英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)作手冊(cè)文本

ContentsPartOneManuscriptFormⅠ.ArrangementⅡ.CapitalizationIII.WordDivisionⅣ.PunctuationⅤ.HandwritingPartTwoDictionⅠ.LevelsofWordsⅡ.TheMeaningofWordsⅢ.GeneralandSpecificWordsⅣ.IdiomsⅤ.FiguresofSpeech1.Simile2.Metaphor3.Personification4.Metonymy5.Synecdoche6.Euphemism7.Irony8.OverstatementandUnderstatement9.TransferredEpithet10.Oxymoron11.AlliterationⅥ.Dictionaries1.UsingDictionaries2.SomeGoodDictionariesPartThreeTheSentenceⅠ.CompleteSentencesandSentenceFragmentsⅡ.TypesofSentences1.Declarative,Interrogative,Imperative,andExclamatorySentences2.Simple,Compound,Complex,andCompound-ComplexSentences3.Loose,Periodic,andBalancedSentences4.ShortandLongSentencesⅢ.EffectiveSentences1.Unity2.Coherence3.Conciseness4.Emphasis5.VarietyPartFourTheParagraphⅠ.CriteriaofanEffectiveParagraph1.Unity2.Coherence3.TransitionⅡ.StepsinWritingaParagraphⅢ.WaysofDevelopingParagraphs1.DevelopmentbyTime2.DevelopmentbyProcess3.DevelopmentbySpace4.DevelopmentbyExampleorGeneralization5.DevelopmentbyComparisonandContrast6.DevelopmentbyCauseandEffect7.DevelopmentbyClassification8.DevelopmentbyDefinition9.DevelopmentbyaCombinationofMethodsParFiveTheWholeCompositionⅠ.CriteriaofaGoodCompositionⅡ.StepsinWritingaComposition1.PlanningaComposition2.WritingtheFirstDraft3.RevisingtheFirstDraft4.MakingtheFinalCopyⅢ.ThreeMainPartsofaComposition1.TheBeginning2.TheMiddle3.TheEndⅣ.TypesofWriting1.Description2.Narration3.Exposition4.ArgumentationPartSixTheSummaryandBookReportPartSevenFormalandInformalStylesPartEightTheResearchPaperPartNinePracticalWritingParttenPunctuation批改/校對(duì)符號(hào)寫(xiě)作錯(cuò)誤登記表PartOneManuscriptForm

Asyouarelearningtowrite,youshouldhaveaclearideaofwhatisgoodmanuscriptform.Youshoulddoeverything-writingthetitle,leavingmargins,indenting,capitalizing,anddividingwords-accordingtogenerallyacceptedrules.Wheneveryouwritesomething,workcarefully,writeneatlyandclearly,andtrytomakeasfewmistakesaspossible.Beforehandinginyouressayorexercise,proofreaditonceortwice,becauseyoumayneedtomakesomefinalcorrectionsandchanges.Ifyoualwaysworkinthisway,youaresuretomakeprogress.Ⅰ.Arrangement

Eitherlinedexercisebooksorregularofficepaper(size19×27centimetres)maybeused.Tomakeyourhandwritingeasytoreadandprovideroomforcorrections,youhadbetterwriteoneveryotherline,andwriteononlyonesideofthepaperifitisthin.

Leaveamarginoneachsideofthepaper-abouttwocentimetresatthetopandacentimetreandahalfattheleft,therightandthebottom.Inanexercisebookthetopandbottommarginsarealreadythere,soyouneedonlytodrawaverticallinetomarktheleftmargin.

Youcannotmaketherightmarginverystraight,butyoumustnotwritetotheedgeofthepaper.Whenthereisnotenoughspaceleftforaword,writeitonthenextlineifitcannotbedivided.Inotherwords,theremustbesomeblankspaceontherightsideofthepaper.

Writethetitleinthemiddleofthefirstline.Capitalizethefirstandlastwordsofthetitleandallotherwords(includingwordsfollowinghyphensincompoundwords)exceptarticles,coordinatingconjunctions(and,or,but,nor,for),shortprepositions,andthetoininfinitives:

MyFirstVisittothePalaceMuseum

ThePeopleWithoutaCountry

RulestoAbideBy

DickensandDavidCopperfield

WhatCantheArtistDointheWorldofToday?

