Clutter is the disease of American writing. Our national tendency is to inflate and thereby sound important. But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these weaken the strength of a sentence.
Simplify, simplify. How can we achieve such freedom from clutter? The answer is to clear our heads of clutter. Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other. It’s impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English. He may get away with it for a paragraph or two, but soon the reader will be lost.
Writers must therefore constantly ask: what am I trying to say? Surprisingly often they don’t know. Then they must look at what they have written and ask: have I said it? Is it clear to someone coming across the subject for the first time? If it’s not, some fuzz has worked its way into the writing. The clear writer is someone clear-headed enough to see this stuff for what it is: fuzz.
I don’t mean that some people are born clear-headed and are therefore natural writers, while others are naturally fuzzy and will never write well. Thinking clearly is a conscious act that writers must force on themselves, as if they were working on any other project that requires logic.
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.
1. Which of the following contributes to good writing?A.Avoiding using passive structures. |
B.Leaving out words without a meaning. |
C.Using short words instead of long ones whenever possible. |
D.Choosing adverbs carrying the same meaning of the verbs. |
A.Clear thinking equals clear writing. |
B.Clear thinking reflects clear writing. |
C.Clear writing may not rely on clear thinking. |
D.Only clear thinking brings about clear writing. |
A.Something cloudy. | B.Something difficult. |
C.Something uninteresting. | D.Something complicated. |
A.Bad writing and clutter | B.Out of clutter find freedom |
C.Simplify to achieve good writing | D.Nobody is born to be a good writer |
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【推荐1】Our Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system(Dewey for short) to arrange books and other resources on the shelves so you can locate them easily. We’re going to show you how to use Dewey to find a book at any Library site.
Once you’ve searched for your item on Library Search, you’ll see something like this:
Globalization and education: critical perspectives Nicholas C Burbules; Carlos Alberto Torres 2000; ISBN0415920485(hbk); ISBNO41520477(pbk); ISBN97804 15920483; ISBN9780415920476 ◆Available at Main Library Blue Area Floor 1(370. 193 B174) Find in Library Details Reviews and tags |
The part in the brackets is the bit we’re interested in. What do these numbers next to the book’s location mean? The numbers shown are a “shelfmark”. You’ll find one of these on every book in the Library—a lot of customers find this confusing at first but if you break down the information into three sections, it’s easier to understand.
1. The numbers in front of the decimal point indicate the subject area(in this case 370). Look for this number first.
2. Next, look for the number after the decimal point(in this case 193).
3. Now look for the letter(s)and number(s). Letters are usually the initial letter(s)of the author’s name(in this case, Burbules).
Sometimes, you will see extra letters before the shelfmark. This shows that a book is part of a collection within the Library. For example: M. E. 279. 32R29 is part of the Middle Eastern collection. Find the collection first, before looking for the number.
1. What can help us find a book at the Library site easily on Library Search?A.Its title. | B.Its shelfmark. | C.Its publication time. | D.Its author’s name. |
A.The book’s location area. | B.The name of a collection. |
C.The author’s family name. | D.The shelf’s alphabetical order. |
A.M. E. /279/32R/29 | B.M. /E. /279. 32/R29 |
C.M. E. /279. 32/R/29 | D.M. E. /279/32/R29 |
【推荐2】Gesturing is powerful and important to our conversations. The challenge is to use it to good effect. Here are some tips that can help you take advantage of gesturing.
Encourage gesturing in your children, students and anyone else you are trying to teach.
Pay attention to other people’s gestures. These offer a window into the speakers’ thoughts. These thoughts are often at the cutting-edge of their knowledge or address issues that are uppermost in their minds.
Be careful that your gestures say what you want them to. Those you talk to will pay attention to your gestures, so choose them wisely.
Gesture more when you speak. It will help you learn and understand more. If you gesture while talking, you will remember more of what you have said.
