words

It’s a disciplined act of writing. The grammar is formal, the words are plain and precise, and the cadences are those of a poet.

Cadences

N-COUNT The cadence of someone's voice is the way their voice gets higher and lower as they speak. (声音的)抑扬顿挫[正式]

He recognized the Polish cadences in her voice.

他听出了她声音中抑扬顿挫的波兰腔。

It’s verbose.

verbose

disapproving adjective

using or containing more words than are necessary

• a verbose explanation/report/speech/style

• He was a notoriously verbose after-dinner speaker.

It’s contemptuous of the English language.

contemptuous

蔑视的;藐视的;鄙视的；If you are contemptuous of someone or something, you do not like or respect them at all. [usu v-link ADJ]

He was contemptuous of private farmers...

他看不起私营农场主。

the one without taste will drench us in ripples and other unnecessary ornaments.

drench

to fill or cover completely as if by soaking or precipitation

was drenched in furs and diamonds — Richard Brautigan

one person’s beautiful object is somebody else’s kitsch.

Kitsch

庸俗的艺术作品；迎合低级趣味的拙劣作品；You can refer to a work of art or an object as kitsch if it is showy and thought by some people to be in bad taste.

//...a hideous ballgown verging on the kitsch...

近乎俗丽的难看的舞会礼服

summary

In this chapter, Zinsser stresses the importance of keeping and developing your voice. By keeping one voice, the author means that writers should develop their own styles instead of changing their voices according to the subject. Developing one voice needs writers to give enjoyment to readers both in cadences and words and avoid problems like breeziness, condescension and clichés. In fact, how to create enjoyment for readers relies on the taste. Although it changes through time, there are timeless truth surviving in the end. Therefore, writers should choose words that have surprise, strength and precision and sentences that fit the article perfectly.