學術文章寫作注重要點

　　以我在美求學的經驗，向大家提一些盡量可以避免的寫作常識問題，希望對大家的考試，乃至以后赴美求學的漫漫征程有所裨益。時間所限，不可能寫全，但是我會不斷補充的。還有在文章中引用的那些片斷，并沒有攻擊的意思，只不過拿出來和大家探討一下。希望被引用的諒解，

　　1、避免使用反問句、設問句。非凡是也沒有答案的問題。

　　例如： What’s the objective of the information？ Is it to make people more confused and astray？ I partly agree with the author’s contention that the enormous and otiose information sometimes render people lose their way and fail to consider question penetratingly and originally.

　　在作文的開頭就扔出兩個問題，然后接下來的陳述卻與問題基本毫無干系。作為讀者，首先要考慮那兩個問題的答案到底是什么，然后才能往下讀。這些在中文里可能會被評作“引人入勝”的好詞好句，在英語的論文寫作里面，可以說是最大的敗筆之一。假如你一定要問問題的話，那就改成陳述句式，例如：Whether this issue is right or wrong？ 可以改成：It has been a controversial issue that.....

　　2、避免集中使用“Be“動詞，包括is， are， has been， have been， etc.

　　即使GRE考題statement里面有很多“Be“動詞，你也要避免照抄，因為statement是淺顯地告訴你一個idea，而不是向你展示writing。

　　例如：What is the purpose of education？ Some people may say that the purpose of education should be to create a totally academic environment that separates from the outside world， for， they think， this situation allows students to focus on their academic research work without being disturbed by practical concerns. In fact， this suggestion is harmful to the scientific research work.

　　這是某一篇文章的開頭。我們現在只是分析語法問題。除了要注重不要使用疑問句以外，還有很重要的一點：總共兩三句話，出現4個“Be“動詞。這種寫法，在英語里面被稱作“non-act“的動詞。“Be“ 僅僅表示一種狀態，例如：“i am here“， “you are there“. 對于母語者來說，“Be“動詞其實就是寫在紙上，而沒有任何感情色彩。所以應該盡量避免成篇累牘地使用。我們的例子可以改為：

　　Some people argue that the purpose of education lies in its strength in creating a totally academic environment separated from the outside world. They think this situation allows students to focus on academic research by excluding outside disturbance from practical concerns. However， this suggestion in fact does harm to the scientific research work.

　　我們可以看到，使用了lie in， exclude， do harm to以后，句子更有色彩了。

　　3、盡量避免重復使用單詞或者詞組。非凡是近距離集中在某一兩句話里使用。

　　例如：The author argues that to understand one’s own culture， one must know about at least one another culture which is distinctly different from one’s own culture. While as I am concerned， I can’t agree with the author’s assertion.

　　這一個開頭，總共兩行字，卻連續出現了4個One，3個culture。假如你把這段話大聲朗讀一下，就會覺得別扭、好笑了。連續使用相同的單詞或者詞組，體現的是詞匯量匱乏，寫作風格較差，遣詞造句能力不強。給讀者的感覺就是昏昏欲睡。

　　很輕易的我們就可以改正：The author argues that the knowledge of another distinctly different culture helps us to truly understand our own. However， I disagree with this assertion.

　　這句話把原來的三句分句合成了并無冗長感覺的一句。精簡的同時，也恰當地避免了重復多次使用culture，one的問題。用了“this assertion“，也避免了在近距離使用兩個“author“。

　　4、避免使用從句套從句的超長句子。

　　學術性的文章，應當避免追求華麗詞藻和句型。作為非母語者，我們在語感上面已經處于劣勢。為了避免缺乏語感而造成的很多語法上面、句子結構上面的小失誤，我們更應該盡量避免使用長句。看了很多的文章，長句造成的后果通常有：單復數混淆，it、that指代不清，從句兩頭時態不符，連接介詞錯誤，等等。

　　例如：Things happened in the past， known as history， is great treasure for us huan beings， through and only through studying the past can we gain valuable experience which serves as a means of guiding our development of the society.

　　例子中用了3處逗號，而事實上面，從句間關系并非密不可分。我們可以很輕松的分成三句話，寫得安心，讀者讀得舒心，做到真正的言必達意。

　　History consists of the things happened in the past and it is a great treasure to human beings. Through and only through studying the past thoroughly can we gain valuable experience from history. The historical experience serves as a means of guidance for the new development in the society.

　　5、避免陳詞濫調等廢話

　　例如：For getting a satisfying score， students have to prepare for and review their texts frequently， remember all the knowledge they have learned deep in mind， enlarge their learning if it is possible and so on， especially when examinations are coming. All these efforts， no matter what their aims are， will surely lead to a corresponding paying back.

　　段中的這一句“no matter what their aims are“，在整個上下文表達上面沒有任何實質性的意義，完完全全是句廢話。