环球教育教你写出漂亮的句子2

4.留意正式表达与非正式表达的区别

英语中有正式表达和非正式表达之分，要学会区分它们，避免在写作使用非正式表达。例如：

The actors gave a terrific performance, but the opera was rotten.

句子中 terrific, rotten 这样的词语就属于非正式表达，在书面语中要进行替换，可以将它们替换成 The actors gave a amazing/brilliant/marvellous performance, but the opera was terrible/awful/abysmal.

怎样辨别正式表达与非正式表达呢？一个简单的方法是，在词典中查看该单词的标识，如果某个释义带有 informal 标识，在正式写作中就要尽量注意。

5.用词多样

在一篇文章中，可以使用同义词或近义词来营造多样化表达效果。举个例子，经济学人最近在一篇关于泰国国王普密蓬的文章中，有这样一个句子：

Respect for the Thai monarchy may be reinforced through the education system and bolstered by strict laws against insulting the king, but it is genuine nonetheless.

其中，reinforce 以及 bolster 表达的含义都是“加强”，在这里为近义词替换。

我在之前的经济学人赏析系列中还举过一个例子：

Africa can simply jump straight over it and go right to the latest thing. Just as drones can make up for poor roads, the theory goes, mobile phones can overcome a lack of well-functioning banks, portable solar panels can stand in for missing power stations and free learning apps can substitute for patchy education.

一个句子里面连续使用了 make up for, overcome, stand in for, substitute for 这几个词来表达“取代”这个概念，这也从侧面反映出积累近义表达的重要性。

在写句子时如果需要进行同义词替换，可以查询同义词词典（thesaurus），例如在柯林斯同义词词典中可以找到 stand in for 的多种替换表达：

6.使用修辞

适当使用修饰可以增加语言的表现力，同时给读者留下深刻印象。在外刊阅读以及英语写作中，最常见的一种修饰手法是比喻。举个例子，经济学人最近在写 Elon Musk 公司的财务状况时，使用了这样的描述：

Mr Musk is also one of the last entrepreneurs in America who seems to think that the publicly listed company can be useful. Two of his companies are listed: Tesla, a carmaker, and SolarCity, an energy firm. They have towering ambitions and valuations, and burn up cash as fast as his third company, SpaceX, burns up rocket fuel.

对于特斯拉和SolarCity 两家公司的烧钱速度，作者给了一个形象的说法：就像 SpaceX 公司的火箭消耗燃料那么快。这样的描写效果更为直观。

另一个例子是马丁路德金的演讲。他在 I have a dream 演讲中，大量使用了比喻这种修饰手法（注意下面加粗的表达）：

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

这次演讲在当时面对的是广大底层黑人民众，文中使用的一系列比喻让自由平等民主不再是空洞的概念，而是一个个非常具体的物象。这些比喻极大增强了演讲的感染力，也让它当即成为脍炙人口的名篇。

7.寻找更精准的词

要写出漂亮的句子，我们并不能仅仅满足于使用一个刚好能符合要求的词。要不断反问自己“这个句子还可以怎么写？有没有更加精确的词可以替换？”

举个例子，“我的伯母气冲冲地走进商店，要求退款”，这句话怎么说？

My aunt walked into the grocery store angrily and asked for a refund.

上面这个句子虽然可以符合要求，但是用词过于中规中矩，还不够漂亮。可以尝试着将句子改成：

My aunt stormed into the grocery store and demanded for a refund.

将 walked 替换成 storm （气冲冲地走），将 ask 替换为 demand（坚决请求，强烈要求），这样的句子表意更为精准，也更加容易给人留下深刻印象。

这个例子也从侧面解释了我们为什么需要更大词汇量的原因：掌握的单词越多，写作时用词的选择面也会越广，越容易找到能够精确传达意思的词汇。

除了上面提到的这几种技巧之外，还要学会大量阅读模仿以及勤查词典，多站在作者的角度思考如何遣词造句。能够长期坚持做到这几点，距离写出好句子也就不远了。

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