7 Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism Tip # 6 – Hone your interview skills 避免抄襲的七大方法之六:磨練訪談技巧
2012-03-21A true scholar is not a thief. Yet stealing another researcher’s ideas or method of expressing them sometimes happens inadvertently in the course of research. How to avoid accidentally passing off someone else’s work as your own is the subject of this series, “7 Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism.” Each of the tips will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled with the others as a series.
Tip # 6 – Hone your interview skills
方法六:磨練訪談技巧
Much of the material utilized in an academic paper will come from books, cataloged papers, and other printed material, as well as from electronic and online sources. Handling of information from those sources has been addressed in previous tips. But what about the scientific peer, the working historian, or the discovered contemporary whose insights are not written down? This is where interviewing skills can elicit information—while giving full credit to the living source.
學術論文使用的材料多半來自書本、編入目錄中的論文、其他紙本資料,以及電子與線上資料,本單元前幾篇討論了如何處理這些來源的訊息。但如果科學界同行、持續研究的歷史學者,或有探討發現的當代學者尚未將見解付諸筆墨呢?此時訪談技巧就能幫助探究資訊,此類資料同樣也必須充分標註來源。
The recording of answers in an interview first of all has a mechanical dimension. The answers do not exist until the person being interviewed speaks. If they are not property recorded, they still do not exist. Therefore, it is important to test and properly operate a recording device before and during an interview. As a backup, it also is a good idea for the interviewer to take as many notes as possible without losing the thread of the conversation or treating the interviewee rudely.
首先,紀錄受訪者的答案涉及操作層面,受訪對象開口前,答案並不存在,若訪問沒有適當紀錄,答案依然不存在。因此,訪談前與訪談中,一定要測試錄音器材能否正確運作。訪談者也可以作筆記,以備不時之需,但不能因為作筆記而影響談話的思路,或對受訪人不夠禮貌。
In written notes, the assumption should be that all sentences or sentence parts are exact quotes.Quotes, paraphrases, and interviewer observations must be clearly denoted, perhaps using pens with different ink colors. Distinguishing among the notes is especially vital when a digital recording is not allowed. Memory should not be relied upon to make the notational distinctions. If a sloppy writer inadvertently steals verbal expression by calling it his own, he is a plagiarist.
手寫筆記時,所有句子或片段都必須確實引用,清楚區別「引用」、「換句話說」或「訪談者觀察」,可以分別用不同顏色的筆來記錄。若無法以數位方式錄音,區分筆記的不同內容便特別重要,而且區分不能依賴記憶。若作者太草率,誤把受訪者說的話當作自己說的,就會構成剽竊。
Last Update at 2012-03-23 AM 10:21 | 0 Comments
0319 TPS Verbalize Contest-Answer and Explanation你能找出關鍵的動詞嗎? 正確解答!
2012-03-20Uniformed people who have sworn authority to command civilians—or other uniformed people—can interrupt public behavior for the public good. Thus, they have an edge in a chaotic situation. They can at least moderate disorder simply by ordering it. Using “order” in this sentence has the double meaning of a traffic officer ordering a maelstrom of drivers to proceed in a more orderly way. Some other “o” verbs that might have been used—such as organize, orchestrate, overcome—lack the authoritative voice implicit in “order.”
穿制服的員警有職權指揮市民,或其他穿制服的人,為公眾利益干涉公眾行為,因此在混亂的情況中能發揮優勢,只要指揮下令,至少便能調解混亂的交通。句中使用 “order” 這個字有雙重意義,交通警察整頓 (order) 混亂交通,讓交通更有秩序 (orderly)。其他 “o” 開頭的動詞還有 organize(組織)、orchestrate(協調一致)、overcome(克服),不過都缺乏 “order” 隱含的權威感。
Last Update at 2012-03-20 AM 11:20 | 0 Comments
0319 TPS Verbalize Contest-Win Your NTD200 7-11/Starbucks Prize! 你能找出關鍵的動詞嗎?有機會獲得200元 7-11/星巴克咖啡禮券!
2012-03-19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:
“Because auto traffic swelled in the campus neighborhood, an officer was stationed at the busiest intersection to o______the chaos.”
Last Update at 2012-03-20 AM 11:18 | 0 Comments
What does that mean? 你真的瞭解這個慣用語嗎?
2012-03-15Imagery 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 young idealist, stunned by the slush fund revelations about the president, felt his idealism evaporating in a fetid swirl of disgust.”
