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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 sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.

“It was a perfect storm: After the heated test tube cracked, splattering technicians with the acidic solution, the scrambling techs knocked the treadmilling guinea pig off the counter and into the carnivorous fish tank.”
「這是場完美的風暴：加熱試管爆裂，酸性溶液濺了技術人員一身，腳步踉蹌的技術員把跑步機上的天竺鼠撞得跌下檯子，跌入放有肉食魚的魚缸。」

“Perfect storm” is a phrase that entered popular culture 15 years ago when a movie based on a book of the same title was released. It described a storm off the New England coast of the United States that developed after three climactic conditions converged. The result: a perfectly awful and deadly storm. The phrase—almost a cliché now—thus generally describes the coming together of several independent elements that, when combined, produce a consequence that is remarkably complete in a negative way.
「完美的風暴」原為小說名稱，十五年前搬上大銀幕後蔚為流行，描寫在美國新英格蘭沿海，三個氣候條件匯集，造成一場非常可怕而致命的風暴。「完美的風暴」一詞如今可說已是常見的陳詞，一般形容幾個獨立的因素結合起來，通盤造成負面後果。

In the laboratory incident metaphorically described as a “perfect storm,” the phrase refers not at all to the weather but to a series of sequential disasters. First, the technicians apparently overheated the glass tube. They also had set up a treadmill in a precarious place: on the edge of a countertop overlooking an open tank of flesh-eating fish. None of these situations in itself was especially noteworthy. However, they were aligned in such a way as to produce a disaster (for the pig, at least) when they came together in a flurry. It was perfectly awful.
本段句子以「完美的風暴」比喻實驗室中的意外，指的並非天氣，而是一連串的災難。首先，技術人員顯然把試管加熱過度；此外，他們還在一個危險的地方擺放跑步機，就放在檯子上，旁邊是未加蓋的魚缸，缸裡養的是肉食魚類。這些因素分開來看尚且不值得特別一提，但是在慌亂的情況下，組合在一起就會釀成災難（起碼對天竺鼠來說是場災難），而且是非常可怕的災難。

Answer: “;” should be “:”

“The sage declares this to be true: the difference between a book report and a dissertation is like the difference between a breezy day and a typhoon.”

Error: The writer made a punctuation mistake: The semicolon should be a colon. Two independent phrases indeed can be joined by a semicolon, with the first word of the second sentence not being capitalized. However, as in this case, when a first sentence introduces a thought or remark expressed in the second sentence, a colon is required. In British English usage, the first word after the colon is lower case, whereas most American English writers capitalize the first word. Either way, the colon ties together the two sentences in a declarative relationship; a semicolon cannot accomplish this.
本文犯了標點錯誤：文中的分號應該改用冒號。兩獨立子句確實可由分號連接，分號後的第一個字不必大寫。不過，本句第一個子句介紹的概念由第二個子句說明，就必須用冒號連接。英式英文中，冒號後第一個字小寫，而美式英文多半用大寫。總之，冒號可以連接互相表述、說明的兩個句子，分號則沒有這種功能。

下列的句子中，包含了一個錯誤，可能是文法、拼法或是標點符號的錯誤。我們將提供統一超商/星巴克咖啡NTD200元的購物禮券，給予今天前三名挑出正確錯誤、寫出正確答案的粉絲。正確的解答與獲獎的粉絲姓名，將於明天公佈於本TPS的專頁。請將你的答案寫在下方，獲得免費購物禮券的幸運兒可能就是你哦!
The sentence below contains 1 grammatical, spelling and/or punctuation error. The first three (3) TPS Fans to respond with the corrected sentence will win a NTD200 7-11/Starbucks Gift Certificate. The corrected sentence and the names of the winners will be published tomorrow on this TPS Fans page. Please post your answers below. Good luck!

題目Contest Sentence:

“The sage declares this to be true; the difference between a book report and a dissertation is like the difference between a breezy day and a typhoon.”

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. In this "This is not academic writing" column we examine short excerpts from academic texts to illustrate common writing errors and explain how to correct them.

