文档介绍：《新编英语教程》(修订版)第五册
Unit 1[I][见教材P1]
Hit the Nail on the Head
恰到好处
Alan Warner
[1]. ①Have you ever watched a clumsy man hammering a nail into a box? ②He hits it first to one side, then to another, perhaps knocking it pletely, so that in the end he only gets half of it into the wood. ③A skilful carpenter, on the other hand, will drive home the nail [with a few firm, deft blows, hitting it each time squarely on the head]. ④So with language; the good craftsman will choose words that drive home his point firmly and exactly. ⑤A word that is more or less right, a loose phrase, an ambiguous expression, a vague adjective, will not satisfy a writer who aims at clean English. ⑥He will try always to get the word that pletely right for his purpose.
[1] ①你看过笨手笨脚的人用锤子往箱子上钉钉子吗?②他左敲敲,右敲敲,可能还会把整个钉子砸倒,以至于最后只钉进了半截。③但是,技艺精湛的木匠每次都会正对着钉子,果断熟练地落锤。④语言也是如此;优秀的作家会选那些能准确有力地表达观点的词。⑤那些似是而非,模棱两可的词、短语、表达方式和修饰方式,都不能让一位追求纯正英语的作家满意。⑥他会一直思考,直至找到他想要的那个词。
[2]. ①The French have an apt phrase for this. ②They speak of “le mot juste”, the word that is just right. ③Stories are told of scrupulous writers, like Flaubert, who spent days trying to get one or two sentences exactly right. ④Words are many and various; they are subtle and delicate in their different shades of meaning, and it is not easy to find the ones that express precisely what we want to say
. ⑤It is not only a matter of having a mand of language and a fairly wide vocabulary; it is also necessary to think hard and to observe accurately. ⑥Choosing words is part of the process of realization, of defining our thoughts and feelings for ourselves, as well as for those who hear or read our words. ⑦Someone once remarked: “How can I know what I think till I see what I say? ⑧This sounds stupid, but there is a great deal of truth in it.
[2] ①法国人有一个很贴切的短语,可以表达这个意思。②这就是le mot juste,意思是“恰到好处的词”。③关于精益求精的作家,有很多传闻轶事,比如,福楼拜(Flaubert)为了使一两个句子准确无误,常常花费几天时间。④在浩瀚的词海中,词与词之间在意义上往往存在着微妙精细的差别,所以要找到那些能精确表意的词很不容易。⑤这不仅是扎实的语言功底和相当大的词汇量的问题,还需要努力思考,准确观察。⑥选词是实