1、English Editing Workshop: Making “Good” Better 英文编辑的讲修会:使文章“好”上加好 November 2007 by Chad Walker (王可杰) 理文编辑总编辑,Writing in General 写作总体要求,The Better You Can Write English, the Better You Can Edit It 英文写的好则编的更好,Words 用词,Commonly Confused and Misused Words 常见易混易错单词,Practice Exercise! 练习,Check your knowle
2、dge of commonly confused and misused words,http:/,5,Articles a/an vs. the 不定冠词a/an与定冠词the,“a/an”: used when the noun can exist in more than one form or as more than one case: “a/an”: 用于可数或单数名词之前“the”: used when no more than one instance exists or is likely to exist in the future: “the”: 指目前或将来独一无二事物
3、Experience using and reading them is the key! 使用与阅读最为关键,“A new species of Escherichia was identified.“ (other species also exist),“The organism responsible for the outbreak was Escherichia coli.“,http:/,6,2. affect/effect (and impact),“effect” as a noun is the “result of some action.” “effect”作为名词时,
4、表示“行为的结果” “affect” as a verb is “to influence.” “affect ”作为 动词时,意思为“影响”BUT“effect” as a verb is to “bring about a change.”“effect” 作为动词时,意思为“引起变化” “affect” as a noun is the feeling or emotion caused by somebodys demeanor, action, or speech. “affect” 作为名词时,意思为由于某人行为举止或语言引起的感受或情绪 “impact” should be us
5、ed only to describe “striking of one body against another” and should not be used as “affect.”“impact” 只用于描述“一件事对另一件事”产生的冲击,不能作为“affect”使用,http:/,7,2. affect/effect (and impact),(influence the recovery in some way)(produce/cause the recovery)Luckily, the medicine did not adversely affect the patient
6、. Many scientists believe that global warming is the effect of greenhouse-gas emissions.,.,“Ingesting massive doses of ascorbic acid may affect his recovery.”,“Ingesting massive doses of ascorbic acid may effect his recovery.”,http:/,8,3. because/as/since,“as” used only in temporal, not causal, sens
7、e. “as” 表示时间,而不是因果关系“because” used to show causal action. “because” 表示因果关系“since” used to show temporal relation. “since” 表示时间关系,“As we were completing the paper, new evidence came to light.”,“Five participants could not complete the follow up questionnaire because they had moved out of the target d
8、istrict.”,“Since we completed the study, there have been 3 additional outbreaks.“,http:/,9,4. because of/due to,“due to” = adjective + preposition, adjectival phrase meaning “attributable to” or “caused by” 归因于 “because of” = conjunction + preposition, adverbial phrase meaning “as a result of” or “o
9、wing to” 因为由于*Tip: Use “attributable to” and “as a result of” to determine the correct one.,“The problem was due to mechanical failure.“,“The problem occurred because of mechanical failure.”,http:/,10,5. comparable/similar (and same),“comparable”: adjective indicating an item lending itself to compa
10、rison with a similar term. 可与相比的, 类似的“similar”: adjective indicating likeness. 相似,“Because the methods are different, the statistics are not comparable.”,“The mortality rates in Sweden and Chile are similar.“,http:/,11,5. comparable/similar (and same),*Tip: “Same” is sometimes mistakenly used when “
11、similar” is the correct word. “Same” means exactly the same, or “identical,” which is not often the case when comparing scientific results, especially when comparing the results of two different studies. “Same” 有时会与“ similar”混淆。“Same” 指完全一样,或“identical”, 通常不用于科研结果的比较, 特别是两项不同研究的比较,http:/,12,6. compo
12、se/comprise/constitute,“compose” *1) active verb meaning to form, to make up a single object, to go together. 构成,主动语态*2) passive verb meaning the same as “comprise.” 构成,被动语态“comprise” (verb) to include, contain, be made up of. 包括,包含“constitute” means the same as “compose.” “constitute”与“compose.” 意思
13、相同,“Fifty states compose the United States of America.”,“The United States of America is composed of 50 states.”,“The United States of America comprises 50 states.”,http:/,13,7. currently/presently/at present (and “now“),“currently” (preferred) and “at present” mean “now.” 现在“presently” means “soon”
14、, “shortly”, “in the near future.” 不久的将来*Tip: “Now” is often mistakenly used in manuscripts when “currently” or “at present” is better. 最好使用currently” 或“at present”,“Now”经常被错误使用,“There are currently no available studies on Han Chinese populations.”,“Presently, we will go to the Forbidden City.”,http
15、:/,14,8. demonstrate/exhibit/reveal/show,“demonstrate” should be used only for deliberate action intended to illustrate an action or procedure. 演示“exhibit” is used for deliberate action to make visible. 展示*NOT used to mean passively carrying something.不用于表示被动地体现某事物 “The patient exhibited a rash“ “Th
16、e patient had a rash.”,“The technician demonstrated how to operate the pH meter.”,“He exhibited the mineral specimens at the last congress.“,http:/,15,8. demonstrate/exhibit/reveal/show,“reveal” is an action to make visible what has been hidden. It is not a synonym for “report.” 揭示显示*Tip: Non-living
