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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7-11/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:

“Explorers were inoculated against typhus by generational immunity, but the bacterial disease swept through the naive population like a rapacious scourge.”

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.

“Ernest Hemingway’s Robert Jordan is introduced to readers on a hillside and ultimately dies on one, a tiny glimpse of the thread of life stitching together For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
「海明威筆下的羅伯˙喬丹在山丘上出場，最後也在山丘上嚥氣，由此可一窺《戰地鐘聲》賴以維繫的生命線。」

A needle and stitching thread surely are among the most ancient of tools. They are employed to join two objects or two parts of a single object. The thread is woven through one edge of each of the two parts and pulled tight, drawing together the parts and holding them in place. Sometimes the weaving is done decoratively because it will be visible in the finished product. Sometimes the joining weave is hidden. In either case, the thread’s strength is in its repetitive coiled shape, which stoutly resists undoing except by cutting of individual coils or brute-force ripping.
針線是最古老的工具，用以縫合兩個物品，或一個物品不同的兩部份。織線穿過兩物品的邊緣、拉緊，就能縫合、固定兩物品。有時候繡線是用來裝飾，會露出成品表面，有時候縫線則藏了起來。無論是哪一種用途，織線由於一再纏繞，所以能縫合物品，堅韌而不會裂開，除非剪斷一條條縫線或猛力撕開。

In writing of the “thread of life stitching together” this novel, a literary critic uses thread as a metaphor to suggest the book has a unifying theme. That is, chapter after chapter, regardless of what is happening on the page, an underlying idea runs through the conversations and actions. Sometimes it is plainly spoken in soliloquy; other times it is hidden in symbol and character. In For Whom the Bell Tolls, the “thread of life” that unifies the disparate parts of the civil war novel is, ironically, death in its many variations.
例句評論小說 “thread of life stitching together”（ 賴以維繫的生命線），以縫線作為隱喻，暗示小說有條共同的主題。翻過一章又一章，無論書頁上情節如何搬演，所有對話與行為蘊含同一個主旨，有時以獨白講明，有時隱藏在象徵與角色中。說來諷刺，《戰地鐘聲》這本內戰小說裡，維繫不同章節的生命線，竟是不同形式的死亡。

Dear TPS Fans,

Happy Leap Year! If this is your birthday, Happy Birthday! How old are you—6?

Anyway, we are preparing some more TPS academic writing materials for you on such subjects as imagery, exacting word choice, and plagiarism (boo!). Look for it beginning tomorrow.


TPS Team

Dear TPS Fans,

We are giving you a two-day break from your TPS curriculum. On Monday, Feb. 27, we will be away commemorating Peace Memorial Day and then rest up the following day. But we will return Feb. 29, Leap Year day, and leap back into work.
Hope you will join us.

TPS Staff

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

“Most foodstuff eaten by mankind originates in plants. Fruits and vegetables and grains contain nutrients that have been drawn from the soil and turned into edible roots and stems and leaves in a process powered by the sun. Plants’ first-rank importance in nutrition gives them such an important role in human life that plant scientists always are important in university and corporate research centers. Botanists investigate how to improve the productive life of a food-bearing plant and how to slow the growth of weeds. All living things benefit from this important work.”

This exploration of plants as a source of life and a focus of research is slack in its execution. Language is not taut and thinking is sloppy. Using “foodstuff” instead of “food” is evidence of both failings. “Important” or a variation of it recurs with numbing regularity. The writer seems averse to commas—“fruits and vegetables and grains” and “roots and stems and leaves…” And botanists don’t try to “slow” weed growth; they work to stop it. From beginning to end, the writer is guilty of hasty writing and thinking. A final example is in the final sentence: “All living things benefit” from botanists’ work? Tell that to the weeds. What else do you see?
這段文章討論植物作為生命來源與研究領域，但寫作不力，遣詞用字草率，思慮也不夠嚴謹。用 “foodstuff” 取代 “food” 就同時有語言和思慮的瑕疵，“important” 與種種類似的詞彙一再出現，略顯麻木單調。作者好像不太喜歡用逗號，從 “fruits and vegetables and grains” 與 “roots and stems and leaves…” 這兩句就看得出來。另外，植物學家不會 “slow”（延緩）雜草生長，應該是遏止雜草生長。自始至終，作者的文筆和想法都很馬虎，最後一個錯誤出現在最後一句 －植物學家的工作 “all living things benefit”（裨益所有生命）？這種話連雜草也不會信。你還看到其他問題嗎？

Acceptable 認可的文章

“Most foods consumed by human beings originate in plant life. Fruits, vegetables, grains—they are the source of nutrients that have been drawn from the soil and reconstructed as edible organisms in a process powered by the sun. This primacy in nutrition gives plants such an important role in human existence that plant scientists are in constant demand in university and corporate research centers. There, botanists explore how to enhance the productive life of a food-bearing plant and how to discourage growth of weeds. All animal life benefits from this work.”