Unacceptable 不被認可的文章

“The famous Seminole Indians of Florida are not native to the state. They are not even a singular tribe. Rather, the Seminole were formed of many tribes—and named by other tribes and by British authorities on the American continent. This occurred after survivors of genuinely native peoples of Florida fled to Cuba when the Spanish swapped Florida for Cuba in the 18th century. Other ‘Seminoles’ were descendants of runaway American slaves from such African tribes as the Ibo and Ashanti. In ensuing years, this population of displaced Indians and runaway slaves migrated deeper into Florida where they established a shaky hegemony.”
This passage about the Seminole Indians of Florida in the United States is solid, but contains some notable errors. The writer describes the Seminole as “famous.” Famous for what reason? To whom? Because a subject looms large in a writer’s mind does not necessarily mean it does in minds generally. Use such adjectives thoughtfully. In writing “the Seminole were formed…,” the writer makes a classic subject-verb slip-up. “Seminole” in this case is shorthand for “Seminole tribe” and requires a singular verb, was. Or change “Seminole” to “Seminoles” and keep the plural verb. The phrase “in ensuing years” in the last sentence doesn’t work because it is unclear what preceded the years. The phrase either should be dropped or clarified.
本段文章討論美國佛羅里達州的塞米諾族印第安人，寫作出色，但有幾個明顯的錯誤。作者說塞米諾族很「出名」，但是為何出名？又在何處出名？作者心目中重要的主題，對其他人來說未必同樣重要，所以這類形容詞要謹慎使用。此外，“the Seminole were formed” 一句犯了典型的動詞搭配錯誤，在這裡 “Seminole” 是 “Seminole tribe” （塞米諾族）的簡稱，應用單數動詞 “was”，或將 “Seminole” 改成 “Seminoles”（塞米諾人），便可保留原本的複數動詞。最後一句 “in ensuing years” （隨後幾年）不合理，因為並未說明是隨著何種情況之後，此句應刪除或再加以闡明。

Acceptable 認可的文章

“The Seminole Indians of Florida are not native to the state. They are not even a singular tribe. Rather, the Seminole was formed of many tribes—and named by other tribes and by British authorities on the American continent. This occurred after survivors of genuinely native peoples of Florida fled to Cuba when the Spanish swapped Florida for Cuba in the 18th century. Other ‘Seminoles’ were descendants of runaway American slaves from such African tribes as the Ibo and Ashanti. This mixed population of displaced Indians and slaves migrated deeper into Florida where they established a shaky hegemony.”

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 sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.

“Good business centers in hotels produce copied and faxed material, wireless Internet conversations, and steepled fingers in the lounge as executives look back on their day.”
「飯店內完善的商務中心提供影印、傳真、無線網路服務，高階主管在休息室裡指尖相搭，回顧當日的行程。」

The “steepling” of fingers is a physical gesture in which a person presses the tips of his fingers together, or meshes them up to about the second joint. Sometimes the fingers are meshed and rounded with only the index fingers jutting upward, their tips touching. This is called steepling because the pointed or meshed fingers resemble a church steeple or the sloping upper architecture of a similarly large building. Body language specialists have concluded from their observations that such steepling is an indicator of personal confidence in personal interactions.
“Steepling of fingers” 是兩掌指尖搭在一起，或手指在第二指關節處交疊的姿勢，有時候所有手指都交疊，只有食指朝上，指尖相觸。這種姿勢之所以叫 “steepling”，是因為相搭或交疊的手指很像教堂的尖頂 (steeple)，或類似大型建築物的斜頂。研究身體語言的人觀察後認為，如果一個人擺出這個姿勢，表示在人際互動上很有自信。

The author of the sentence wove this allusion to a confident businessperson into a description of hotel business centers. This was accomplished by listing, along with the center’s hardware and software, the “steepled fingers in the lounge” of evidently satisfied businesspeople. This use of imagery—the body language of the executives—begins the reader’s transition from business center talk to description of the hotel’s dining and entertainment facilities. Thus, alluding to a human characteristic seamlessly returns the focus of the article to the hotel’s human guests.
作者描述飯店商務中心時，除了列出商務中心的軟硬體，還寫出洋溢自信的商務人士 “steepled fingers in the lounge”（在休息室裡指尖相搭），將他們充滿自信的形象穿插在句中。藉由使用意象，也就是高階主管的身體語言，讓讀者從商務中心轉而注意飯店的餐飲與娛樂設施。文章以暗喻的方式提到旅客的特性，將重點自然轉回旅客身上。

Answer: We believe the best revision is… “By the end of the session, it was clear the speaker was fanatical about neo-socialism and unlikely to cool his ardor any time soon.”