A.Observe the gesturing of kids. |
B.Remember, gestures can reveal what you might want to hide. |
C.This will help them understand the material you are conveying. |
D.Whether we realize it or not, gestures are a part of our communication. |
E.What’s more, when you gesture, the people around you tend to do so too. |
F.Noticing and responding to such gestures will help you understand their thoughts. |
G.Knowing how to use gestures effectively can make you a better communicator. |
【推荐3】Starting university can be a costly experience for most students. But thankfully, with a little know-how, you can gain the benefits of being a student with a lot more cash in your pocket than you would have expected.
Save money on food.
Student life doesn’t have to be about empty cupboards and living off takeaways or ready meals. In fact, it can be useful habit to compare the price.
Use student transport discount.
We have a love-hate relationship with public transport.
Going out to a nightclub can be expensive. So take full advantage of student offers, where drinks are cheap and entry is often free. Be sure to keep an eye out for any freebies and special student offers advertised at local restaurants, cinemas and high street shops.
Spend less on textbooks.
Before you rush out and spend your entire student loan on books, check your lecture outlines and figure out which books you really do need to own, and which ones you can just borrow from the library.
A.Use student offers when socializing. |
B.Students shouldn’t go to the nightclub. |
C.Shop around and find the cheapest option. |
D.Being a money-saving student has never been easy. |
E.Remember all your textbooks are available in the library. |
F.While it may be essential to use public transport, it’s not always cheap. |
G.If there are some you need to buy, see if you can get a second-hand copy. |
【推荐1】At CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2020, one of the more well-represented gadget (小器具) categories was definitely consumer robots—but none was more adorable than a new robot pet from industrial robot startup Elephant Robotics.
This robot pet is a fully autonomous companion that can respond to touch and voice—and even play with toys, and it's hard not to love the thing after spending even just a brief amount of time with it. Marscat's pedigree (血统) is a bit unusual, since Elephant Robotics is focused on building what's known as “cobots”, or industrial robots that are designed to work alongside humans in settings like factories or assembly (装配) plants.
Elephant Robotics, which was founded in 2016, already produces three lines of these cooperative robots and has sold them to customer companies around the world, including in Korea, the U. S. , Germany and more.
This new product is designed for the home, however, not the factory or the lab. Marscat is the startup's first consumer product, but it obviously benefits immensely from the company's expertise and experience in their industrial robotics business. Marscat walks, runs, sleeps, sits. stretches, bites nails and even buries litter although she won't produce any waste. It may express different emotions by different meows (喵) or gestures. Marscat is unique from its eyes,body to personality. It has six characters which can be changed. She may be energetic or lazy,social or shy. Her personality develops through the way the users pet her.
While Marscat provides that kind of functionality out of the box, it's also customizable and programmable by the user. Inside, it's powered by a Raspberry Pi, and it ships with Marscat SDK, which is an open software development library that allows you to fully control and program all of the rohat's functions. This makes it an interesting gadget for STEM (Science, technology. engineering, math) education and research, too.
1. How does Marscat differ from cobots?A.Cobots is used more widely. | B.Marscat is for family company. |
C.Marscat is more difficult to operate. | D.Cobots is a good housework helper. |
A.It is like a real cat. | B.It has unchanged personality. |
C.It can speak to its owner if necessary. | D.Its litter box needs cleaning regularly. |
A.A bookstore. | B.A control room. |
C.Marscat SDK. | D.A Raspberry Pi. |
A.Questioning. | B.Conservative. |
C.Prejudiced. | D.Confident. |
【推荐2】Can you imagine digging in your yard one day and finding a life-sized soldier made completely of clay? That’s what happened several decades ago when farmers in Xi'an, China, were digging wells.
Archaeologists(考古学家) have since found about 6,000 more of these soldiers, along with horses, weapons, tools, and other artifacts. The huge army was meant to protect the tomb of the first ruler of China. The first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, accomplished a huge amount during his rule. Between 221 and 210 B.C., he started the construction of the Great Wall. He built a large network of roads. He introduced a new writing system, currency(货币), and a set of measurements. The emperor also ordered the construction of a huge army of life-sized terracotta soldiers. These, he hoped, would protect his tomb after his death.
