Writing in General 写作总体要求

1. English Editing Workshop:Making “Good” Better英文编辑的讲修会:使文章“好”上加好Elsevier ConferenceNovember 2, 2007by Chad Walker (王可杰)(理文编辑总编辑)

2. 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

3. Words用词 Commonly Confused and Misused Words (常见易混易错单词)

4. Practice Exercise!练习 Check your knowledge of commonly confused and misused words.

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 asmore 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） 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://www.liwenbianji.cn

6. 2. affect/effect (and impact) • “effect” as a noun is the “result of some action.” ( “effect”作为名词时，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 somebody‘s 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 used 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://www.liwenbianji.cn

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. Many scientists believe that global warming is the effectof greenhouse-gas emissions. “Ingesting massive doses of ascorbic acid may affect his recovery.” “Ingesting massive doses of ascorbic acid may effect his recovery.” . http://www.liwenbianji.cn

8. 3. because/as/since • “as” used only in temporal, not causal, sense. (“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 district.” "Sincewe completed the study, there have been 3 additional outbreaks." http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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 “owing to” (因为／由于) *Tip: Use “attributable to” and “as a result of” to determine thecorrect one. "The problem was due to mechanical failure." “The problem occurred because of mechanical failure.” http://www.liwenbianji.cn

10. 5. comparable/similar (and same) • “comparable”: adjective indicating an item lending itself to comparison 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://www.liwenbianji.cn

11. 5. comparable/similar (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://www.liwenbianji.cn

12. 6. compose/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.” 意思相同) “Fifty states compose the United States of America.” “The United States of America iscomposedof 50 states.” “The United States of America comprises50 states.” http://www.liwenbianji.cn

13. 7. currently/presently/at present (and "now") • “currently” (preferred) and “at present” mean “now.” (现在) • “presently” means “soon”, “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 currentlyno available studies on Han Chinese populations.” “Presently, we will go to the Forbidden City.” http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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. (不用来表示被动携带事物) ×"The patient exhibited a rash" ○　"The patient had a rash.” “The technician demonstrated how to operate the pH meter.” "He exhibited the mineral specimens at the last congress." http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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 things cannot “demonstrate” anything; sentences like “The data demonstrated that...” should be avoided (“demonstrate” 不可用来演示非活性事物). “The X-rayrevealeda tumor in the lower part of the stomach.” http://www.liwenbianji.cn

16. 9. significant vs. important/great/major/valuable • “significant” 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阈值) *Tip: Use the other words onlywhen 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 a P value of 0.05” “The results of this research will be of great value to all nanotechnology researchers.” http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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 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 wasused to measure refractive error.” “All of the subjects had been employed at the company since 1997 or earlier.” http://www.liwenbianji.cn

18. 5. comparable/similar (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://www.liwenbianji.cn

19. B. Phrases(短语) Be Concise (简洁)

20. Practice Exercise!(练习) When writing science, it’s important to be clear and use as few words as possible. (科学写作：表达清晰，使用短句)

21. a majority of a number of at a rapid rate as a consequence of at this point 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 How did you do?（你会选择哪些词？) http://www.liwenbianji.cn

22. during the course of fewer in number for the purpose of examining has the capability of in all cases in 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://www.liwenbianji.cn

23. it is possible that the cause is it is worth pointing out that it would 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 http://www.liwenbianji.cn

24. C. Sentences(句子) Short is the Key (简短是关键)

25. Shorter 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://www.liwenbianji.cn

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21个单词) http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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://www.liwenbianji.cn

28. Sentence Structure Chinese uses long sentences. (中文使用长句子) English—particularly scientific English—uses very short sentences. (英语－特别是科技英语－使用非常短的句子) http://www.liwenbianji.cn

29. Sentence Structure Short sentences are the NORM. They don’t sound childish. (短句是准则。 这样并不显得幼稚。) http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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 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://www.liwenbianji.cn

31. Exercise: 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 self-state, a satisfactory result was obtained to simulate and predict the13C chemical shift of 22 natural amino acids and 4 non-natural amino acids. http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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 reflect 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 the13C chemical shift of 22 natural amino acids and 4 non-natural amino acids. http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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://www.liwenbianji.cn

34. Sentence Structure For example, Chinese is a head noun language; all modifiers precede the elements that they modify. (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://www.liwenbianji.cn

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://www.liwenbianji.cn

36. Sentence Structure A modified soil’s single sorption … . The single sorption of a modified soil … . http://www.liwenbianji.cn

37. Sentence Structure Correcting sentence structure: (修改句子结构) If possible, don’t translate from Chinese. Write in English from the start. (尽量不要翻译中文，而用英文写作) http://www.liwenbianji.cn

38. Sentence Structure An important rule: (重要的规则：) ONE SENTENCE, ONE IDEA 同一个句子，同一个意思 同一个世界，同一个梦想 http://www.liwenbianji.cn

39. D. Punctuation　标点符号 Has the Power to Completely Change the Meaning of a Sentence (标点可以完全改变句子意思)

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://www.liwenbianji.cn

41. Ask yourself, “Is the informationessential or is it extra information that could be omitted”? 问你自己：“此信息必要吗, 或是否为多余信息进行省略”?） http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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://www.liwenbianji.cn

43. If the information is extra, nonessential, information, you MUST use commas. (如果此信息是附加的，不重要的，必须 使用逗号。) http://www.liwenbianji.cn

44. Correct: (正确用法) The equipment that we used was made by the XX Company. http://www.liwenbianji.cn

45. Wrong: (错误用法) The equipment, which we used, was made by the XX Company. http://www.liwenbianji.cn

46. Correct: (正确用法) The equipment, which was made in Shanghai, was very expensive. http://www.liwenbianji.cn

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 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) ○Theresearch that I reviewed started in 1999. ×The research, that I reviewed, started in 1999. http://www.liwenbianji.cn

48. 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）

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 28–29; pp. 2–5. • Em dash (—): Separator to create a strong break in a sentence, like parentheses.(断开) These two cities—that is, Beijing and Shanghai—are developing rapidly. http://www.liwenbianji.cn

50. Practice Exercise 练习 1. The introduction is written on pages 3□6. 2. The Elsevier conference will be held October31□November3 in Beijing, China. 3. Mr. Wang had tried asking, begging, and even demanding cooperation from his staff□all of whom were busy with other things□before he gave up and wrote the report himself. 4. No one□not even his professor□thought that his article would be published in Nature. http://www.liwenbianji.cn