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很多字詞並非表面所見的意思，字詞的組合會產生不同的解釋。這樣的慣用法，我們稱之為「比喻」。一個成功的比喻，作者本身必須相當瞭解字詞的源起。以下的句子為讀者介紹一個比喻及其來源。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed word or set of words is called a “figure of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the word or phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.

“When the morning sunlight struck the fallen snow, tiny explosions of light made me turn away and shake my eyes free of dazzlement.”
晨光照在皚皚白雪上，有如無數火光迸發，逼得我轉過頭、拼命眨眼而無法直視。

Explosions are marked by violent change. A settled piece of soil suddenly is sent skyward by TNT. A quiet room instantly is rocked by a gunshot that leaves ringing in our ears. The altered state not only is dramatic in its sweep—from zero to 10 on a 10-point scale of change—it occurs in a split second. The human reaction to such change is protective. Our instinctive response to a percussive explosion, whether or not it actually threatens us, is to tense our muscles and senses. We wince, crouch, turn and run, protect our ears or eyes, sometimes cry out or gasp in alarm.
爆裂是霎時劇烈的改變，例如炸彈一引爆，泥土瞬間向空中飛散，或靜悄悄的房間突然傳出一聲槍響，震耳欲聾。狀態驟變程度之大，若以零到十的量尺比喻，便是瞬間從零變到十，一切發生在電光石火之間。人類對突如其來改變的本能反應是保護自己。面對爆炸，不論是否直接威脅生命安全，我們總會不自主的繃緊神經，張開所有感官嚴陣以待。我們會弓起身子、蹲伏壓低、轉身跑離，護著眼睛和耳朵，有時還會大叫、驚魂未甫地喘氣。

To describe the glint of sunlight off a blanket of fresh, white snow as “explosions of light” conveys several properties of the light. First, it is bright. Nothing in the imagery, nor in our experience, suggests that a bright sun and snow produce soft light. It is piercing in its intensity. Furthermore, when the angle of the sunlight and pitch of the earth is just right, the ricocheting light beams strike our retinas and the effect is dazzling. What do we do? We blink our eyes, turn our head, exclaim about the brightness—as if our eyesight had been assaulted by an… explosion.
將太陽照射在雪白大地的閃耀金光形容為「迸發的火光」，傳達出這種光線的若干特性。首先，光線很刺眼。不論想像或實際經驗皆告訴我們，太陽和白雪不可能組合出柔和的光線，絕對是如同針般刺眼。況且當陽光和地面角度剛好時，光束直射到視網膜上，會產生目眩神迷的效果。我們的反應呢？我們會拼命眨眼，撇過頭，口裡嚷著好刺眼—與我們眼睛受到爆炸突襲的反應不正如出一轍嗎。

Answer: We believe the sentence is best completed this way:

“The surface of the water rippled almost imperceptibly as the huge crocodiles tucked their feet and raced toward the tipped canoe like children to spilled candy.”

The glee of children scrambling to get candy accidentally spilled onto a floor might seem inapt in describing the horror of crocodiles swimming toward people spilled into the water. Yet the juxtaposition of horror and delight tends to magnify each. Thus, the thought of crocodiles swimming to consume swimmers is made more chilling by comparing it to children running to consume candy. Furthermore, from the crocodiles’ point of view, the comparison is straight-forward—people are like candy to them—and just like the children, the crocodiles know that the first croc on the scene will get the biggest portion. Writing that vivifies through word choices and images strengthens the hold on a reader.
一群孩童喜出望外地衝向散落一地的糖果，乍看之下，並不適合用來形容一群虎視眈眈的鱷魚衝向意外落水的遊客，然而驚悚與歡樂並陳，似乎別有放大效果。鱷魚迫不及待向遊客游去的恐怖畫面，在孩童爭先恐後跑向糖果的強烈對比下，格外令人不寒而慄。而且若從鱷魚的角度看來，這樣的比較倒是再貼切不過了—人肉對鱷魚來說，不正如糖果般可口嗎。跟孩童心想的一樣，鱷魚也懂得先搶先贏。如此精妙的選字讓意象躍然紙上，最能擄獲讀者的感官。

