If one at school can not write, one of the reasons may be a conditioning based on speed rather than respect for the creative pro

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问题     If one at school can not write, one of the reasons may be a conditioning based on speed rather than respect for the creative process. Speed is neither a valid test of nor a proper preparation for competence in writing. It makes for murkiness, glibness, disorganization. It takes the beauty out of the language. It rules out respect for the reflective thought that should precede expression. It runs counter to the word-by-word and line-by-line reworking that enables a piece to be finely knit.
    This is not to minimize the great value of genuine facility. With years of practice, a man may be able to put down words swiftly and expertly. But it is the same kind of swiftness that enables a cellist, after having invested years of great efforts, to negotiate an intricate passage from Hayden. Speed writing is stenographers (速记员) and court reporters, not for anyone who wants to use language with precision and distinction.
    Thomas Mann was not ashamed to admit that he would often take a full day to write 500 words, and another day to edit them, out of respect for the most difficult art in the world. Flaubert would ponder a paragraph for hours. Did it say what he wanted to say not approximately but very exactly? Did the words turn into one another with proper rhythm and grace? Were they artistically and securely fitted to gather? Were they briskly alive, or were they full of fuzz and ragged edges? Were they quite likely to make things happen inside the mind of the reader, igniting the imagination and touching off all sorts of new anticipations? These questions are very relevant not only for the great established novelist but for anyone who attaches value to words as a medium of expression and communication.
    E. B. White, whose great respect for the environment of good writing is exceeded by no wordartist of our time, would rather have his fingers cut off than to be guilty of handling words a little lightly. No sculptor chipping away at a granite block in order to produce a delicate curve or feature has labored more painstakingly than White in fashioning a short paragraph. Obviously, we can not expect our schools to make everyone into a White or a Flaubert or a Mann, but it is not unreasonable at all to expect more of them to provide the conditions that promote clear, careful, competent expression. Certainly the cumulative effort of the school experience should have to be undone in later years.
According to the passage, competence in writing is ______.

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答案an art that takes practice

解析 参见第3段第1、2句:Thomas Mann was not ashamed to admit that he would often take a full day to write 500 words, and another day to edit them, out of respect for the most difficult art in the world. Flaubert would ponder a paragraph for hours.这几个作家的例子都表明写作能力是在反复练习中提高的。
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