WhatReformMeanstoChina

TheMythofa"NegroLiterature"

TheEnglish-SpeakingPeopleinQuebec

Noperiodisusedattheendofatitle.Useaquestionmarkifthetitleisadirectquestion,butdonotuseoneifitisanindirectquestion.Usequotationmarkswithquotesortitlesofarticles;andunderlinenamesofbooks.

Indentthefirstlineofeveryparagraph,leavingaspaceofaboutfourorfiveletters.

ForpaginguseArabicnumeralswithoutparenthesesorperiodsintheupperright-handcornerofallpages.Thefirstpageneednotbemarked.

Donotbeginalinewithacomma,aperiod,asemicolon,acolon,aquestionmarkoranexclamationmark.Donotendalinewiththefirsthalfofapairofbrackets,quotationmarks,orparentheses.Thehyphenthatindicatesadividedwordisputattheend,notatthebeginning,ofaline.Ⅱ.WordDivision

Whenyouwriteneartheedgeofthepaper,takealookatthespaceleft.Ifitisnotenoughforthewordyouaregoingtowrite,youhavetodecidewhethertodividethewordortowriteitonthenextline.Neversqueezeawordintothemargin.

Thegeneralprincipleistodivideawordaccordingtoitssyllables.Payattentiontothefollowing:

One-syllablewordslikethrough,march,brainandpushedcannotbedivided.

Donotwriteoneletterofawordattheendoratthebeginningofaline,evenifthatonelettermakesupasyllable,suchasa.lone,trick.y.

Donotputatwo-lettersyllableatthebeginningofaline,likehat.ed,cab.in.

Avoidseparatingpropernamesofpeopleorplaces,likeChi.na,Aus.ten.

Dividehyphenatedwordsonlyatthehyphen:father-in-law,empty-handed.

Donotdividewordsinawaythatmaymisleadthereader:pea.cock,re.ally.

Donotdividethelastwordonapage.Instead,writethewholewordonthenextpage.

Dividewordswithprefixesorsuffixesbetweentheprefixorsuffixandthebasepartoftheword:re.state.ment,un.relent.ing.

Dividetwo-syllablewordswithdoubleconsonantsbetweenthetwoconsonants:strug.gle,shat.ter.

Dividingwordsisnotalwayseasy.Whenindoubt,consultadictionary(seePartTwo,Ⅵ).Ⅲ.CapitalizationCapitalsareusedmainlyatthreeplaces:thefirstwordsofsentences,keywordsintitles,andpropernames.

Notonlyacompletesentence,butasentencefragmenttreatedasasentence,shouldbeginwithacapitalletter.

Thefirstwordofquotedspeech(wordsputbetweenquotationmarks)iscapitalized.Ifaquotedsentenceisbrokenintotwopartsandputintwopairsofquotationmarks,thesecondpartdoesnotbeginwithacapitalletterunlessthefirstwordisapropernounoranadjectivederivedfromapropernoun:Hesaid,"MytriptoMountTaiwasinterestingbuttiring."

"MytriptoCommonnounsthatarepartsofpropernamesarecapitalized:CommonNounsafamousuniversity

abroadstreet

alargelakethepresidentofthe

university

middle,age

labour,day

people,republicProperNamesPekingUniversity

ChanganStreet

LakeErie

PresidentBrowntheMiddleAges

LabourDay

thePeople'sRepublicof

ChinaWordsderivedfrompropernamesareusuallycapitalized:MarxistDarwinismHegelian

ConfucianLatinizeVietnamizeButpropernamesortheirderivativesmaybecomecommonnouns,verbsoradjectives:mackintosh(afterCharlesMacintosh,aScottishchemist)

chauvinistic(derivedfromNicolasChauvin,adevotedadherentofNapoleon)

quixotic(afterDonQuixote,heroofthenovelofthesamename)

anglicize(fromtheLatinwordAnglicus,meaningEnglish)Ⅳ.PunctuationHowtousedifferentpunctuationmarkswillbediscussedindetailinPartTen.Thefollowingareafewbasicruleswhichallstudentslearningtowriteshouldremember:

Useaperiod(fullstop)attheendofacompletesentence,howevershortitis.