怎麼寫出好句子沒有標準答案，不過起碼我們知道，優秀的句子每個環節都很完美。下面有一句未完成的句子，請用五個字以內完成句子接龍，寫出完整的句子。最先完成句子，並寫出最佳解答的一位TPS 粉絲，將獲得兩百元誠品圖書商場購物禮卷；另增設特別獎一名，頒給符合文意又別具創意的粉絲。接龍解答與獲獎粉絲姓名將在明天公布於本 TPS 專頁，敬請密切鎖定、先睹為快！
No formula exists for the writing of a superior sentence, but this much is known: The best sentence has no weak part. The following sentence is incomplete. In five or fewer words, complete the sentence in a way that strengthens the whole of it. The first TPS Fan to complete the sentence as we believe it is best completed will win a NTD200 Eslite Bookstore and Shopping Mall Gift Certificate. Another Eslite certificate will be awarded to the first Fan to complete it in an alternate way that, in our estimation, also is effective. The explanation and the names of the winners will be published tomorrow on this TPS Fans page.

題目Contest Sentence:

“The surface of the water rippled almost imperceptibly as the huge crocodiles tucked their feet and raced toward the tipped canoe like __ __ __ __ __.”

並非所有與學術議題相關的文章，就能稱之為「學術文章」。本篇專欄將節錄不同學術議題的內容，分析常見的寫作錯誤，並分享潤修與寫作的技巧。
Not all articles written on academic topics are written in proper academic English. This column examines short excerpts from academic texts to illustrate common writing errors and to explain how to correct them.

Unacceptable 不被認可的文章

“The unearthed calendar caught the archaeologists by surprise because it seemed to be a combination of modern and ancient calendars, and that was not a good thing. The calendar clearly was post-Gregorian in its arithmetic, yet it showed Roman events and holidays that everyone believes the Roman civilization stopped celebrating before Pope Gregory ascended to the papacy. The team leader, Dr. Geoffrey Antiopas, called his team together in the field office to resolve the questions raised by the unpleasant find. The fear that hovered over everything was that finding a calendar that might not be authentic tainted the entire dig. If the calendar were officially determined to be fraudulent, it threw into question if any of the discovered material was legitimate discovery.”

This paragraph about a jittery scientific field team is quite interesting despite its flaws. The writing illustrates the power of “story,” of the power of a strong topic or argument to compensate for weak writing. A superior paper will have both a strong subject and strong writing. Anyway, the writing is mostly weak for its wordiness and casual wording. The phrase “and that was not a good thing” is an almost comic comment inserted without any context. In another place, the writer asserts that “everyone believes” something, a sweeping remark of universal dimension—everyone? The writer also describes the calendar discovery as “unpleasant” when in fact detecting fraud always is good, if unfortunate. All in all, this is rather sloppy writing.
略過缺點不談，這段描寫感到緊張的科學考察團相當有趣。強調「故事」本身的力道、強健的主題或是論點的力度，能彌補文筆方面的疲弱。好的文章具備強而有力的主題外，也包括有力的寫作手法。亦即，過度雕琢或閒適的文筆會削弱文章的力道。像這句「and that was not a good thing」，在缺乏前後文解釋的情況下，突然插入本句評論顯得相當可笑。另外，作者斷言「眾人皆信」某事物，這話說得過為籠統，與everyone有何干係呢？作者也提到日曆的發現相當「不愉快」。其實若不幸被騙，能偵破這類詐騙事件總歸是件好事。總之，這段文章相當馬虎。

Acceptable 認可的文章

“The unearthed calendar surprised the team of archaeologists because it seemed a compound of modern and ancient calendars. It clearly was post-Gregorian in its arithmetic, yet it depicted Roman events and holidays that scholars believe the Roman civilization stopped celebrating prior to Pope Gregory. Dr. Geoffrey Antiopas assembled his team in the field office to resolve the questions raised by the find. The underlying team fear was that the calendar’s presence at the site could taint the entire dig. Were the calendar officially determined to be fraudulent, it would raise the question about how much, if any, of the excavated material was legitimate discovery.”

Suggested answer: “His son, tall and bulky, reminded him of a walrus, swaying through the crowd like a ponderous and graceful pendulum.”

