一 words and expressions
1. Every town starts with dirt streets that eventually get paved as the inhabitants prosper and subdue their environment.
subdue: 制服;征服;控制If soldiers or the police subdue a group of people, they defeat them or bring them under control by using force.
2. Notice how much information is crammed into these three sentences
cram: to force a lot of things into a small space, or to do many things in a short period of time 塞满；塞进；挤入；急匆匆地做（许多事）; 此外，还有to try to learn a lot very quickly before an examination（考试前）死记硬背，突击学习的意思
3. It was to watch the arrival of one of those caravans that I had come to Timbuktu.
caravan：①wheeled vehicle for living or travelling in, especially for holidays, which contains beds and cooking equipment and can be pulled by a car（尤指渡假时使用，由汽车拖曳的）宿营拖车，旅行拖车
②a group of people with vehicles or animals who travel together for safety through a dangerous area, especially across a desert on camels（尤指骑骆驼穿越沙漠的）旅行队，车队
4. Maybe alliteration would help—readers enjoy any effort to gratify their sense of rhythm and cadence.
alliteration： the use of several words together that begin with the same sound or letter in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry头韵（法）〔使用相近的几个词，其开头的音节有相同的声音或字母，以制造一种特别的效果，尤用于诗歌〕
5. Mali was an immersion in color: handsome people wearing fabrics of intoxicating design, markets bright with fruits and vegetables, children whose smile was a routine miracle.
intoxicating：An intoxicating experience or idea makes you feel excited and emotional（经历或想法）令人陶醉的，令人极其兴奋的
6. But they are also a deliberate attempt to maintain a persona.
persona：the particular type of character that a person seems to have, which is often different from their real or private character（与本人真实品格不一致的）表面形象，外表性格
二 thoughts
The previous chapter was about big decisions: matters of shape, structure, compression, focus and intention. This chapter is about little decisions: the hundreds of choices that go into organizing a long article.
开头便指出这章探讨的是如何组织文章。
No less important than decisions about structure are decisions about individual words.
结构与用词同等重要。我在写作中常常会陷入误区，写文章时仅仅关注遣词造句，却忽视了文章的结构。一个好的结构就好像结实的骨架，能够有力地撑起整篇文章。
If a subject interests you, go after it, even if it’s in the next county or the next state or the next country. It’s not going to come looking for you. Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it.
在最后，作者总结了一个我们需要做的更大的decision，就是决定写你感兴趣的。作为writer，你要有决断力，而不是等着什么内容主动找你，让你去写。
