OWW CH15

WORD:

1.lug

vt. to carry or drag (something heavy)

Both are unnecessary fears to lug through life, and in this chapter I’d like to help you ease whichever one is yours.

拖拉着这份不必要的害怕，lug用得很形象，fear在此是份沉重的拖累。

2.demystify

vt. If you demystify something, you make it easier to understand by giving a clear explanation of it.

Science, demystified, is just another nonfiction subject.

反义词mystify，神秘化

3.flunk

vt. to fail in (schoolwork) Informal

I once flunked a chemistry course taught by a woman who had become a legend with three generations of students, the legend being she could teach chemistry to anybody.

flunk out Informal

to send or be sent away from school or college because of unsatisfactory work

4.linear

adj. easy to comprehend because of being logical and not complex

Nowhere else must you work so hard to write sentences that form a linear sequence.

这里感觉不是线性序列的意思，所以我理解成是有逻辑的简单易懂的。

5.graces

n. the skills needed to behave in a way that is considered polite and socially acceptable. 风度，体面

I don’t care about style or any other graces.

译为“优雅”时是不可数名词，这里是复数，所以我选择了上面这个意思，这句就不是很理解，不介意风格或其他体面？？？

6.tenet

n. a principle or belief, especially one that is part of a larger system of beliefs

A tenet of journalism is that “the reader knows nothing.”

7.aptitude

n. natural ability or skill, especially in learning

aptitude for n/-ing

It’s the principle of leading readers who know nothing, step by step, to a grasp of subjects they didn’t think they had an aptitude for or were afraid they were too dumb to understand. 

8.foreshadow

vt. to be a sign of (something to come); indicate or suggest beforehand; prefigure; presage.

The state of mind that always foreshadowed a correct answer was one that might be described as trained attentiveness.

9.fumble

VERB  If you fumble for something or fumble with something, you try and reach for it or hold it in a clumsy way.

【语法信息】：V for/with/in n

10.belt out   informal

PHRASAL VERB  If you belt out a song, you sing or play it very loudly.

11.cow

VERB  If someone is cowed, they are made afraid, or made to behave in a particular way because they have been frightened or badly treated.

【语法信息】：be V-ed

【语法信息】：V n into n/-ing

12.bent

N-SING  If you have a bent for something, you have a natural ability to do it or a natural interest in it.

【搭配模式】：with supp

bent竟然还有天赋、才能的意思，惊呆。

If you’re a student with a bent for science or technology, don’t assume that the English department has a monopoly on “literature.”

13.deign

VERB If you say that someone deigned to do something, you are expressing your disapproval of the fact that they did it unwillingly, because they thought they were too important to do it.

【语法信息】：V to-inf

【语用信息】：disapproval

They won’t deign to learn to use the simple tools of the English language—precision instruments as refined as any that are used in a physics lab.

THOUGHT:

If you're good at something, you can write about it well, don't be fear. You must hold the tenet that "the reader knows nothing", and try to describe the thing simply and logically. 

读者看不下去科技类文章主要有两点原因，一是专业性太强看不懂，二是内容枯燥看不下去。解决这个第一个问题，不要用专业术语，要用通俗易懂的词汇，讲专业的部分要用一些大众都知道的事实引入，一步步引导读者。解决第二个问题，不要上来就科普，联系读者身边可以发生的故事，引起读者的趣味。