Donotuseacommatojointwocoordinateclauses;useacommaandaconjunction,orasemicolon.

Makeyourcommasdifferentfromyourperiods.Acommahasalittletail(,);aperiodisadot(.),notatinycircle(。),whichisusedinwrittenChinese.

Useaquestionmarkattheendofadirectquestion;donotuseoneattheendofanindirectquestion:"Haveyoudoneyourexercises?"theteacherasked.

Theteacheraskedwhetherwehaddoneourexercises.Usetheexclamationmarkonlyafteranemphaticinterjectionorwordsthatexpressverystrongemotion.Donotoveruseit.

Putdirectspeechbetweenquotationmarks.Thesubjectandverbthatintroduceaquotationmaybeputbefore,after,orinthemiddleofthequotation:Shesaid,"Wehavedecidedtotaketheexamination."

"Wehavedecidedtotaketheexamination,"shesaid.

"Wehavedecided,"shesaid,"totaketheexamination."Payattentiontothewaythethreesentencesarepunctuated.Inthefirstsentence"Shesaid"isfollowedbyacomma;inthesecond,thequotationcloseswithacommaand"she"isinsmallletters;inthethird,"decided"and"shesaid"arefollowedbycommas,andthesecondhalfofthequotationbeginswithasmallletter.Inshort,thequotationand"shesaid"aretreatedasonesentence;onlythefirstwordofthequotationhastobecapitalized.V.HandwritingWritecarefullysothatyourhandwritingcanbereadeasily.Besuretomakeyourcapitalsalittlebiggerandhigherthanyoursmallletters,makeyoura'sdifferentfromyouro's,andyourn'sdifferentfromyouru's,dotyouri'sandj's,andcrossyourt's.Leavealittlespace(aboutoneletter)afteracommaandaslightlybiggerspace(abouttwoletters)afteraperiod.

Whenyouwanttocrossoutaword,donotusebracketstoencloseit,butdrawathicklineacrossit.Whenyouwanttoaddaword,writeitabove,notbelow,thelineofwordsyouhavewrittenwithaclearsignshowingwhereitistobeinserted.

Therearetwocommonwaysofwritingtheletters:oneistoformloopsandtheotheristoprint(towritewithoutjoiningtheletters).Botharegood,butyouhadbettersticktooneofthetwostyles.Ⅰ.Thinkoffivetitlesandwritethemintheproperform.Ⅱ.Dividethefollowingwordsaccordingtogeneralrules:alivesettingsister-in-lawhandycorrectnessgratitudebonuspermissionsociablethoughtdictatorshipfar-reachingⅢ.Punctuatethefollowingpassageandusecapitalswherenecessary:weenteredtheroomjanelookedaroundandaskedwhereisthecat

shemusthaverunawayIansweredshedoesn'tliketostayathome

wemustgoandfindherjanesaidlet'sgo

atthismomentthecatwalkedoutfromunderthechairⅣ.Copytwoorthreeparagraphsfromabook;trytowriteneatlyandpayattentiontohandwritingandmanuscriptform.PartTwoDictionDictionisthechoiceanduseofwords.TheEnglishlanguagehasaverylargevocabulary:asmanyas400,000wordsarecollectedintheOxfordEnglishDictionary.Ofcoursenooneknowsorneedtousesomanywords.Onlyasmallpartofthemareusedbyordinarypeopleforordinarypurposes.Astudentlearningtowriteshouldlearntousethewordsthataremostusefulandmostoftenusedtoexpresshimself.Sometimeshemayusethewrongwords,butmoreoftenthewordsheusesarenotentirelywrong,butinappropriate,inexact,unidiomaticoruninteresting.Abasicknowledgeofdictionmaybeofhelptohim.Ⅰ.LevelsofWordsThewordsthatareoftenusedmaybedivided,fromastylisticpointofview,intothreetypes:formal,common,andcolloquial.

