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3. 连接词与逻辑
写英文论文最常见的一个毛病就是文章的逻辑不清楚。解决的方法有: 1)句子上下要有连贯,不能让句子之间独立 常见的连接词语有, also, in addition, afterwards, moreover, Furthermore, further, However, although, unlike, in contrast, Unfortunately, Similarly, alternatively, parallel results, Compared with other results, In order to, despite, For example consequently, thus, therefore... 用好这些连接词,能够使观点表达得有层次,更加明确。
比如,如果叙述有时间顺序的事件或者文献, 最早的文献可用AA advocated it for the first time. 接下来,可用Then BB further demonstrated that.. 再接下来,可用Afterwards, CC.. 如果还有,可用More recent studies by DD..
如果叙述两种观点,要把它们截然分开 AA put forward that........ In contrast, BB believe or Unlike AA, BB suggest… or On the contrary (表明前面的观点错误,如果只是表明两种对立的观点,用in contrast), BB.. 如果两种观点相近,可用 AA suggest ….. Similarly ( alternatively), BB.. Or Also, BB… or BB also does …
表示因果或者前后关系,可用 Consequently, therefore, as a result, 表明递进关系,可用furthermore, further, moreover, in addition,
当写完一段英文,最好首先检查一下是否较好地应用了这些连接词。
2) 段落的整体逻辑 经常我们要叙述一个问题的几个方面。这种情况下,一定要注意逻辑结构。
首先第一段要明确告诉读者你要讨论几个部份 ...Therefore, there are three aspects of this problem have to be addressed. The first question involves... The second problem relates to … The third aspect deals with... 上面的例子可以清晰地把观点逐层叙述。
Or, 可以直接用First, Second, Third..... Finally,..
当然,Furthermore, in addition等可以用来补充说明。
4. 正文部份的整体结构
小标题是比较好的方法把要讨论的问题分为几个片段。 一般第一个片段指出文章最为重要的数据与结论。补充说明的部份可以放在最后一个片段。
一定要明白文章的读者会分为多个档次。文章除了本专业的专业人士读懂以外,一定要想办法能让更多的外专业人读懂。所以可以把讨论部份分为两部份,一部份提出观点,另一部份详细介绍过程以及论述的依据。这样专业外的人士可以了解文章的主要观点,比较专业的讨论他可以把它当成黑箱子,而这一部份本专业人士可以进一步研究。
5. 关于abbreviation 如果文章用了很多的Abbreviation, 两种方法加以解决 1) 在文章最好加上个Appendix,把所有Abbreviation列表 2) 在不同的页面上,不时地给出Abbreviation的含义,用来提醒读者。 总之,写文章的目的是要让读者读懂,读得清晰,并且采取各种措施方便于读者。 5. Discussion 部分
5. 1时态 (a) 指出结果在哪些图表中列出,常用一般现在时。如:Figure 2 shows the variation in the temperature of the samples over time. (b) 叙述或总结研究结果的内容为关于过去的事实,所以通常采用过去时。如:After flights of less than two hours, 11% of the army pilots and 33% of the civilian pilots reported back pain. (c) 对研究结果进行说明或由其得出一般性推论时,多用现在时。如:The higher incidence of back pain in civilian pilots may be due to their greater accumulated flying time. (d) 不同结果之间或实验数据与理论模型之间进行比较时,多采一般现在时(这种比较关系多为不受时间影响的逻辑上的事实)。如:These results agree well with the findings of Smith, et al.
6. 讨论部份包括什么内容? 6.1 主要内容 1) 主要数据特征的总结 2) 主要结论以及与前人观点的对比 3) 本文的不足 第三点,在一般作者看来不可取。事实上给出文章的不足恰恰是保护自己文章的重要手段。如果刻意隐藏文章的漏洞,觉得别人看不出来,是非常不明智的。
所谓不足,包括以下内容: a) 研究的问题有点片面 讨论时一定要说, It should be noted that this study has examined only… We concentrate (focus) on only... We have to point out that we do not… Some limitations of this study are...
b) 结论有些不足 The results do not imply… The results can not be used to determine… be taken as evidence of… Unfortunately, we can not determine this from this data… Our results are lack of ...
但是,在指出这些不足之后,随后一定要再一次加强本文的重要性以及可能采取的手段来解决这些不足,为别人或者自己的下一步研究打下浮笔。 Notwithstanding its limitation, this study does suggest… However, these problems could be solved if we consider… Despite its preliminary character, this study can clearly indicate…
用中文来说,这一部份是左右逢源。把审稿人想到的问题提前给一个交代,同时表明你已经在思考这些问题,但是由于文章长度,试验进度或者试验手段的制约,暂时不能回答这些问题。但是,这些通过你的一些建议,这些问题在将来的研究中游可能实现。
P.S. 坚信观点的真实性:prove, demonstrate 不确定性: show,indicate,found 表示推测: imply,suggest
6.2 关于结论中的时态: (1) 回顾研究目的时,通常使用过去时。如:In this study, the effects of two different learning methods were investigated. (2) 如果所概述结果的有效性只是针对本次特定的研究,需用过去时;如果具有普遍的意义,则用现在时。如: In the first series of trials, the experimental values were all lower than the theoretical predictions. The experimental and theoretical values for the yields agree well. (3) 阐述由结果得出的推论时,通常使用现在时。如:The data reported here suggest (These findings support the hypothesis, Our data provide evidence) that the reaction rate may be determined by the amount of oxygen available.
Some points of style (摘自一个老外的Writing a Paper, 第一点和最后一点是我们经常用错的) ? Do not use nouns as adjectives (不要把名词当作形容词用) Not: ATP formation; reaction product But: Formation of ATP; product of the reaction ? The word “this” must always be followed by a noun, so that its reference is explicit. (This 后面必须跟一个名词) Not: This is a fast reaction; This leads us to conclude.., But: This reaction is fast; This observation leads us to conclude… ? Describe experimental results in the past tense. (试验结果用过去时) Not: Addition of water gives product. But: Addition of water gave product. ? Use the active voice whenever possible. (尽可能使用主动语态) Not: It was observed that the solution turned red. But: The solution turned red. OR We observed that the solution turned red. ? Complete all comparisons. (使用完整的比较形式 A is higher than B) Not: The yield was higher using bromine. But: The yield was higher using bromine than chlorine.
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