簡潔是活力的副產品。如果我們能用簡練的句子表達思維，文章就必然會充滿活力，令人讀后印象深刻。反之，冗長的句式和呆板的詞語會使一篇內容不錯的文章變得死氣沉沉，暗然失色。

英語也不例外。例如有人用了25個字寫了一句攻擊學院運動商業化的話：

The people attacked the practice of making great profits out of college sports from the fact that it had a detrimental influence on college students.

多啰唆啊!這句話用心良苦，但是言不簡意不賅，可以簡化如下：

The people attacked commercialisation of college sports as detrimental to students.

怎樣使篇章簡短，筆調清新，是件說來話長的事，容后再談。這里只提出一樣使句子簡短生動的方法;那就是多多利用狀態副詞(Adverbs of Manner)以取代狀態副詞短語(Adverb Phrases of Manner)。

試比較下列六組句子：①a—⑥a各有個狀態副詞短語;①b—⑥b各有個狀態副詞(即有-ly的副詞)。

①a. As an enthusiastic reader, Peter read many books without paying attention to their differences in quality or subject matter.

b. As an enthusiastic reader, Peter read many books indiscriminately(不作選擇地)

②a. Good staff performed their tasks with great care and strong sense of responsibility.

b. Good staff performed their tasks conscientiously.(誠心誠意地)

③a. A cheque of  million dollars was sent to the Kidney Research Centre without indicating the name of the donor.

b. A cheque of  million dollars was anonymously donated to the Kidney Research Centre.(匿名地)

④a. The pharmacist, through an oversight, made a mistake in the prescription.

b. The pharmacist inadvertently made a mistake in the prescription.(不經心地)

⑤a. The new encyclopedia, published regardless of expenses, is now available at a reduced price.

b. The new encyclopedia, lavishly published, is now available at a reduced price.

⑥a. When we read the annual report,we were impressed by the content presented in simple words and sentences.

b. When we read the annual report, we were impressed by its concisely presented content.

從上述六組句子看，很明顯的，狀態副詞比狀態副詞短語簡潔有力，活潑可愛，說話或寫文章時，應該多多采用才是。