Formalwordsmayalsobecalledlearnedwords,orliterarywords,or"big"words.Theymainlyappearinformalwriting,suchasscholarlyortheoreticalworks,politicalandlegaldocuments,andformallecturesandaddresses.Manysuchwordscontainthreeormorethanthreesyllables;mostofthemareofGreekorLatinorigin.Theyareseldomusedindailyconversation,exceptforspecialpurposes.HereisaparagraphfromascholarlypaperwhichcontainssomeofthefeaturesofformalEnglish:

Thereisnothingnewintherecognition,withinagivenlanguage,ofadistinctionbetweencommonusuageandusesofthelanguageformorerestrictedpurposesandoftenenough,perhapscharacteristically,moreelevatedpurposes.ThemonolithicnatureofEnglishisnotquestionedwhenliteraryessayistslikeEmersoncontrastpoetryandcommonspeech.ThelatterisrecognizedinAmericatobethepropersubjectfortheinvestigationoflinguistswho,however,nowshowsomeincipientinclinationtoinvestigatepoetry,too,andothernoncasualutterancesinagivenlanguage.-C.F.VoegelinThereareonlythreesentencesinthisparagraph;allofthemarelongandinvolved.Andthereareinitquiteafewformalorlearnedwords,suchasrecognition,characteristically,elevated,monolithic,investigation,incipient,inclination,noncasual,andutterances.Longsentencesandformalwordsareappropriateherebecausethepaper,whichdiscussesarathercomplexquestion,needsthemtobetheoreticallyclearandexact.

Mostofthewordsintheparagraph,however,arethosethatpeopleuseeveryday,andappearinallkindsofwriting.Becauseofthis,theyarecalledcommonwords.Readthefollowingparagraph:

WhenIwasakid,andreadingeverysciencefictionbookinthelocallibrary,Iusedtowonderexactlyhowthefuturewouldhappen.BythatIdon'tmeanwhatthefuturewouldbelike-sciencefictionalreadytoldmethat-butratherhowwe'dactuallygetthere.Sciencefictionbooksseemedtoagree,forexample,thatinthefuturetherewouldbenomoney-alltransactionswouldbemadeviaidentitycardsandcentralizedcomputers.Butthatseemeddubioustome:how,Iwondered,areyougoingtogeteverybodytogiveupmoneyinthefirstplace?-MichaelRogersInthisparagraph,exceptoneortwowordsthatareverycolloquial,likekid,andoneortwothatarealittleformal,liketransactionsanddubious,allthewordsarecommonlyusedwords.Thesentencesaremuchshorterandsimplerthanthoseintheprecedingparagraph.Suchvocabularyandsentencestructurefitthecontentoftheparagraph,asitdescribesthethoughtsofachild.

Therearewordswhicharemainlyusedininformalorfamiliarconversation.Theyseldomappearinformalwriting,andinliteraryworkstheirmainuseistorecordpeople'sthoughtsanddialogues.TheyareusuallyshortwordsofoneortwosyllablesandmostofthemareofSaxonorigin(i.e.,notborrowedfromGreek,Latin,orFrench).Wemaycallthemcolloquialwords,suchasguts(meaningcourage),guy(man),andhassle(bother).

Hereisaparagraphwithsomeofthesewords:

Youhaveyourtension.Sometimesyoucomeclosetohavinganaccident,thatupsetsyou.Youjustescapemaybebyahairorso.Sometimesmaybeyougetadisgruntledpassengeronthere,andstartsabigargument.Traffic.Youhavesomeonewhocutsyouofforstopsinfrontofthebus.There'salotoftensionbehindthat.Yougottowatchallthetime.You'rewatchin'thedrivers,you'rewatchin'othercars.Mostofthetimeyouhavetodrivefortheotherdrivers,toavoidhittingthem.Soyoutakethetensionhomewithyou.-StudsTerkelThisispartofatalkgivenbyaChicagodriver.Heusesverycolloquialwordsandexpressionslikethere's,you're,byahairorso,onthere,cutsyouoff,andyougotto.Butmostofthewordsheusesarecommonwords.