「總統賄款遭到揭露,年輕的理想主義者得知後非常震驚,覺得理想在一池令人厭惡的腐臭漩渦裡蒸發消失。」
A “slush fund” is a term rooted in nautical lore. It refers to the fat skimmed from the top of a vat of meat boiled by the ship’s cook. The slushy fat was emptied into a cask and allowed to accumulate. When a ship reached port, the fatty refuse was sold as cooking oil. Any money derived from the sale usually was spent on the crew. Because it was a byproduct of an ongoing activity—cooking—the slush and the money derived from its sale was a benefit that didn’t appear on the books as an expense and, therefore, was deemed to be legitimate bonus pay.
“Slush fund”(油水、福利金、賄款)一詞源自航海的傳聞,是指船上廚師每次做飯時,從大鍋肉表面撇取的油脂,這些油水收集起來放到大桶中,等船靠港就拿去販賣,作為烹調用油,所得通常歸船員所有。因為這些油渣是每天煮飯的附加收益,不會記在帳簿上,所以被視為正當的額外福利。
The modern usage of the term, as in the example sentence, has taken on the more rancid characteristics of the fat-cooking residue. A slush fund now connotes something furtively collected, money misdirected and set aside for personal use from a larger fund. Unlike the original fat-skimming aboard ship, it suggests a sly dipping into a pool of money for corruptive purposes. So the idealist in question had his eyes opened. That his idealism disappeared in “a fetid swirl of disgust” nicely recreates the smelly nature of the original meat-boiling activity.
這個詞組的現代用法,如本句所示範,更為強調油渣腐敗酸臭的特色。如今,”slush fund”與船上所撇取脂肪的原意不同,而是暗指私下搜括的物資,從大筆金額中私自挪用的款項,指為了貪腐賄賂,暗中對一大筆錢上下其手。句中理想主義者驚訝之餘,理想主義消失在 “a fetid swirl of disgust”(令人厭惡的腐臭漩渦)中,巧妙重現了原意中煮肉的腐臭。
Last Update at 2012-03-16 AM 10:22 | 0 Comments
Professor Pedantic 教授的考究學問
2012-03-14The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have a lot of time for you. He is a tenured full professor and working on yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
QUESTION: My professor advised me during an interim review that I ought to start over completely on my paper. I thought he was kidding. He wasn’t. Have you ever heard of anything so crazy?
期中檢討的時候,教授建議我重寫論文。我以為他在開玩笑,但他是認真的。你聽過這麼瘋狂的事嗎?
Craziness comes in many flavors. When your professor advised you, was he sitting on his desk in his bikini pajamas, a Teddy bear on his lap, and peering at you through an eyeglass? That would be crazy. By comparison, his suggestion that you begin anew on your paper might be the sanest advice you’ll get all year. Your professor has seen enough academic writing to recognize early on when a paper is lame enough to warrant a mercy killing. That’s what he was doing, telling you to put it out of its misery. You should thank him, not question his mental stability.
瘋狂有很多種,你的教授提出建議時,是不是穿著比基尼睡衣坐在桌子上,腿上放隻泰迪熊,從單眼眼鏡後面看你?如果是的話,他是瘋了沒錯。否則的話,他要你重寫論文的提議,可能是你這輩子獲得最明智的建議。教授看過太多學術文章了,很早就能判斷一篇文章是否呆板無趣,不如提早安樂死,早點結束論文悲慘的命運。你應該感激他,而不是懷疑他精神有問題。
Let’s assume for a moment that your professor is correct. I also will assume that he told you why he believed your efforts were destined to fail. You don’t share those details, so I will guess the writing was thin and nonacademic, the structure faulty, and / or the research inadequate. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is your reaction. You balked. This tells me two things: You have so little regard for your instructor that you doubt he knows as much about paper-writing as you do, or you have become so attached to your writing that you can’t give it up when challenged.
先假設你的教授是對的,也告訴了你為什麼他認為你最後一定徒勞無功。你沒有寫出這些細節,所以我猜可能是內容空洞、缺乏學術價值,結構有問題,或者研究不充分。這些都不要緊,要緊的是你的反應。你猶疑了,這告訴我兩件事:你不看重指導教授,覺得他對寫論文懂得沒有你多;或者你對自己的文章非常執著,不願因為別人質疑而放棄。
Revising an entire paper, or even a passage, can be an ordeal. Every writer blanches at the prospect. We fall in love with our words. We convince ourselves our premise is sound, our research complete, our argument unassailable. Yet writers can get so close to their work that they lose all perspective. A professor is a perspective-restorer. He isn’t there at the creation. He only sees what the paper has become, or where it is headed. Your dismissal of his critical opinion suggests that you are not serious about learning. Be smart. Heed his advice. Rewrite the paper.
