文档介绍：English WritingDiction ?Diction is the choice and use of words. The English language has a big vocabulary: as many as 400,000 words are collected in the Oxford English Dictionary. Of course no one knows or uses so many words. Only a small amount of them are used by ordinary people for ordinary purposes. ?A student learning to write should learn to use the words that are most useful and most often used to express him. Contents?1. Levels of words?2. The meaning of words?3. General and Specific Words?4. Idioms?5. Figures of speech?英文写作中怎样避免用词的重复?中英语言中用来喻人的植物的差异1. Levels of words?词汇选择得是否准确、贴切,对文章是否能收到预期的效果致关重要。在锤炼和选择词语时,除了文章的主题、思想内容、写作目的和读者对象等以外,还必须考虑与之相适应的语言层次( levels of language )。?所谓语言层次,一般可归结为规范英语( standard English)和非规范英语( sub-standard English)。?规范英语又可分为口语( spoken language )和书面语( written language), 非正式语( informal language)和正式语( formal language)。例如:?Officialese公文—‘The consumption of any nutriments whatsoever is categorically prohibited in this establishment商业机构.’?Official 官方—‘The consumption of nutriments is prohibited.’?Formal —‘You are required not to consume food in this establishment.’?Neutral —‘Eating is not allowed here.’?Informal —‘Please don’t eat here.’?Colloquial —‘You can’t feed your face here.’?Slang —‘Lay off the nosh 小吃.’?Taboo—‘Lay off the fucking nosh.’2. The meaning of wordsThe meaning of a word has two aspects: denotative and connotative 外延和内涵. ?A word’s denotation is what it literally means, as defined by the dictionary; its connotation is the feeling or idea suggested by it.?For instance?country, nation, state and land have more or less the same denotation and may all be translated into “国家”in Chinese, but their connotation are quite and connotative?Country means an area of land and its population and its government, ?nation emphasizes the people of a country, ?state refers to the government or anization of a country, and ?land is less precise but more literary and emotive than country.?English is particularly rich in synonyms