Transcript Document

Common
Syntax Errors
Common Syntax Errors
syntax = [rules for] sentence building
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Word Choice
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Sentence Structure
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Paragraph Structure
Word Choice
A paper will be more readable if words are used
economically. Writing concisely may be contrary
to common practice in some countries where
authors are paid by the number of words
published! Remember, your goal is to facilitate
communication, which is accomplished through
concise and lucid writing in a well-organized
manner.
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Delete uninformative words and avoid
redundancy
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brief in duration (brief)
The wound was of a serious nature.
(The wound was serious.)
The rock is red in color.
(The rock is red.)
We repeated the experiment again and again.
(We repeated the experiment.)
Exercise 1:
Try to eliminate unnecessary and redundant words
past history
original source
globular in shape
advance planning
for a period of two days
more preferable than
seem to appear
mix together
The work will be completed in the not-too-distant future.
The reaction rate was examined and found to vary
considerably.
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Use one word to replace a phrase
Many popular expressions can be expressed as a
single word, or are better omitted altogether.
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at this point of time - now
the reason was because - because
in the near future - soon
in most cases - mostly
it would appear that - (delete)
is suggestive of - suggests
as to whether - whether
in the vicinity of - near
it was evident that - evidently
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Avoid grandiloquence or grandiose
phrasing
The word grandiloquence is itself grandiose. It
implies a pompous style that impresses no one and
provokes ridicule. Conciseness and clarity should
apply to scientific writing.
gran’diloquence = (latin) grandis + loqui (to speak)
Compare the following sentences:
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Computations were conducted on the data
The data were calculated.
It may seem reasonable to suggest that the necrotic effect may
possibly due to toxins
Necrosis may be caused by toxins. Necrosis (in Greek Νεκρός =
Dead) is the name given to accidental death of cells and living
tissue.
In studies pertaining to identification of phenolic derivatives, drying of
the paper gives less satisfactory visualization.
Phenolic derivatives are easier to see if the paper is left wet. In
organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics (酚醛) , are
a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group (-O H)
attached to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. The simplest of the
class is phenol (C6H5OH).
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Avoid clichés and euphemisms
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cliché - [fr] printing plate; negative; phototype; =
« banalité »; chenqiang landiao
euphemism - eu (= well), phem (= to speak);
weiwan de shuofa
e.g., eugenics, eulogy (輓對,哀詞,諛墓,頌詞), euphony
(pleasing sound), euthanasia (an-le-si)
Clichés and euphemisms are rarely helpful and
often cryptic (secret, with a hidden meaning or a
meaning not easily seen).
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Some common euphemisms are simply awkward
“euphemism” = the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive
expression for one that may offern or suggest something unpleasant.
Ex., using “eliminate” as a euphemism for ‘kill”.
 The patient expired
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The patient passed away
The patient succumbed
The patient breathed his last
The patient has gone to his rest.
These can be replaced by « The patient died ».
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The following terms are usually better
omitted or rephrased:
a majority of
as a consequence of
are of the same opinion
as seen from our study
based on the fact that
for the reason that
in a satisfactory manner
it has long been known that
the question as to whether
as a matter of fact
it is evident that
first of all
has the capacity of
owing to the fact that
there is reason to believe
Use of synonyms
A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the
same meaning as another word. The principal reason
to employ synonyms is to avoid monotony from
using the same term repeatedly. For examples:
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The subject demonstrated a marked sensitivity to the
allergen. After receiving the medication, she showed
marked improvement. This is a marked medical
achievement.
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The subject demonstrated a marked sensitivity to the
allergen. After receiving the medication, she showed
significant improvement. This is an extraordinary
medical achievement.
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Synonyms for common words can be found in
a thesaurus, a dictionary, and some word
processing programs. Understanding the
nuances of synonyms can be difficult for nonnative-anglophone people. The best way to
improve your grasp is to read English-language
authors and practice your own writing.
Sentence Structure
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Agreement of subject and verb
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Pronoun reference
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Active and passive voice
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Nouns from verbs
(The above has been taught in previous sessions)
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American and British styles
American and British styles
 British writing is different from American writing
in certain forms of punctuation and spelling.
Whatever style is used will not really affect the
reader’s understanding of the text, but you
should be consistent and employ the same style
throughout a work.
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Spelling (American – British)
connection - connexion
inflection - inflexion
defense - defence
center - centre
liter - litre
behavior – behaviour
color – colour
distill - distil
catalog - catalogue
analyze – analyse
catalyze – catalyse
judgment – judgement
aging – ageing
practice - practice (n.) practise (v.)
acknowledgment – acknowledgement
meter - metre (unit of measure) meter (instrument)
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The digraphs ae and oe in words of Latin or
Greek derivation are retained in British style:
anesthesia - anaesthesia
cesium - caesium
diarrhea – diarrhoea
hematite - haematite
leukemia – leukaemia
fetus – fœtus
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Punctuation:
American - comma after e.g. and i.e.;
none in British
Paragraph Structure
In its simplest form, a lucid paragraph contains a
topic sentence and clearly related supporting
sentences. The topic sentence comprises the main
point or idea of the paragraph, while supporting
sentences provide detail or ancillary (= supplementary)
information. The following are basic guidelines for
paragraph design.