This suggested revision reduces the word count to 24 from 27. It does so by addressing two sets of redundant phrases. One is “radical fanatic.” Every fanatic is, by definition, radical inasmuch as fanaticism is characterized by extreme enthusiasm and intense emotions. These are not middling conditions. They do not describe, in this case, a moderate neo-socialist. Therefore, by dropping “a radical” and turning the noun “fanatic” into the adjective “fanatical,” the sentence is slimmed and strengthened.
依照建議修改，處理兩組多餘的詞句後，句子的字數從 27 降至 24 個字。一個多餘的詞組是 “radical fanatic”（激進的狂熱分子）。狂熱就是極端的熱情與強烈的情緒，沒有中庸之道，所以每個狂熱分子原本就是激進份子，在此不會有「溫和」的新社會主義。因此，刪去 “a radical”，將名詞 “fanatic” 改成形容詞 “fanatical”，能讓句子更加簡潔有力。

The sentence contains a second redundancy in the phrase “cool down.” The word “cool” originally referred to temperature, not social status. When temperatures drop, they cool. The direction of the change—down—is understood. By the same token, one does not “heat up” the water; heating it down is impossible. Therefore, it can be said the speaker was not expected to “cool his ardor.” Eliminating “down” not only reduces the word count, it raises the reader’s regard for the writer.
第二個多餘的詞句是 “cool down”，“cool” 這個字原本與社會地位無關，而是表示溫度冷卻，單 “cool” 一字就能表現溫度是下降的。同理，將水加溫時不說 “heat up” 而說 “heat”，因為加熱不可能還讓溫度下降。因此，寫成 “cool his ardor”（熱情冷卻）就可以了，刪去 “down” 不僅能減少字數，讀者也更能看出作者的文筆。

We get caught up in redundancies in our conversations and colloquial writing. That’s because casual communication permits more emotional content. Academic writers are supposed to be disciplined in their formal expression. They are expected to avoid use of redundant clichés like “past experience” and such regrettable outbursts as “extraordinarily awesome.” While there always is a place for modifiers to clarify and emphasize, use of adjectives and adverbs should be carefully restricted—and never wasted on redundancies.
一般對話與口語寫作往往充斥多餘的詞句，因為輕鬆的溝通帶有較多情感交流成分，寫作學術文章則應該有組織、符合標準，不要用 “past experience”（過去的經驗）等陳腔贅詞，也要避免不假思索的寫出 “extraordinarily awesome”（超棒）等糟糕的詞句。即使能用修飾語釐清或強調語意，仍應慎用形容詞和副詞，切勿讓詞句顯得冗贅。

The best writing doesn’t waste words. It employs words efficiently. The first TPS Fan to complete the sentence below as we believe it should be completed will win a NTD200 7-11 / Starbucks Gift Certificate. Another Starbucks 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. Each brevity rule is contained in 10 Ways to Shorten & Strengthen Your Academic Paper and will be posted on the TPS Fan page as introduced.
最佳的寫作，必須有效選用字句、惜字如金。TPS推出新專欄，請你寫出簡潔、流暢的詞彙/句子。題目刊登於下方，經TPS編輯教授評選為第1位最適解答的粉絲，可獲得統一超商/星巴克咖啡NTD200元的購物禮券；增設特別獎1名，獎項給予提出符合句意又別具創意之解答的粉絲。解答與獲獎的粉絲姓名，將於明天公佈於本TPS專頁。每一項簡潔準則，皆收錄於TPS新推出之「十大簡潔英文準則」，將定期刊登本專欄，敬請密切鎖定、先睹為快。

Rule # 9: Avoid redundant phrases … An academic writer can tighten his paper and sharply increase its readability by avoiding the use of words that repeat themselves. In the sentence below, the writer employed phrases that added nothing to the sentence but extra words. How can the sentence best be written shorter and stronger?
十大簡潔英文準則九：避免多餘詞句
寫作學術文章若能避免使用重複的詞句，能使文章更簡潔，且容易閱讀得多。以下的句子中，作者使用的詞句並未增加訊息，只是徒然增加字數。該如何修改，才能讓句子更精簡有力？

題目 Contest Sentence:

“By the end of the session, it was clear the speaker was a radical fanatic about neo-socialism and unlikely to cool down his ardor any time soon.”