Something “tall and bulky” doesn’t always bring to mind the adjective “graceful.” Yet the biggest animals on the planet, such as elephants and whales, move through their respective realms with amazing grace. The father watching his larger son move was taken by the slippery way his son made his way through oncoming walkers. In fact, “slipping” would not be a bad choice of verb. Yet “swaying” captures both the idea of unimpeded movement and the sideways motion of a blubbery animal undulating along, lifting and dropping its massive shoulders and dragging itself forward. Other possible “s” words in this situation are shifting and swerving.
談到「高大笨重」，一般可無法和「優雅」這個形容詞作出聯想。不過像是大象和鯨魚等地球上最大的生物，牠們在各自領域中的動作可謂優雅自得。句中父親觀看體型結實的兒子移動，非常驚訝他的兒子竟能在迎面而來的人潮中滑不溜丟地通過。事實上，「slipping」這個動詞頗為合適，不過卻不若「swaying」一般，能精確描寫流暢的動作，彷彿一隻肥碩的動物正左搖右晃，拖著龐大身軀前進。其他「s」開頭的適用字還有「shifting」和「swerving」。

The sentence below is missing a verb. However, the first letter of the verb is provided. Insert a word that starts with the given first letter and best fits the tenor of the sentence, and then defend your word choice in five or fewer words. The first TPS Fan to respond with the judge’s choice of verb—or the most effective alternate verb— will win a ¬¬¬NTD 200 Starbucks Gift Certificate. The name of the winner will be published tomorrow on this TPS Fans page. Good luck!
以下句子缺少動詞，請加入一個最符合句子意思且符合空格開頭字母的動詞，以及五個字以內的理由，我們將提供7-11／星巴克咖啡禮券兩百元，頒給第一位想出最佳解答或是最佳替代字的第1位粉絲。解答與獲獎粉絲姓名將在明天公布於本 TPS 專頁。請將答案寫在下方，幸運兒可能就是你！

題目Contest Sentence:

“His son, tall and bulky, reminded him of a walrus, s_____ through the crowd like a ponderous and graceful pendulum.”

很多字詞並非表面所見的意思，字詞的組合會產生不同的解釋。這樣的慣用法，我們稱之為「比喻」。一個成功的比喻，作者本身必須相當瞭解字詞的源起。以下的句子為讀者介紹一個比喻及其來源。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed word or set of words is called a “figure of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the word or phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.

“The screened-in sleeping hut still brimmed with comfort in November when insulated tarps were lowered to protect sleepers from cool winds.”
「 儘管時值十一月， 低放的防水布保護睡於小屋內的人免受冷風吹襲，讓受遮蔽的小木屋內充滿了舒適的氛圍。」

“Brim” is an upper or outer limit of something—of a container, an area, a structure—the opposite being a bottom or inner limit. Thus, there is the brim of a cup (the top of the surrounding sides) and the brim of a hat (the projecting outer rim that surrounds the crown). The top edge of a depression in the ground or of a bathtub also is referred to as a brim. A common phrase is “filled to the brim,” meaning filled to the top: “My tea cup was filled to the brim.” The person doesn’t actually mean that the cup is on the verge of spilling over, but that it is nominally full.
「Brim」（邊緣）意指超過某樣東西的限度之上或外在侷限，通常指容器、區域或者是結構體，相反的概念即是底部或者界線內。因此，我們可以說杯子的「brim」（杯子最上緣環狀的部分），也可以說帽子的「brim」（環繞頭部突出部分的外緣）。一個地面低窪處、或是浴缸的最頂端邊緣亦能以「brim」稱之。有個常聽到的用語「filled to the brim」，意思就是到頂為止。如果聽見有人說：「我的茶裝到滿」，說話的人並非指茶杯裡的茶真的都要灑出來了，只是形容很滿而已。

In saying that the novel sleepers’ building “brimmed with comfort,” the writer isn’t suggesting there was so much comfort poured into the building that it might spill out from under the eaves at any moment. Rather, the writer is suggesting that the closing off of the screened walls has sealed the interior so well that chilling winds cannot enter it. Therefore the comfort level is more than adequate; it is wholly comfortable. Brimming used in this sense always implies fullness… of comfort, of a beverage (tea), of a feeling (happiness), of credentials (authority), and so on.
回到文章，內容敘述就寢者的屋子內「充滿舒適的氛圍」。作者並非指有人將舒適灌注於屋內，並讓那份舒適多到從屋簷灑出來。相反地，作者是在描述屏蔽牆將冷風完全阻擋在外。所以，屋子內部的舒適度上升，變得相當舒服。「Brimming」在此情況下為充滿的意思，可用於描寫舒適感，或者是飲料（茶）、感覺（幸福感）、公信力（權威）等等。

Corrected sentence:

The algorithm is simple enough. The difficulty lies in mastering it in the short time my reality-challenged professor allowed: He clearly doesn’t understand my frenetic, exhausting schedule.