17、 things cannot “demonstrate” anything; sentences like “The data demonstrated that.” should be avoided. “demonstrate” 的主语应该是生命体,像 “The data demonstrated that.”这样的用法应当避免。,“The X-ray revealed a tumor in the lower part of the stomach.”,http:/,16,9. significant vs. important/great/major/valuable,“signifi
18、cant” should be used to mean serving as “pointing to,” especially in the statistical sense of reaching a numeric threshold. 通常用于统计学意义达到一定数值的上限或下限*Tip: Use the other words only when statistical significance is not intended. 如不单纯表示统计学意义,建议使用其它单词,“The mean blood pressure was significantly lowered, with
19、 a P value of 0.05”,“The results of this research will be of great valueto all nanotechnology researchers.”,http:/,17,10. employ/utilize vs. use,“use”: adequate in most cases to mean applying or drawing on for a purpose. “use”: 使用广泛,表示为达到某一目的采用的方法与事物“employ”: can also mean to put a person to work or
20、 put an object to use. “employ”: 聘用某人或采用某物*Tip: There is really no reason to use “utilize” in scientific writing. 在科学写作中,实在无必要使用“utilize”,“An autorefractor was used to measure refractive error.”,“All of the subjects had been employedat the company since 1997 or earlier.”,http:/,18,5. comparable/simi
21、lar (and same),*Tip: “Same” is sometimes mistakenly used when “similar” is the correct word. “Same” means exactly the same, or “identical,” which is not often the case when comparing scientific results, especially when comparing the results of two different studies. “Same” 有时会与“ similar”混淆。“Same” 指完
22、全一样,或“identical”, 通常不用于科研结果的比较, 特别是两项不同研究的比较,Be Concise 简洁,B. Phrases 短语,Practice Exercise! 练习!,When writing science, its important to be clear and use as few words as possible 科学写作:表达清晰,使用短句,http:/,21,How did you do? 你会选择哪些词?,a majority of a number of at a rapid rate as a consequence of at this poi
23、nt in time based on the fact that completely filled despite the fact that due to the fact that,most many, several, some rapidly because of now, currently because filled although because,http:/,22,during the course of fewer in number for the purpose of examining has the capability of in all cases in
24、connection with in the event that in the near future It has been reported by Wang it is often the case that,during, while fewer to examine can, is able to always, invariably about, concerning if soon Wang reported often,http:/,23,it is possible that the cause is it is worth pointing out that it woul
25、d thus appear that large amounts of large in size large numbers of located in, located near on the basis of oval in shape, oval-shaped prior to in time,the cause may be note that apparently much large many in, near from, by, because oval before,C. Sentences 句子,Short is the Key 简短是关键,http:/,25,Shorte
26、r Sentences 短句,The trend in scientific writing is toward shorter sentences with less punctuation. 科技文章写作的趋势是: 句子更简短,少用标点符号,http:/,26,Sentence Structure (句子结构),In 1600 the average length of an English sentence was 40 to 60 words 1600年,一个英语句子平均有40到60个单词In 1900 the average length was 21 words 1900年,平均有
27、21个单词,http:/,27,Sentence Structure,In 1970 the average length was 17 words 1970年,平均有17个单词Now the average length of an English sentence is 12 to 17 words 现在,一个英语句子平均有12到17个单词,http:/,28,Sentence Structure,Chinese uses long sentences 中文使用长句子Englishparticularly scientific Englishuses very short sentence
28、s 英语特别是科技英语使用非常短的句子,http:/,29,Sentence Structure,Short sentences are the NORM They dont sound childish短句是准则 这样并不显得幼稚,http:/,30,Exercise: Break down long sentences 练习:分解长句子1,New descriptors of local environment and atomic state, the X and Y indexes, can accurately reflect electron distribution around
29、 atoms in different chemical microenvironments, therefore when these were applied to characterize a local chemical environment and atomic self-state, a satisfactory result was obtained to simulate and predict the 13C chemical shift of 22 natural amino acids and 4 non-natural amino acids.,http:/,31,E
30、xercise: Break down long sentences 练习:分解长句子2,New descriptors of local environment and atomic state, the X and Y indexes, can accurately reflect electron distribution around atoms in different chemical microenvironments. When these were applied to characterize a local chemical environment and atomic
31、self-state, a satisfactory result was obtained to simulate and predict the 13C chemical shift of 22 natural amino acids and 4 non-natural amino acids.,http:/,32,Exercise: Break down long sentences 练习:分解长句子3,New descriptors of local environment and atomic state, the X and Y indexes, can accurately re