重新修訂整篇論文,甚至只是一小段,都可能是場試煉。每個寫作的人都不喜歡別人挑剔自己的文章。我們會愛上自己寫的文章,自以為假設毫無瑕疵,研究完整全面,論點無懈可擊。然而當局者迷,作者往往會失去判斷力。教授卻能看得很清楚,文章不是他寫出來的,他只看已經成形的文章,或文章的方向。你拒絕教授的批判意見,或許表示你對做學問不夠認真。聰明點,謹慎看待教授的意見,重寫論文吧。
Last Update at 2012-03-16 AM 10:23 | 0 Comments
0312 TPS Finish the Sentence Contest-Answer and Explanation你是接龍的高手嗎? 正確解答!
2012-03-13“The shiniest star in our solar system is a hundred and fifty million kilometers from my front door, but its power to warm me is as close as my window.”
Distance is a relative thing. Actual distance between one object and another can be measured in miles, or years, or emotions. Even unpoetic observers know how the sun can seem comfortingly close on a cloudless day. This sentence juxtaposes the sun’s great distance with the personal space of “me.” The conjunction “but” suggests the comparison should be contrasting, such as … the sun is far away, but it feels close to me. Had the sentence’s conjunction been “and,” the sentence could have conveyed an entirely different meaning. The parts of a good sentence work in harmony.
距離是相對的,兩物體間實際的距離可以用英哩、年歲或情緒衡量。即使是最死板的觀察也知道,萬里無雲的日子裡,太陽看起來離我們不遠。本句以太陽遙遠的距離,對照「我」的個人空間,連接詞 “but” 暗示兩者應該形成反差,例如太陽很遙遠,但感覺很接近。若連接詞是 “and”,則本句就會傳達完全不同的意義。好句子每個部分都應該搭配得宜。
Last Update at 2012-03-13 AM 10:44 | 0 Comments
0312 TPS Finish the Sentence Contest-Win Your NTD200 7-11/Starbucks Prize! 你是接龍的高手嗎? 有機會獲得價值200元7-11/星巴克咖啡禮券!
2012-03-12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7-11/星巴克禮券;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!
題目Contest Sentence:
“The shiniest star in our solar system is a hundred and fifty million kilometers from my front door, but its power to warm me is __ __ __ __ __.”
Last Update at 2012-03-13 AM 10:43 | 0 Comments
This is not academic writing 學術文章不是這麼寫的
2012-03-08Not 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 modern Olympic Games kicked off in 1896. They have been run every four years since in the summer months, except for three times when world wars interfered with them, in 1916, 1940, and 1944. Political rivalries spoiled others in the form of boycotts and terrorism. Probably the most spectacular Olympic extravaganza was the 2008 Games in Beijing. The host country won the most gold medals – 51 – and 43 other world records were set by the best of 11,000 athletic competitors. A measure of the Beijing Games success was yet another world record: It boasted the largest TV audience in Olympic history.”
This excerpt from a paper on the international Olympic Games reaches too far and falls short in its word choices. The writer declares that the Games “kicked off” and are “run” every four years. What next, a “finish line” at Games end? Sports terminology has its place; this isn’t it. Saying political “rivalries spoiled” some Games trivializes international relations. The Beijing event was declared to be a “spectacular” “extravaganza,” which is a subjective assertion. The writer further asserts “the best” athletes set world records, when arguably some truly superior athletes won events in which no record was set. What else unacceptable do you see?
本段文章討論國際奧林匹克運動會,用詞有點過頭,不太恰當。文章說奧運會每四年 “kicked off”(揭幕;開球)、“run”(舉辦;跑步)一次,接下來是不是要說奧運結束,抵達 “finish line”(終點線)?運動詞彙有適合的地方,用在這裡並不恰當。說 “political rivalries spoiled”(政治鬥爭破壞)了幾次奧會,未免把國際關係看得太簡單。說北京奧會是 “spectacular” “extravaganza”(壯觀的盛會),則是主觀評斷。文章甚至宣稱 “the best”(最出色的)運動員創了世界紀錄,但或許有些更優秀的運動員贏了比賽,只是沒有創紀錄。你還看到哪些不恰當的用法?
Acceptable 認可的文章
“The modern Olympic Games began in 1896. They have been staged in the summer every four years since, except for three times when major wars precluded them, in 1916, 1940, and 1944. World politics marred others in the form of boycotts and terrorism. None of the Olympic gatherings were more successful than the 2008 Games in Beijing. The host country won more gold medals – 51 – than any other and 43 world records were set by some of the 11,000 athletes. One measure of success was another world record: the largest TV audience in Olympic history.”
