"So when you write about a place, try to draw the best out of it."每次讀Zinsser的文章都深覺自己讀書太少，今天看完之后把《瓦爾登湖》、《萬物簡史》、《林中漫步》列入書單。
PART ONE VOCABULARY
1.desolate
and here— desolate, roughly surfaced, lined with eucalyptus and lemon groves— is Banyan Street.
desolate：a place that is?desolate?is?empty?and looks?sad?because there are no people there無人居住,
e.g.a bleak and desolate landsacpe
其他意思：someone who is desolate feels very sad and?lonely孤獨凄涼
2.distill,adroit
McPhee distills its essence in a paragraph that is adroit both in detail and in metaphor:
distill:to get the?main?ideas or facts from a much larger amount of information提取
distill something into something
adroit：clever?and?skilful, especially in the way you use words and?arguments精明能干、尤指口齒伶俐
e.g.an adroit negotiator
3.lyrical
Also resist straining for the luminous lyrical phrase to describe the wondrous waterfall.
lyrical：1. beautifully?expressed?in words,?poetry?, or music抒情的 、浪漫的、熱情奔放的
e.g.lyrical poetry
2.wax lyrical to talk about and?praise sth in a eager way熱情地討論（贊美）
4.groaning,platitude
The other big trap is style. Nowhere else in nonfiction do writers use such syrupy words and groaning platitudes.
platitude:a?statement?that has been made many times before and is not?interesting?or?clever– used to show?disapproval老生常談，陳詞濫調
groan：to make a long?deep?sound because you are in?pain,?upset, or?disappointed, or because something is very?enjoyable呻吟，嘆息
e.g.to groan with pain/pleasure，
還有抱怨的意思to complain sth等于moan SYNgrumble,whine
e.g.They are always moaning and groaning about how much thay have to do.
idiom：groan under the weight of sth被某物的折磨下喘不過氣
動詞短語
groan with sth：to be full of sth
PART TWO THOUGHTS
People and places are the twin pillars on which most nonfiction is built. Every human event happens somewhere, and the reader wants to know what that somewhere was like.
上次講了如何寫采訪，這次講了游記。如何寫游記呢？從兩方面
1.Distill the important from the immaterial.游記并非事無大小全部寫下，那叫日記。要寫出"Find
those distinctive traits."具有獨特有特色的才能吸引讀者，保證每個細節都是有意義的
2.風格，切記用情感泛濫，煽情的單詞，以及老生常談的呻吟。
講到游記，我想起高中所學的陶淵明的《桃花源記》
忽逢桃花林，夾岸數百步，中無雜樹，芳草鮮美，落英繽紛。漁人甚異之。復前行，欲窮其林。林盡水源，便得一山，山有小口，仿佛若有光。便舍船，從口入。初極狹，才通人。復行數十步，豁然開朗。土地平曠，屋舍儼然，有良田美池桑竹之屬。阡陌交通，雞犬相聞。其中往來種作，男女衣著，悉如外人。黃發垂髫，并怡然自樂。
短短數句把桃花源描繪出來，沒有陳詞濫調。忽然遇到桃花林，風景優美吸引的漁人前行。
還有蘇軾的《前赤壁賦》與《后赤壁賦》，一樣的赤壁景色，詩意卻不同。
清風徐來，水波不興。舉酒屬[6](zhǔ)客，誦明月之詩，歌窈窕(yǎo tiǎo)之章。少(shǎo）焉，月出于東山之上，徘徊于斗(dǒu)牛之間。白露橫江，水光接天。縱一葦之所如，凌萬頃（qǐng）之茫然。浩浩乎如馮（píng）虛御風，而不知其所止；飄飄乎如遺世獨立，羽化而登仙。
后賦
江流有聲，斷岸千尺，山高月小，水落石出。曾日月之幾何，而江山不可復識矣！
