Unit 1 恰到好处
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, 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
choo words that drive home his point firmly and exactly. A word that is
more or less right, a loo phra, an ambiguous expression, a vague adjective（模糊的形容词）, will not satisfy a writer who aims at clean English. He
will try always to get the word that is completely right for his purpo.
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。
The French have an apt（贴切的） phra for this. They speak of “le mot
juste,” (the exact word) the word that is just right. Stories are told of
scrupulous（一丝不苟的） writers, like Flaubert, who spent days trying to
get one or two ntences exactly right. Words are many and various; they are
subtle（微妙的） and delicate（细腻的） in their different shades（色调）
of meaning, and it is not easy to find the ones that express precily（正是，恰恰） 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 obrve accurately. Choosing words is part of the process of
realization, of defining our thoughts and feelings for ourlves, as well
as for tho who hear or read our words. Someone once remarked: “How can
I know what I think till I e 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样一个意思，即“le mot juste”, 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。
It is hard work choosing the right words, but we shall be rewarded by
the satisfaction that finding them brings. The exact u of language gives
us mastery（掌握） over the material we are dealing with. Perhaps you have
been asked “What sort of a man is so-and-so（某某等）?” You begin: “Oh,
I think he's quite a nice chap （家伙）but he's rather…” and then you
that
him about is it what express to phra or word a find to trying hesitate
find the his limitation. When you you don't like, that constitutes（构成） ur conception of the man is clearer right phra you feel that
我们就会感到很欣慰：寻找恰如其分的词的确是件不容易的事。一旦找到了那个词，辛劳得到了回报。准确地用语言有助于我们深入了解我们描述的事物。例如，当有人问你：“某
某是怎么样的人？”你回答说：“恩，我想他是个不错的家伙，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里。当你 找到一个恰当的短语的时候，你发觉自己对他的看法更清楚，也更精确了。ns. different common root but are ud in very Some English words have a
）（humanhumaneorigin is the 人道，仁慈的and Their Consider , for example.
human same and their meanings are related, but their usage is distinct. A
humane action. We cannot speak of a action is not the same thing as a
humane Humane killer, Rights. --- There is a weapon called a Declaration ofhuman but it is not a killer.二者的词根相一些英语词汇词根相同而意义却截然不同。例如human 和humane,action 但用法完全不同。“ human action (人类行为)”和“humane 同，词义也相关，而是说“人权宣言”。( 人道行为)”完全是两码事。我们不能说“人道权力宣言”，杀人human killer ( 有一种屠杀工具叫“humane killer ( 麻醉屠宰机)，而不是 。机器)t have to look far afield to find evidence of bad carpentry in ' We donletter: his dinner, finished replying language. A student, to an invitation to
anxiety .am looking forward to the day with ”and “I shall be delighted to come I
Anxietymeant writer suggestions of worry and fear. What the with carries it
eagerness eagernessAnxiety withsome kinshipwas possibly （亲属关系）. has
but it will not do as a substitute（替代） in this context.语言中的坏手艺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
）期予回复。请看他的信是这样结尾的：“我将很高兴赴约并满怀不安（anxiety
”“Anxiety” 含有烦恼和恐惧的意味。作者想表达的很可 待着那个日子的到来。“Anxiety” 跟热切期盼有一定的关联，但在这个场合 能是一种翘首期盼的心情。 是不能等同的。which the Press in a political party Uganda wrote a letter to of The leader
e:contained this ntenc 乌干达一政党领袖给新闻界的一封信中有一句这样写道：Let us all fight this lfishness, opportunism, cowardice and ignorance
now rife in Uganda and put in their place truth, manliness, consistency and
singularity of mind.让我们打破这自私、投机、怯懦和无知充斥的乌干达，代之以真理，刚毅，坚定 和奇异的精神。 This stirring appeal is spoilt by a malapropism in the last phra, the