32、flect electron distribution around atoms in different chemical microenvironments. These were applied to characterize a local chemical environment and atomic self-state. A satisfactory result was obtained to simulate and predict the 13C chemical shift of 22 natural amino acids and 4 non-natural amino
33、 acids.,http:/,33,Sentence Structure,Even though the grammar can be similar sometimes, Chinese sentences can be very different from English sentences 尽管某些语法相似,但中/英文句式却可以完全不同,http:/,34,Sentence Structure,For example, Chinese is a head noun language; all modifiers precede the elements that they modify
34、. 中文是以名词开头的语言;所有修饰词都放在修饰的成分之前如:这本我昨天在这儿买的书。,http:/,35,Sentence Structure,In English, some modifiers go in front of the noun and some are placed after the noun.在英语句子中,有些修饰语放在名词前面,而有些则放在名词后面The book that I bought here yesterday.,http:/,36,Sentence Structure,A modified soils single sorption .The single
35、 sorption of a modified soil .,http:/,37,Sentence Structure,Correcting sentence structure: 修改句子结构If possible, dont translate from Chinese. Write in English from the start. 尽量不要翻译中文,而用英文写作,http:/,38,Sentence Structure,An important rule:重要的规则:,同一个句子,同一个意思,ONE SENTENCE, ONE IDEA,同一个世界,同一个梦想,D. Punctuat
36、ion 标点符号,Punctuation Has the Power to Completely Change the Meaning of a Sentence 标点可以完全改变句子意思,http:/,40,1. Commas: Be careful about commas with essential and nonessential information逗号:注意必要和非必要信息,http:/,41,Ask yourself, “Is the information essential or is it extra information that could be omitted”
37、?问你自己:“此信息必要吗, 或是否为多余信息进行省略”?,http:/,42,If the information is essential, do NOT use commas.如果此信息是重要的,不要使用逗号。,http:/,43,If the information is extra, nonessential, information, you MUST use commas.如果此信息是附加的,不必要的,必须 使用逗号。,http:/,44,Correct: 正确用法 The equipment that we used was made by the XX Company.,ht
38、tp:/,45,Wrong: 错误用法 The equipment, which we used, was made by the XX Company.,http:/,46,Correct: 正确用法The equipment, which was made in Shanghai, was very expensive.,http:/,47,Basic Rule for Comma Use 逗号使用的一般规则,Use commas + “which” for non-essential information. 用逗号+“which”表示非必要的信息 This review, which
39、can also be found online, covers research that started in 1999. This review that can also be found online covers research that started in 1999. Use NO commas + “that” for essential information. 直接使用“that”表示必要的信息 The research that I reviewed started in 1999. The research, that I reviewed, started in
40、1999.,2. Hyphens, en dash, em dash: Try not to overuse because they can slow down the reader 连字符,一字线,破折号 尽量少用,http:/,49,Hyphens and Dashes,Hyphen (-): Connector rather than in indicator of interruption or omission. 连接 well-being, advanced-level En dash (): Means “through.” 范围 August 2829; pp. 25. Em
41、 dash (): Separator to create a strong break in a sentence, like parentheses. 断开 These two citiesthat is, Beijing and Shanghaiare developing rapidly.,http:/,50,Practice Exercise 练习,1. The introduction is written on pages 36. 2. The CUJS conference will be held November 24November 30 in Beijing, Chin
42、a. 3. Mr. Wang had tried asking, begging, and even demanding cooperation from his staffall of whom were busy with other thingsbefore he gave up and wrote the report himself. 4. No onenot even his professorthought that his article would be published in Nature. 5. This is a wellknown problem in organi
43、c chemistry.,http:/,51,3. Colons, Semicolons 冒号和分号,Colon: for listing and defining, and indicates a stronger pause than a semicolon.冒号:用于列举,定义,比分号停顿强The presentation covered three topics: grammar, punctuation, and format.Semicolon: for joining two related complete sentences (shows closer relationshi
44、p than “.”).分号:用于连接两个相关句子,比句号更具关联性The patient had no prior history of disease; however, he presented with many common symptoms.,http:/,52,4. Asian Symbols 亚洲字符:全角字符,All Asian, full-space fonts should be changed to Western, half-space fonts for accurate display on other computers and for proper print
45、ing.全角字符亚洲字符应转换为西文(半角)字符,以便准确显示和打印The biggest offenders: 用错最多的符号、 , ; : ( ) % ,Practice Exercise 练习,http:/,54,Spelling 拼写,Good online dictionaries to help with spelling: 帮助拼写检查的在线词典http:/ American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Ed. http:/ 拼写检查工具,but remember that it wont catch mistakes like from/form, tri
46、al/trail但是拼写检查工具不能查出像 from/form, trial/trail之类的拼写错误,http:/,56,Stylebooks 写作与编辑手册,Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 7th edition American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 9th editionThe Chicago Manual of Style, 15th editionThe ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors, 3rd edition,http:/,57,Grammar Books 语法参考书,The Gregg Reference ManualThe Little, Brown Handbook,