真正的學者不會竊取他人的想法，不過研究過程中，有時可能無意間侵占了其他研究者的想法或表達方式。本系列「避免抄襲的七大方法」提供訣竅，幫助你避免不小心冒用他人的心血結晶。每則訣竅將刊登在 TPS 專頁。
A 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 # 4 – Quote, paraphrase, or don’t use
方法四：「引用」與「換句話說」

What are quotations and paraphrases and why do writers employ them? The question is a good one. Some writers clearly haven’t figured it out. A person is quoted or paraphrased because the person speaking is a relevant, authoritative voice. A quote is used because it is weighty or memorable. Paraphrasing occurs either as a succinct summary of something relevant, or because the paraphrase contains a key word or phrase, which is bracketed in quote marks for emphasis.
什麼是引用，什麼又是換句話說？為什麼寫作時要引用或換句話說？好問題，有些寫作的人也還沒弄清楚答案。引用某人的話，或換句話說，是因為那個人有地位、有權威；引用一句話，是因為那句話言之有理、過目難忘。換句話說則是簡要介紹相關的重要論述，其中也可以包含關鍵的詞句，並以引號括起、標明。

Always clearly attribute paraphrased or quoted material to its author, such as, “According to city historian Lee Chen,…” Attribution should be near the borrowed material to avoid confusion. Quotations should be exact and in proper context, whereas paraphrases obviously should not be word for word, but must be accurate in thrust and tone. And beware of writing sentences that duplicate a source’s original structure; it is possible to plagiarize the construction of content.
引用他人文句或換句話說時，一定要明確寫出原作者，例如：「城市史學家陳大年(並非特定人物名，暫稱)說，…」。作者的名字和引用的段落不能相隔太遠，以免混淆。引用必須一字不差，語境必須適切，而換句話說自然不能逐字抄襲，但主旨、語調必須一致。此外，句型也要小心不能和原文句型一模一樣，否則就是抄襲原文結構。

You say, if quoting a source is fraught with so many dangers, why should I do it? You shouldn’t, unless a paper will be weaker without attributed material. But it also is true that a paper will be weak if it contains too much borrowed material, even when attributed, so use only as much as necessary to document a point. Research uncovers worthy ideas and statements. Using them to buttress an argument in a paper is perfectly justified—so long as you don’t try to steal them.
你可能覺得奇怪，既然引用文章要這樣如履薄冰，為什麼還要引用呢？說得沒錯，除非缺乏引證，論文會顯得薄弱，否則就不需引用。不過，如果論文借用太多他人的文句，即使註明是引用，也會顯得薄弱。因此，引用必須恰到好處，足以支持論點即可。研究的目的是發掘有價值的觀點與理念，可以引經據典，支持論述，但可別不告而取。

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

“Oil drilling enthusiasm and environmental awareness are not mutually exclusive mindsets, though zealots on each side seldom see past the mirror image.”

A mirror image reflects an object in reverse. Comb hair with your right hand in front of a mirror and the mirror image has you combing your hair with your left hand. In the same way, people on the opposite ends of a debate look alike except in their espousal of diametrically opposed opinions. Often, they fail to see anything in common. They cannot “see past the mirror image” and appreciate that the other person also has integrity and valid arguments. Looking “past” a mirror is a metaphysical concept that suggests an extra dimension in an image, beyond what can be seen. Skilled scholarly writers can blend reality and abstraction to communicate a point.
物體在鏡中的影像是相反的，在鏡子前用右手梳頭，在鏡像裡梳頭的是左手。同樣的，在辯論中立場相異的兩方其實很相似，只是擁護的意見截然不同。雙方對所有事情的看法完全不同，無法 “see past the mirror image”（看透鏡像），瞭解對方的論點其實合情合理。看「透」鏡子是種抽象的說法，說明表象外還有另一個空間。寫作技巧熟練，就能融合現實與抽象的概念，傳達觀點。

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 5 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 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.
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:

“Oil drilling enthusiasm and environmental awareness are not mutually exclusive mindsets, though zealots on each side seldom ___ ___ ___ ___ ___.”

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.