Last Update at 2012-03-09 AM 10:34 | 0 Comments
7 Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism Tip # 5 – Take notes meticulously 避免抄襲的七大方法之五:仔細作筆記
2012-03-07A true scholar is not a thief. Yet stealing another researcher’s ideas or method of expressing them sometimes happens inadvertently in the course of research. How to avoid accidentally passing off someone else’s work as your own is the subject of this series, “7 Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism.” Each of the tips will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled with the others as a series.
Tip # 5 – Take notes meticulously
方法五:仔細作筆記
There are many reasons to take notes carefully in researching a paper, beginning with the admonition of your professors to do so. They have been around for an academic season or two and have read the drab texts of poorly recorded research. The drabness is from inadequate quotation, incomplete attribution, and quite evident guesswork. When a writer does not create clear notes from clearly identified sources, the paper produced will lack the sheen of scholarship.
寫論文作研究時,有很多理由應該仔細作筆記,首先教授就會告誡你要這麼做。教授在學校待了幾年,早就看過有些研究記錄拙劣,讀起來乏味。這些論文之所以單調乏味,是因為引用不足,未完整註明出處,通篇缺乏真憑實據。作者如果沒有清楚作筆記,說明資料來源,文章就會缺乏學術價值。
Note-taking is not a science, nor an art. It is a process that each academic writer can master by being methodical. What method a writer chooses is up to him. But it should be consistent and clear. Example: If a source is being quoted, always use quotation marks. If it is a paraphrase with a quoted element, always ensure the quote is in quotation marks. The key takeaway in that recommendation is not “quotation marks;” it is “always.” Be consistent. Be methodical.
作筆記無關科學或藝術的理論與技巧,而是一種程序,只要有條有理,每個學術寫作者都能做得很好。作者可以自己選擇作筆記的規則,但必須前後一致,清楚明瞭。舉例來說,如果原文是引言,一定要加引號;如果原文結合換句話說及引言,引言的部分一定要加引號。這些規則的重點不是「加引號」,而是「一定要」;記得,規則要前後一致,有條有理。
Carefully separate source material from personal notes about the material. Otherwise, a writer can unknowingly end up quoting himself. When interviewing someone, record the date and name of the interviewee. When drawing from books, articles, and audio and video recordings, precisely note the point of extraction. In all note-taking, be neat. And whatever else you do, don’t rely on memory. The time between research and writing can wipe memory clean, or mangle it.
作筆記時,要小心分開引用的原文與個人的筆記內容,否則可能不知不覺引用了自己的話。作訪談時,要記錄訪談時間與受訪者的姓名。引用圖書、文章、影音紀錄時,要精確記錄摘錄的頁面或時間。寫任何筆記字跡要工整。此外,不管你做什麼,絕不要仰賴記憶,研究和寫作會相隔一段時間,讓你把事情忘得一乾二淨,儘管記得也是殘缺不全。
Last Update at 2012-03-09 AM 10:30 | 0 Comments
0305 TPS One Word Away From Confusion Contest-Answer and Explanation你能找出混淆字嗎? 正確解答!
2012-03-06“Explorers were inoculated against typhus by generational immunity, but the bacterial disease swept through the native population like a rapacious scourge.”
It can be argued that primitive tribes or societies indeed are “naïve” in the sense that they are unaware and unsophisticated. Therefore, the argument goes, using “naïve” in the sentence is not inaccurate. Yet the word is not the appropriate one because it mostly has to do with knowledge and mindset. The bacteria attacked vulnerable bodies, not innocent minds. Even if they had known what was happening to them, the natives had no bodily defenses. Therefore, the proper word in this context is “native” to differentiate the victims from the New World visitors carrying death-dealing bacteria. Choosing words that are almost correct is a poor second choice.
有人認為,原始部落或社會確實是 “naïve”(天真的),因為他們不明世事、思想單純,所以,這句話用 “naïve” 似乎也沒有錯。然而,“naïve” 一字並不恰當,因為這個字多半描述知識或思想,但是細菌攻擊的是缺乏免疫防備的身體,而不是單純的心智;即使當地人知道疫病的原因,身體免疫力也無法抵抗。因此,根據前後文,應該使用 “native”(當地的)一字,區別受害者與帶來致命病菌的新世界探險家。有些詞彙儘管與正確的詞彙相去無幾,但仍然不是理想選擇。
Last Update at 2012-03-30 PM 3:09 | 0 Comments
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