Thustherearethreelevelsofwords,withtheformalorlearnedatthetop,thecolloquialatthebottom,andthecommoninthemiddle.Commonwordsaregoodforallkindsofwriting;formalwordsareasaruleseldomusedininformalwriting,whilecolloquialwordsareseldomusedinformalwriting,unlessforsomespecialpurposeoreffect.

TheseareallwordsofstandardEnglish,whichisusedbyalleducatedspeakersofthelanguage.Therearewordswhichareusedonlybyspecialgroupsofpeopleforspecialeffect.Amongtheseareslangwords,dialectalwordsandcertainwordsthatareoftenusedbyuneducatedspeakers.

Slangwordsarehighlyinformal;theymaybevividandinteresting,buttheymay,whenusedinappropriately,makethewriterorspeakersoundoffensiveorfunny:

Onhearingthathisfatherhadkickedthebucket,wewrotehimalettertoexpressoursympathies.

Thebigbanquetheldinhonourofthedistinguishedguestswasreallyneat.Becauseoftheslangexpressions,thefirstsentencedoesnotreallysoundsympathetic,andthesecondoneisnotseriousintone.

Inthefollowingpassageafarmersaidsomeangrywordsabouttheschoolteacherwhohadtakenhispupilsoutonafieldtrip:I'llattendtothatmyselfinth'mornin'.I'lltakekeero''im.Heain'tfromthiscountynohow.I'llgodownthereinth'mornin'andsee'im.Lettin'youleaveyourbooksandgallivantalloverth'hills.Whatkindofaschoolisitnohow!Didn'tdothat,myson,whenI'salittleshaverinschool.-JesseStuartThefarmer'sdialectisshowninhispronunciation:heomitscertainsoundsandpronounces-inglike-inandcarelikekeer.Heusesain'tforisn't,I'sforI'm,andnohowforanyhow.Thesewords,whichmaybeusedbyuneducatedspeakers,arenotofstandardvocabulary.Alittleshaverisaslangexpressionmeaningalittleboy.

Suchnonstandard(orsubstandard)wordsandexpressionsareoftenseeninstoriesdescribingpoorlyeducatedpeople.ForeignstudentsofEnglishneedtounderstandthem,butshouldnottrytousetheminspeechorwriting.Ⅱ.TheMeaningofWordsThemeaningofawordhastwoaspects:denotativeandconnotative.Aword'sdenotationiswhatitliterallymeans,asdefinedbythedictionary;itsconnotationisthefeelingorideasuggestedbyit.

Forinstance,country,nation,stateandlandhavemoreorlessthesamedenotationandmayallbetranslatedintoguojiainChinese,buttheirconnotationsarequitedifferent.Countryreferstoanareaoflandanditspopulationandgovernment,nationemphasizesthepeopleofacountry,statereferstothegovernmentorpoliticalorganizationofacountry,andlandislessprecisebutmoreliteraryandemotivethancountry.anislandcountry;neighbouringcountries

InareaChinaisthethirdlargestcountryintheworld.

apeace-lovingnation;theawakeningnationsofAfrica

Themodernizationprogrammehaswonthesupportofthewholenation.

stateorgans;state-ownedenterprises

ChinaismynativelandAscomparedhere,thesefourwordsmaybesaidtobesynonyms.Englishisparticularlyrichinsynonymsasaresultofincorporatingwordsfromotherlanguagesoverthecenturies.Butweshouldrememberthatitisdifficulttofindtwowordsthatareexactlythesameinmeaninganduse.Theymaybedifferentinstylisticlevel,inthedegreeofemphasis,inemotionalcoloring,intone,andincollocation.

Generallyspeaking,wordsofAnglo-SaxonoriginaremoreinformalthanthoseofLatinorFrenchorigin.Lookatthesewords:asktimerisequestionagemountinterrogateepochascendIneachgroupthefirstwordisfromAnglo-SaxonandthesecondandthirdfromFrenchorLatin.Thefirstoneisclearlymoreinformalorcolloquialthantheothertwo.

Bigandlargearebothcommonlyusedwords,butlargeisslightlymoreformalandmaybeusedtodescribethingsthatareunusuallybig,soitismoreemphaticthanbig.Huge,whichismoreliterarythanthesetwowords,meansextremelylarge,andismoreemphaticthanlarge.abig/largecity;abig/largehouse

WuhanisaverylargecityinCentralChina.

