一 words and expressions
1. Now I’m saying you must write for yourself and not be gnawed by worry over whether the reader is tagging along.
gnaw: to make you feel worried or uncomfortable使煩惱；折磨. 它的另一個常見的意思咬，嚙，啃
tag along：to go somewhere with someone, especially when they have not asked you to go with them〔尤指未經(jīng)邀請〕跟隨，尾隨
2. or feels an affinity for your sense of humor or your vision of life
affinity：a strong feeling that you like and understand someone or something喜好，喜愛
3. their style is the tip-off that they have turned into garrulous bores.
garrulous,我們常說的喋喋不休可以用這個詞
4. The war has deified her and she is the darling of the home front
deify的意思是崇拜，把。。。奉為神明
5. I had my old friends in town to reckon with, most of whom regarded the hen as a comic prop straight out of vaudeville....
prop：a small object such as a book, weapon etc, used by actors in a play or film〔戲劇或電影中的〕道具
6. To a man who keeps hens, all poultry lore is exciting and endlessly fascinating.
poultry：家禽
lore：〔口頭流傳的關(guān)于某一主題的〕知識; 傳說
7. But mainly what I like is that this is a man telling me unabashedly about a love affair with poultry that goes back to 1907.
unabashed：not ashamed or embarrassed, especially when doing something unusual or rude不害臊的，不怕羞的; 滿不在乎的
8. Or take a writer who is almost White’s opposite in terms of style, who relishes the opulent word for its opulence and doesn’t deify the simple sentence.
opulent：華麗的，豪華的，奢侈的。這里形容辭藻的堆砌。
9. This is H. L. Mencken reporting on the notorious “Monkey Trial”
notorious：名聲壞的，書里還出現(xiàn)了一個同義的詞：flagrant
10. the rest had to take orders for mail-order pantaloons or work in the adjacent strawberry fields
adjacent：a room, building, piece of land etc that is adjacent to something is next to it鄰近的，毗連的
11. They were all hot for Genesis, but their faces were too florid to belong to teetotalers
teetotal：someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol滴酒不沾的，文章出現(xiàn)的是它的名詞teetotaler
12. Mencken was never timid or evasive
evasive 可以形容一個人愛推卸責任
13. a mixture of cheap words, made-up words and clichés that have become so pervasive that a writer can hardly help using them.
clichés：an idea or phrase that has been used so much that it is not effective or does not have any meaning any longer陳詞濫調(diào)，老生常談，老套。? 來源于法語。
14. Notice the decisions that other writers make in their choice of words and be finicky about the ones you select from the vast supply.
finicky：挑剔的，后面搭配about
15.? ? Master the small gradations between words that seem to be synonyms.
gradation：a small change or difference between points on a scale〔不同標度之間的〕漸變，層次，級次: 這個詞很正式
16. What’s the difference between “cajole,” “wheedle,” “blandish” and “coax”
cajole：to gradually persuade someone to do something by being nice to them, or making promises to them
wheedle：If you say that someone?wheedles, you mean that they try to persuade someone to do or give them what they want, for example by saying nice things that they do not mean.
blandish：to act or speak in a flattering or coaxing manner
coax：to persuade someone to do something that they do not want to do by talking to them in a kind, gentle, and patient way
17. E. B. White makes the case cogently in The Elements of Style
cogent的意思是有說服力的;令人信服的
二 summary
Chapter 5 talks about the audience of writing. Writers needn't? grab some? certain readers' attention? to change their works. Writers should write for themselves. Good writers are visible behind the words. The essence of writing is humanity and warmth. As a writer, you shouldn't curry favor with anyone. Chapter 6 talks about the words of writing. Clichés should be avoided.? While, we should bear in mind how the word sound when? choosing words.
