如果要我就怎样读报提出一点意见的话，我的意见是：读报时一定要设法挤出几分钟时间阅读“读者来信”这一栏。该栏通常每次刊登读者写给编辑的数封来信。阅读“读者来信”像是给报纸的读者群按脉。它能告诉我们有关报纸质量方面的许多情况。这些来信也很有趣，它们常常表达读者对于某一问题绝然相反的意见。阅读“读者来信”还能给人以启迪：有些读者真有智慧的恩赐。对于我来说，最重要的是学着把自己的文章写得短小精悍。要用寥寥数语把一个有时相当复杂的观点表达清楚，这决不是一桩容易的事。它是一种艺术。

下面，请阅读刊登在2007年5约3日《洛杉矶时报》“商务”专栏上的一封读者来信。

 

这位读者站在洛杉矶联合学区这一边，因为该学区认为职业教育大有前途。但是那位读者没有用自己的话来阐述观点，而是引用了一位前政府官员的一段话。

引文的最后有“hold water”一词，用得十分巧妙。该词的字面意思是“能积得住水”，但它的比喻意思是“站得住脚”。这样，“hold water”变成了双关语。我们都知道，积不住水的管子不是好管子；同样，经不起检查、考验的哲学理念也不会是好的哲学理念。

 

If I have any advice to offer in newspaper-reading, it is that one should always find a few minutes to read the “Letter to the Editor” column. The column usually carries a couple of letters readers sent to the editor. Reading them is like taking the pulse of the readership. It tells you much about the quality of the newspaper. Also, reading them is often fun: often the readers express diametrically different views. And it can be enlightening: some readers are truly blessed with wisdom. For me, the most important thing is to learn to make my writings short and juicy. It is never easy to use just a few sentences to express an idea, which may be quite complex. That, indeed, is an art.

Please read the following letter to the editor that appears in the Business column of the Los Angeles Times on May 13, 2007.

 

 

 

At the end of the quotation there is the phrase “hold water,” which is used as a pun. Its literal meaning is to be able to carry water without leaking while its figurative meaning is to be well founded, to be able to stand up under scrutiny. A pipe is no good if it cannot hold water, nor is a theory that cannot stand up under scrutiny. How well it is said!

 

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2007年5月18日