“Some of Shakespeare’s plays were ghosts of earlier penmen, original in content but not in theme.”
「有些莎士比亞的劇作是過去作品的鬼魂，內容獨創，但主題不然。」

A “ghost” is a disembodied individual, an apparition of a person previously alive. It lacks flesh and blood so it does not occupy space exclusively. Whether one believes in ghosts or not, they have been a part of the human experience for as long as history has been kept. The standing of a ghost in a society varies among cultures and levels of civilization, but encounters with a ghost always are sensory experiences in keeping with a ghost’s insubstantial nature. A lack of universal awareness of ghostly presences has produced widespread skepticism and disbelief.
“Ghost”（鬼魂）是無形的，是以前活著的人的幽靈，沒有血肉，因此不占據實際空間。不論人信不信鬼，有史以來鬼魂一直是人類經驗的一部分，鬼魂在社會中的地位依文化與文明程度而定。鬼魂沒有實體，遇到鬼魂只會是一種「感覺」。由於不是所有人都能感應到鬼魂，所以談到是否有鬼，許多人總是有所保留。

In giving ghostly attributes to some of William Shakespeare’s works, the writer is saying that the works in question had a previous life. That is, the theme and general plot of a Shakespearean production had been previously conceived and staged, an earlier playwright’s work revived, garbed in new language. Like ghosts, the resurrected nature of the dramas was not universally recognized. Describing Shakespeare’s works as ghostly is particularly interesting because some scholars argue that many of The Bard’s plays were ghost-written by an unknown person.
本句談到莎士比亞部分作品就像鬼魂，意指這些作品有其前身，作品的主題與大致情節過去曾有人構思、演出過。過去劇作家的作品，藉由新的文字還魂重生。並非所有人都相信這些劇作重生自過去作品，就像並非所有人都相信有鬼魂一樣。把莎士比亞的作品描述為鬼魂，還有另一層趣味，因為有些學者認為，莎士比亞許多作品是由不知名人士捉刀代寫 (ghost-written) 的。

TPS的編輯教授在此歡迎關於學術文章的所有詢問，當然，其實他並沒有足夠的時間給你。他擁有終身教職的教授身份，也是著名的學術巨作作者。即便如此，他仍大方地接受你們的詢問。將關於學術方面的詢問寫在下方，你將獲得教授的親自指導，陶冶對學術的探索與啟發。
The 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: I hate deadlines for papers, but, of course, I can’t get away from them. Is there any secret to learning to live happily with deadlines?
寫論文最討厭截稿期限，但我當然也沒辦法擺脫截止期限。有沒有甚麼秘訣，可以讓我學會輕鬆應付截稿期限？

You bring a realistic, if dispirited, attitude to the whole subject. Yes, deadlines are a fact of life, certainly of academic life. If there is a secret, it is this: Rather than pine to “get away from them,” embrace deadlines and use them to your advantage. That always is the choice when rules are imposed. One can either consider a rule a restraint and try to get out of it, or look upon it as structure upon which you can order your life. In the case of a deadline for submitting a paper, view it as a target, a goal, as something you want to reach, rather than as something to overcome.
你對這件事的態度儘管有點消極，不過倒很實際。的確，截稿期限無可避免，在學術生活中更司空見慣。真要說有什麼秘訣，大概就是－與其想要「擺脫期限」，不如好好利用期限，從中得益。凡有規則時，都能選擇用這種態度面對。你可以把規則看成限制，想辦法擺脫規則，或者把規則看成一種結構，幫助你安排生活。論文的截稿期限可以當成一種目標、目的，看成追求的目標，而不是要克服的事物。

Deadlines serve two functions, three if you count the cutoff date a professor gives himself to have in hand assigned papers. For a writer, the first function of a deadline is as planning tool. The day a piece of academic writing is assigned is the starting point, the day it is due is the ending point. Between the two points is an amorphous period of time waiting to be shaped and utilized. A wise writer will look at the writing project and methodically divide the allotted time into planning, researching and writing blocks—interim deadlines!—and adhere to them.
截止期限有兩種功能，如果教授定的論文作業繳交期限也算在內，那就有三種功能。對作者來說，首先截止期限有助規劃工作。教授指派論文的那天是起點，繳交期限那天是終點，兩點間的時間就由作者規劃、利用。聰明的作者會思考作業內容，井然有序地分配自己的時間，區分成計畫、研究與寫作等區塊，每個區塊各有自己的截止時間，然後按照計畫執行。

The other primary function of a deadline is to motivate a writer. The end date can be viewed as a negative motivator—“I dread thinking about it!”—or as a positive one. A sensible writer will recognize his personal work habits and adjust them to accommodate a deadline. The fact is, some people are methodical and systematic in their pacing and routinely finish their work early without a deadline even being imposed; others have work habits characterized by spells of drifting interspersed with spurts of efficient labor. To the latter, a deadline is a best friend.
截止期限的另一項主要功能，就是激勵作者，可能是負面的動力（「我想到都會怕！」），或是正面動力。明智的作者能掌握自己的工作習慣，並根據截止期限調整習慣。實際上，有些人會有條不紊、有計畫地調整步調，即使沒有截止期限，也會提早完成工作；而有些人寫作時，多半的時間進度起伏不定，偶爾工作效率才會突然提升，這種人就很需要截止期限了。