrivethenailwithafewfirm,deftblows,hittingite
2、achtimesquarelyonthehead.Sowithlanguage;thegoodcraftsmanwillchoosewordsthatdrivehomehispointfirmlyandexactly.Awordthatismoreorlessright,aloosephrase,anambiguousexpression,avagueadjective(模糊的形容词),willnotsatisfyawriterwhoaimsatcleanEnglish.Hewilltryalwaystogetthewordthatiscomp
3、letelyrightforhispurpose.你见过一个笨手笨脚的男人往箱子上钉钉子吗?只见他左敲敲,右敲敲,说不准还会将整个钉子锤翻,结果敲来敲去到头来只敲进了半截。而娴熟的木匠就不这么干。他每敲一下都会坚实巧妙地正对着钉头落下去,一钉到底。语言也是如此。一位优秀的艺术家谴词造句上力求准确而有力地表达自己的观点。差不多的词,不准确的短语,摸棱两可的表达,含糊不清的修饰,都无法使一位追求纯真英语的作家满意。他会一直思考,直至找到那个能准确表达他的意思的词。TheFrenchhaveanapt(贴切的)phraseforthis.Theysp
4、eakof“lemotjuste,”(theexactword)thewordthatisjustright.Storiesaretoldofscrupulous(一丝不苟的)writers,likeFlaubert,whospentdaystryingtogetoneortwosentencesexactlyright.Wordsaremanyandvarious;theyaresubtle(微妙的)anddelicate(细腻的)intheirdifferentshades(色调)ofmeaning,anditisnoteasytofind
5、theonesthatexpressprecisely(正是,恰恰)whatwewanttosay.Itisnotonlyamatterofhavingagoodcommandoflanguageandafairlywidevocabulary;itisalsonecessarytothinkhardandtoobserveaccurately.Choosingwordsispartoftheprocessofrealization,ofdefiningourthoughtsandfeelingsforourselves,aswellasfor
6、thosewhohearorreadourwords.Someoneonceremarked:“HowcanIknowwhatIthinktillIseewhatIsay?”thissoundsstupid,butthereisagreatdealoftruthinit.法国人有一个很贴切的短语来表达这样一个意思,即“lemotjuste”,恰到好处的词。有很多关于精益求精的作家的名人轶事,比如福楼拜常花几天的时间力求使一两个句子在表达上准确无误。在浩瀚的词海中,词与词之间有着微妙的区别,要找到能恰如其分表达我们意思的词绝非易事。这不仅仅是扎实
7、的语言功底和相当大的词汇量的问题,还需要人们绞尽脑汁,要观察敏锐。选词是认识过程的一个步骤,也是详细描述我们的思想感情并表达出来使自己以及听众和读者深刻理解的一个环节。有人说:“在我思想未成文之前,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。Itishardworkchoosingtherightwords,butweshallberewardedbythesatisfactionthatfindingthembrings.Theexactuseoflanguagegivesusmastery(掌握)overthemateri
8、alwearedealingwith.Perhapsyouhavebeenasked“Whatsortofamanisso-and-so(某某等)?”