TPS News

Answer: “abstinence” should be “absence”

“Tracking the temperature of the sea’s surface is made more difficult by the absence of up-to-date monitoring stations that work in tandem with satellite surveys.”

Error: The writer absentmindedly wrote one word when he meant to use another word of similar spelling. Tracking the sea temperature is hindered by the “absence,” not “abstinence,” of modern monitoring stations. Absence refers to something that is missing or nonexistent. Abstinence is the voluntary decision to abstain from doing something, from satisfying a craving. Monitoring stations don’t abstain, whereas they might be nonexistent. Using wrong words is easily done and a cursory reading will not reveal the errors. This is why a critical final reading of an academic paper—preferably by someone other than the writer—before its submission can save the writer from embarrassment.
作者寫作時一不留神，誤把一個詞寫成拼法相近的另一個詞。紀錄海水溫度之所以困難重重，是因為 “absence”（缺乏）現代的監測站，而非 “abstinence”（戒絕）監測站。“Absence” 意指缺乏或不存在某種東西，“abstinence” 則指自願放棄做一件事，不去滿足強烈的渴望。監測站不會「戒絕」什麼事，它可能根本不存在。寫作時錯字難免，只大略讀過也很難發現，所以送出學術文章前，要最後再仔細讀過一遍，最好是由作者以外的人來讀，以免犯錯出糗。