Theteamhasgotahugemanovertwometrestall.Smallandlittleareofteninterchangeable,butthereissomedifferenceinemotionalcoloringbetweenthem.Smallisobjective,whilelittlemayimplyafeelingoffondness:Theylivedinasmalltown.

IcanneverforgetthelittletownwhereIspentmyhappychildhood.Modestandhumblebothindicatealackofpride,butmodestyisavirtueandhumblenessisnot.Humbleoftenconnotesundueself-depreciation.Sotheyaredifferentintone:oneislaudatoryandtheotherisderogatory.Modestandhardworking,hemadeveryquickprogressatschool.

ClearlyGomperswasoverawedbyWilson.Hisfacetookonaservilelook;hisvoicewashumble.Somesynonymshavedifferentcollocations:theyarehabituallyusedwithcertainwords.Large,notbig,forinstance,isusedtomodifynounslikeamount,numberandquantity(alargeamountofmoney,alargenumberofpeople,alargequantityofbeer,etc.).Similarly,withnounsdenotingpersonalqualities,suchascourage,confidence,ability,andwisdom,notbigorlarge,butgreat,iscommonlyused.

Allthisshowsthattodiscriminatebetweensynonymsisimportanttoastudentlearningtowrite.Whenindifficulty,heshoulduseagooddictionarywithnotesonusageorsynonyms.Hereisanexampleofsuchnotes:SYN.-proudisthebroadestterminthiscomparison,ranginginimplicationfromproperself-esteemorpridetoanoverweeningopinionofone'simportance[tooproudtobeg,proudasapeacock];arrogantimpliesanaggressive,unwarrantedassertionofsuperiorimportanceorprivileges[thearrogantcolonel];haughtyimpliessuchconsciousnessofhighstation,rank,etc.asisdisplayedinscornofthoseoneconsidersbeneathone[ahaughtydowager];insolent,inthisconnection,impliesbothhaughtinessandgreatcontempt,esp.asmanifestedinbehaviororspeechthatinsultsoraffrontsothers[shehasaninsolentdisregardforherservant'sfeelings]...-Webster'sNewWorldDictionaryThereisonethingaboutthemeaningofwordsthatChinesestudentsshouldbeonguardagainst:takingtheChineseequivalentofanEnglishwordasitsexactmeaning,orunderstandingthemeaningofanEnglishwordfromitsChineseequivalent.ItistruethattheChineseequivalentsofmanyEnglishwordsexpresstheirtruemeanings,butveryoftenanEnglishwordhasnoexactChineseequivalentandithastobetranslatedindifferentwaysindifferentcontexts.

Takeaverysimpleword,send,forinstance.AstudentwhothinksitsmeaningissonginChinesemaymakesentenceslike:"Hecametosendmetheletter"(Hebroughtmetheletter);or"Isentmyfriendtothestationyesterday"(Iwenttothestationwithmyfriendtoseehimoff).Infact,tosendmeanstocausetogoorbetakentoaplacewithoutgoingoneself.Ifyousentsomethingtoaplace,youaskedsomeoneelsetotakeitthere;youdidnotgothereyourself.

TounderstandthemeaningofanEnglishwordonehadbetterfindouthowitisdefinedinEnglishinadictionarywithEnglishexplanations.Chinesetranslationsarenotalwaysreliable,andsometimestheyaremisleading.

EnglishwordsthatmaybetranslatedintothesameChineseexpressionarenotnecessarilysynonymous.Familyandhome,forinstance,maybothbetranslatedasjia,buttheyarenotsynonyms.Familyreferstothepeoplerelatedtoone,whilehometotheplacewhereonelives.Exceptandbesidesaresometimestranslatedinthesameway(chule),buttheyareoppositeinmeaning:exceptmeansleavingoutornotincluding,andbesidesmeansinadditiontooraswellas.Ⅲ.GeneralandSpecificWordsComparativelyspeaking,somewordsaremoregeneralormorespecificinmeaningthanothers.Professionals,forinstance,ismoregeneralthanscientists,doctors,teachers,lawyers,journalists,etc.,allofwhicharemorespecific.Butscientistsmaybecalledageneralwordwhencomparedwithphysicistsorchemists,which,inturn,ismoregeneralthanbiochemists.