The soldiers in Xi'an's terracotta museum are today light brown, but they weren't always. They began as an army of red, blue, yellow, green, white, and purple. Sadly, most of the colors did not last to the present day. After being exposed to air during excavation(挖掘), the coating under the paint began to fall off. The paint disappeared in less time than it takes to boil an egg, taking with it important pieces of history.
Now new techniques are starting to reveal the army's true colors. Archaeologists have recently discovered an area with more than a hundred soldiers. Many of these still have their painted features, including black hair, pink faces, and black or brown eyes. Chinese and German researchers have developed a special liquid to help preserve the soldiers’ colors. After they find a soldier or other artifacts(手工艺品), archaeologists spray it with the liquid. They then cover it in plastic. Archaeologists are also finding colors in the dirt around the soldiers. It’s important not to disturb the dirt, so the colors won’t be lost. “We are treating the earth as an artifact,”says archeologist Rong Bo, the museum’s leading chemist. The next challenge, says Rong, is to find a way to apply the colors to the army again. Once that happens, artists can bring Emperor Qin's army back to life in full, vivid color.
1. The terracotta soldiers were constructed to _________.A.show the outside world about China’s greatness |
B.be enjoyed by everyday people |
C.frighten China’s enemies |
D.protect Emperor Qin’s tomb |
A.The soldiers lost their colors very quickly. |
B.The soldiers’ paint fell off because of the high temperature. |
C.Visitors to the museum are not actually seeing the real soldiers. |
D.Being exposed to water is bad for the soldiers. |
A.A place with over a hundred soldiers. |
B.A written description of the soldiers’ true colors. |
C.A special liquid in the tomb to preserve the soldiers’ colors. |
D.A new tomb for Emperor Qin. |
A.The soldiers should stay in their current, brown color. |
B.Artists should be able to paint the soldiers in any color they want. |
C.Archaeologists can only guess at the soldiers’ original colors. |
D.We should try to restore the army’s vivid colors. |
【推荐3】In 2017,the United Arab Emirates announced its ambition to colonize Mars within the next 100 years. But architects are already imagining what a Martian city might look like-and planning to recreate it in the desert outside Dubai.
Mars Science City was originally scheduled to cover 176,000 square meters of desert-the size of more than 30 football fields-and cost approximately 135 million dollars. To create a space for Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) to develop the technology needed to colonize Mars,architects Bjarke Ingels Group were asked to design a prototype of a city suitable for sustaining life on Mars-and then adapt it for use in the Emirati desert.
For this unique commission,the architects first had to overcome the immense challenges of creating a design to make the severe environment of Mars habitable. Mars has a thin atmosphere and no global magnetic field,so there's little protection from harmful radiation. Temperature is another problem-the average on Mars is a chilly 63 degrees C. The thin atmosphere also means there's little air pressure,so liquids quickly evaporate into gas; despite freezing temperatures,an unprotected human's blood would boil on Mars.But according to Jonathan Eastwood,director of the Space Lab at Imperial College London,the biggest challenge in terms of a sustained presence on Mars is not the engineering or scientific challenge,but the human and personal one.More researches need to be done to test the effects of isolation on mental and physical health of astronauts.
The MBRSC hopes that,in future,such research could take place in Mars Science City.This is going to be our platform where we can develop the science and the technology that will help us in our future missions to Mars,said Adnan AlRais,Mars 27 Program Manager at MBRSC."We want to come up with a totally new facility that will help the international community.”
1. What information can you get about the Martian city?A.It is planned to be completed in the next 100 years. |
B.It occupies more than 30 football fields of Dubai. |
C.It has been put into use in the desert outside Dubai. |
D.It serves as a prototype for sustaining life on Mars. |
A.A thin atmosphere exposes people to harmful radiation. |
B.High temperature makes unprotected human's blood boil. |
C.Little air pressure causes liquid to turn into gas quickly. |
D.A long period of isolation may affect physical health. |
A.Positive | B.objective | C.critical | D.skeptical |
A.The research on the effects of living on Mars. |
B.A Martian city designed for the desert outside Dubai. |
C.The United Arab Emirates' ambition to colonize Mars. |
D.The challenges of surviving the inhabitable environment of Mars. |