Correct best answer: Replace “board” with “broad.”

“An automobile designer knows that broad acceptance of a design is as much about the emotional response of buyers as it is about the stylized sheet metal itself.”

Welcome to the confusing world of typos. That is the most likely reason for the use of “board” instead of “broad.” The computer’s automatic spell-check feature might even have “corrected” it from one to the other. (If so, the responsibility for the error still remains with the writer.) On the other hand, the writer might have been thinking about an automotive company’s board of directors in the beginning of the sentence, but by the middle of the sentence, the acceptance of the “buyers” is the central concern. For whatever reason, the use of “board” weakened the sentence and sparked at least momentary confusion in the minds of readers.
拼寫錯誤會使文意不清，本段文章誤將 “broad” 拼為 “board” 就是最好的例子。電腦的自動拼字檢查「修正」時可能誤植為另一個字，但作者應負起確實檢查的責任。另外，作者一開始可能想寫汽車公司的董事會 (board of directors)，不過寫到一半，卻改將句子重點放在客戶(buyers)身上。無論如何，“board” 這個錯字使句義模糊，也令讀者匪夷所思。

撰寫學術文章時，每字每句都需要謹慎著墨。改變幾個字就會使完整的一句話變得令人摸不著頭緒。下列的句子中，為使這句話能完整且有意義的表達，請選出你認為會令人感到困惑的字，我們將提供統一超商/星巴克咖啡NTD200元禮券，給予挑出混淆字，並寫出最佳替代字的第1位粉絲，最適的解答與獲獎的粉絲姓名，將於明天公佈於本TPS的專頁。請將你的答案寫在下方，獲得免費購物禮券的幸運兒可能就是你哦!
Every word is important in a well-written academic paper. Changing just a word or two can turn a clear sentence into a confusing one. Tell us what word you would change in the following puzzling sentence to render it more meaningful. The first best answer will receive a NTD200 7-11/Starbucks Gift Certificate.

題目Contest Sentence:
“An automobile designer knows that board acceptance of a design is as much about the emotional response of buyers as it is about the stylized sheet metal itself.”

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 sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.

“The cannonball arrived moments later, rolling down the sky and scattering the bowling pins lined up in their new uniforms on the parade lawn.”
「不久砲彈抵達，從天空落下，將列隊在檢閱草坪上，穿著新軍服的士兵，像保齡球瓶般擊倒在地。」

Bowling balls, as anyone knows who has bowled, are dense and heavy. The mass of a rolling bowling ball is greater than the mass of the pins in geometric formation at the end of the bowling alley. Consequently, the pins are knocked aside whenever struck by the ball, or by a ricocheting pin. The game would be pointless and not much fun at all if the mass of the pins withstood the impact of the ball and sent it bouncing away. The physics of the game are on display with every roll of the ball.
打過保齡球的人都知道，保齡球密度大，相當沉重，滾動的保齡球比球道底端排成三角形的球瓶重多了。因此，球瓶如果被保齡球或其他彈跳的球瓶擊中，就會被打飛。如果球瓶重到足以承受保齡球的撞擊，讓球反彈，球賽就打不下去了。每次保齡球滾動，球賽進行的物理原則就展露無遺。

In writing about a tragic Civil War incident, the writer uses the metaphor of bowling, substituting a cannonball for a bowling ball. The writer describes the impact of the cannonball on soldiers who were standing in review, referring to the soldiers as “bowling pins lined up in their new uniforms.” The projectile clearly tore through the assembled soldiers, “scattering” them as it struck. Because the soldiers were lined up on “the parade lawn,” the metaphor also sparks an image of lawn bowling. Nothing was lost in translating the tragedy into metaphorical language.
作者描寫一場內戰的悲劇事件，以保齡球隱喻砲彈，描寫砲彈撞擊草坪上接受檢閱的士兵，將士兵描寫為 “bowling pins lined up in their new uniforms”（列隊在檢閱草坪上，穿著新軍服的保齡球瓶），遭砲彈狠狠炸得四散。士兵在 “the parade lawn”（檢閱草坪）上列隊，也令人聯想起草地保齡球的意象。這場悲劇所應用的隱喻可說是非常貼切、擬真，是引用隱喻句法的最佳例子。