TPS News

Correct best answer: Replace “scents” with “sense.”

“The new perfume formula made no sense to the lab assistant, who experimented with several fragrant oils before finding the correct combination.”

Working in an olfactory factory must be overpowering at times. The nose can only take on so many fragrances before the brain protests at the smell overkill. In this sentence, the writer seems to have lost his “sense” in describing a chemistry assistant’s confusion about a formula. By substituting “scents” for “sense,” the writer confused readers. In fact, he might have utterly interrupted their concentration by introducing what appears to be a pun. Punning is not acceptable in academic writing. More likely, in this case the writer simply was thinking of fragrances and accidentally wrote “scents.” So the error was inadvertent, rather than egregious.
在香水工廠中行走，一定會不時覺得相當刺鼻。我們的鼻子在承受太多不同的氣味時，大腦很快就會抱怨氣味超載。本句當中，在描述化學助理對於配方感到困惑時，作者似乎失去了使用「sense」（判斷力）來描述的能力。作者以「scent」（氣味）取代「sense」一字，讓讀者感到困惑。事實上，作者雖使用了雙關語，這樣的寫作手法卻可能打斷讀者對於文章的專注。雙關語在學術文章的撰寫上是不被允許的。在此情況下，多半作者只是簡單地想到香味就寫出了「scent」這個字。所以這也只能算是無心之過，不算錯得太過分。