These sentences are straight-forward explanations of a student’s lament. The capitalization gives all the clues one needs to know where the sentences break. The trick is to end the sentences correctly. The first sentence is not closely associated with the second sentence, so a period is the best punctuation mark. However, the second sentence and third sentence have a shared mission of explaining the student complaint, therefore a colon is the best choice to join them. The compound adjective “reality-challenged” needs a hyphen, and the two adjectives describing the student’s schedule should be separated by a comma. The sentences then become clear and readable.
這些句子直接了當地闡述了一個學生的悲嘆。大寫的部分讓讀者清楚知道斷句的位置。寫作的訣竅即是正確地結束每個句子。第一句並未與第二句緊密相關，所以在此使用句號是再好不過了。不過，第二句與第三句均在敘述該學生的抱怨，在此最好使用分號。複合形容詞「reality-challenged」中間需要連字符號連結，而用以形容這名學生行程表的兩個形容詞應該用逗號分開。如此一來，這些句子便能更加清晰及便於閱讀。

文字就像汽車，需要交通標誌與燈號才不會打結，標點符號可以釋放文字，讓字句能打動、指引、啟發讀者。以下範例可能標點符號不正確，或少了必需的標點符號。注意，句中可能不只有一個標點符號錯誤。最先改正錯誤，並寫出最佳解答的一位 TPS 粉絲，將能贏得兩百元誠品圖書商場購物禮卷。
Words, like motor vehicles, need signposts and signals to keep them from running together. Punctuation frees words to move readers, to instruct and inspire them. The following example of writing either contains inappropriate punctuation or lacks marks that are needed. Note: The example may contain more than one punctuation error. The first TPS Fan to correct the writing sample as we believe it should be corrected will win a NTD200 eslite bookstore and shopping mall Gift Certificate.

題目Contest Sentence:

The algorithm is simple enough; The difficulty lies in mastering it in the short time my reality challenged professor allowed; He clearly doesn’t understand my frenetic exhausting schedule.

並非所有與學術議題相關的文章，就能稱之為「學術文章」。本篇專欄將節錄不同學術議題的內容，分析常見的寫作錯誤，並分享潤修與寫作的技巧。
Not all articles written on academic topics are written in proper academic English. This column examines short excerpts from academic texts to illustrate common writing errors and to explain how to correct them.

Unacceptable 不被認可的文章

“Setting up an observation post, the group of young scientists prepared to study the planet Saturn as it dramatically rose in the night’s sky. The person chosen to lead the group went out and carefully selected the night’s observation platform, which was a gently sloping cleared area in the Rocky Mountains in the vast interior of the United States. The scientists were extremely hopeful of capturing some crystal-clear shots of Saturn because the April sky was cloud-free and the clearing far enough from municipal lighting to escape its ugly glare. The last telescope had been set up and focused when someone shouted: “Oh, no! A cloud bank!”

This prelude to a report of an astronomy outing is appealing in its detail and drama. However, the writer lapsed into cliché and the writing falls well short of being smooth. It reads, in fact, like a draft rather than a final version of a paper. Scientists who study the stars and planets are astronomers, for example, yet they are never called such in this passage. The group has assembled to study “the planet Saturn,” which is wordy: “Saturn” says it all. That the planet “dramatically rose” is subjective and hackneyed phrasing and that it did so in “the night’s sky” is tongue-twisting; “nighttime sky” reads more comfortably. These are examples of marred writing.
在細節和戲劇性方面，作者拉開一趟天文郊遊序幕的寫作手法相當吸引人。然而，作者的失敗之處在於過度陳腔濫調以及寫作內容過短。事實上，閱讀起來就像是一篇草稿，而非完成作品。舉例而言，一般研究星星以及星球的科學家稱為天文學家，但這些專家在文章段落中卻不是這麼稱呼的。小組被指派研究的「土星星球」顯得太過累贅。直接寫「土星」即可。這句「星球戲劇性地升起」主觀且陳腔濫調，尤其後面接著寫「夜晚的星空」，念起來相當拗口。「夜空」應該較為恰當。這裡列舉的都是一些有缺陷的寫作例子。

Acceptable 認可的文章

“Setting up an observation post, the young astronomers prepared to study Saturn as it ascended in the nighttime sky. The designated field trip leader had carefully selected the observation platform—a gently sloped clearing in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains in the western United States. The scientists hoped to capture sharply defined photographs of Saturn because the April sky was crystalline and the mountain slope sufficiently distant from municipal lighting. The last telescope had been set up and calibrated when a cry went up: “Oh, no! A cloud bank!”