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Cover only one main point or idea in each
paragraph.
Each sentence should establish or support the
topic of the paragraph.
3.
Include information that explains
why actions were taken.
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All of the patient data were kept in files. The absence of even one clerk
caused delays in the monthly reporting. Finally, management decided
to interview some system analysts.
(The connection between the three sentences is not clear. Although
the meaning can be inferred, it is better to state it outright). See below.
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All of the patient data were kept in paper files, which took much staff
time to maintain. The absence of even one clerk would delay the
monthly patient reports. Management wanted to computerize recordkeeping, which would take less time and be more reliable, and finally
decided to interview some systems analysts to develop the new system.
4.
Keep a consistent point of view
That is, maintain the same grammatical voice (active
or passive) throughout the paragraph.
5.
Use parallel construction to make the
paragraph easier to understand.
In an attempt to avoid monotony, some writers vary
the sentence construction and thereby hinder
comprehension. For example:
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A 10 mg dose produces no effect, a 20 mg dose
produces a small effect, but patients show a
noticeable effect from a 30 mg dose.
First SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of the potash-bearing Mengyejing Formation in the
Simao Basin, southwestern Yunnan
Abstract: The only pre-Quaternary solid potash deposit in China is the Mengyejing
potash deposit located in Jiangcheng County, southwestern Yunnan Province. The potash
deposit is deposited in the Mengyejing Formation. The age of the Mengyejing Formation
is controversial and a Paleocene age has been main concern since mid-1990s mainly
based on a few palynology and ostracoda fossils. Precise deposition age of the
Mengyejing Formation is thus significant to understand the prospects to potash survey. In
this paper, we report a U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) age of
98.2±1.3 Ma from a tuff bed for the first time from the upper part of the Mengyejing
Formation in Mengyejing area in the Simao Basin, Yunnan Province. This age indicates
that the potash deposit was deposited in the Late Cretaceous older than the Paleocene age
used by previous researchers, which is consistent with the new results of detailed
magnetostratigraphy. It provides a precise geochronological constraint for the potash
deposit in Mengyejing area. The age of potash deposits has high correlation in the Simao
Basin and Khorat Plateau and may indicate a seawater link during the middle Cretaceous.
Sedimentary Ti/Al ratio for tracing transportation process and examining Aeolian
events and sea level changes in East Asia
Abstract
The elements Ti and Al often reflect residual composition derived from terrestrial
materials in sediments. We attempt to use the Ti/Al ratio in sediments as an indicator for
the impacts of fluvial and aeolian transportation processes on the variation of sedimentary
chemistry. Since the spatial distribution of Ti/Al in terrestrial and sink deposited
environments remains an unsolved question, this study constructs the spatial distributions
of Ti/Al ratios in various sedimentary environments on a wide scale over East Asia and
examines the changes of Ti/Al ratios in source regions and sink areas. Our results show
that the sedimentary Ti/Al ratio undergoes gradual decline during transportation due to
gravity fractionation of heavy minerals and sorting processes. Consequently, lake and
pelagic sediments show relative low Ti/Al ratios, while the well sorted aeolian sand
reports an extremely low Ti/Al ratio and the aerosol particles in sink areas show a lower
Ti/Al signal during aeolian events. Tracing the distribution of sedimentary Ti/Al on land
and in ocean, this study suggests that the high Ti/Al ratios in deep sink environment may
be due to the retreat of water level. In the cases of the South China Sea and Japan Sea, the
higher Ti/Al ratios of marine cores imply that the sea level retreated during glacial periods.
On the other hands, the declined Ti/Al ratio in aerosol particles may indicate a strong
activity of the Asian dust storm episode in recent climate research.
Translation exercise #1 (5 March 2013)
13公尺大海嘯 釀福島核災 自由時報
二○一一年三月十一日下午二時四十六分，日本東北外海發
生芮氏規模九．○強烈地震。位於福島縣的東京電力公司第
一核電廠，偵測到地震發生，運轉中的一到三號機組啟動自
動停機程序，四到六號機組則正處於停機定檢中。反應爐自
動停機後必須持續進行冷卻，但用來驅動冷卻和控制系統的
外部電源，卻因地震遭到破壞而中斷供電，廠方只能依賴柴
油發電機組緊急供電。但在地震後席捲而來的十三公尺高大
海嘯，卻跨過核一廠五．七公尺的堤防，淹沒緊急供電用的
柴油發電機。
地震發生後一小時，反應爐冷卻系統因供電中斷而停機，爐
心空燒而出現「爐心熔毀」，並產生大量氫氣。一號、三號
及四號機組密閉廠房數日內相繼發生氫爆，大量輻射物質外
洩。二十日，儘管恢復供電，各機組陸續重獲自動冷卻功能，
但爐心熔毀與輻射外洩災難已無法挽救。
Bon Courage!