Althoughbothgeneralandspecificwordsareuseful,astudentlearningtowriteshouldmakeanefforttomasterandusespecificwordswhereverpossible.Specificwordshelptomakewritingclear,exact,vivid,andstriking,fortheyaremoreinformativeandexpressivethangeneralwords.Compare:agoodmankind,honest,just,generous,sympathetic,warm-hearted,selfless,brave,honorablegoodfoodtasty,delicious,nourishing,rich,wholesome,fresh,appetizing,abundanthousemansion,villa,chateau,cottage,bungalow,cabin,hut,shack,shanty,shed,barnlaughsmile,grin,beam,giggle,titter,snigger,chuckle,guffaw,chortleItiseasytoseethatthespecificwordsontherightaremuchmoreconcreteandcolorfulthanthegeneralonesontheleft;theyseemtomakethereadersee,hear,orfeelwhatthewriterwishestodescribe.

Usingspecificwordsshouldgoalongwithprovidingdetails,andthentherewillbeeffectiveandimpressivewriting.Studythefollowingexamples:GeneralItisoftenwindyanddustyhereinspring.

SpecificInspringthereisoftenaverystrongnorthwestwind.Itcarriessomuchfinedustwithitthatsometimesthesunbecomesobscure.Thereisnoescapefromthefinedust;itgetsintoyoureyes,yourears,yournostrils,andyourhair.Itgoesthroughthecracksofclosedwindowsandcoversyourdesksandchairs.

GeneralStudentsdomanyinterestingthingsafterclasses.

SpecificEverymorningandafternoonthesportsfieldsarealivewithenergeticstudents.Footballandbasketballmatches,volleyball,andbadminton,track-trainingandgymnasticsareallinfullswing.Eventhealleywaysunderthetreesandaroundtheflowerbedsprovideenoughspaceforenthusiaststopractise.Throughthewindowscomesthepitter-patterofping-pongballs,thesoundofsongsandmusic,orlaughteranddiscussion.

GeneralAnoldNegrowomanwaswalkinginthewoods.

SpecificFaroutinthecountrytherewasanoldNegrowomanwithherheadtiedinaredrag,comingalongapaththroughthepinewoods.Shewasveryoldandsmallandshewalkedslowlyinthedarkpineshadows,movingalittlefromsidetosideinhersteps,withthebalancedheavinessandlightnessofapenduluminagrandfatherclock.Shecarriedathin,smallcanemadefromanumbrella,andwiththisshekepttappingthefrozenearthinfrontofher.Thismadeagraveandpersistentnoiseinthestillair,thatseemedmeditativelikethechirpingofasolitarylittlebird.-EudoraWeltyGeneralNotfarfromtherailwaytherewasacottagewithagardenandtreesandflowersaroundit.

SpecificOntheoutskirtsofalittletownuponariseoflandthatsweptbackfromtherailwaytherewasatidylittlecottageofwhiteboards,trimmedvividlywithgreenblinds.Toonesideofthehousetherewasagardenneatlypatternedwithplotsofgrowingvegetables,andanarborforthegrapeswhichripenedlateinAugust.Beforethehousetherewerethreemightyoakswhichsheltereditintheircleanandmassiveshadeinsummer,andtotheothersidetherewasaborderofgayflowers.Thewholeplacehadanairoftidiness,thrift,andmodestcomfort.-ThomasWolfeⅣ.IdiomsAnidiomisafixedgroupofwordswithaspecialmeaningwhichisdifferentfromthemeaningsofthewordsthatformit.To"readabook",forinstance,isnotanidiom,forthemeaningofthephraseisthemeaningsofthethreewordsputtogether,and"abook"canbereplacedbyotherwordslike"anewspaper"or"anovel".To"readbetweenthelines"isdifferent.Thefourwordsthatformthephrasegivenohintastowhatitmeansandnoneofthewordscanbe