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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: My grammar is nearly always perfect in my papers. I’m not bragging; it is just an innate ability. But sometimes I believe I care too much about being grammatically correct and too little about the flow of thought. What is the middle ground?
每次寫論文我的文法都很完美，我不是在吹牛，只是天生對文法比較拿手。不過有時候，我覺得我太注重文法，沒有注意思想傳達是否流暢。文法正確與表達流暢間，怎麼取得中庸之道呢？

Good question. It reminds me of a fellow I know who would spend as long as an hour carefully trimming his beard and mustache without realizing how ragged his hair looked at the back of his head. The total effect was less than awesome. It indeed is possible to become too word-centric in composing a paper and, in doing so, lose sight of the purpose of the paper—to communicate an idea clearly and completely. Word consciousness is the equivalent of navel-gazing. In the end, you might know your navel perfectly, but you have sacrificed the whole body of your work to it.
問得好，這讓我想起一個同事，他會花一小時仔細修剪鬍鬚和短髭，卻沒注意到自己後腦勺頭髮有多亂，結果整個人看起來實在不怎麼樣。有時寫論文確實會太在意遣詞用字，而忘了論文的目的是要清楚完整地表達想法。只注意字詞就像盯著肚臍眼看，最後可能發現自己的肚臍很完美，卻忽略了整體作品。

I would suggest two general guides to help steer you away from excessive concentration on individual words and sentence structure. The first is that you pay relatively little attention to grammatical soundness in working up an early draft of a paper. The first draft can be as rough as bark on a black walnut tree; so long as the direction and thrust of a paper is established, word choice and sentence framework matter little. There is plenty of time in later drafts to revise, clean up, and smooth out the content. Run with your ideas first and see where they take you.
我想提出兩點概括性的建議，幫助你不要過度執著於個別的詞彙或句子結構。首先，在寫初期草稿時，不要花太多心力注意文法是否正確。第一份草稿可以和黑核桃樹的樹皮一樣粗糙，只要建立起文章的方向與目標，遣詞用字與句子結構不是太重要。之後的草稿還有很多時間可以修改、刪節與潤飾內容，先跟著你的想法走，看看可以寫出什麼。

The second suggestion is that you not become enslaved by grammar. Rules of writing are established to free language, not to restrain it. If the framework of a sentence is too rigid, or word choices are too precise, life is sucked right out of the writing. It becomes stilted, or wooden, or vapid. You are quite right to be concerned about focusing too much on words and too little on the integrity of a thought being conveyed. In the end, a paper is about ideas, not words. Carefully chosen and assembled, a paper’s words should almost disappear behind the power of the idea.
第二個建議是不要過於拘泥文法，建立寫作規則不是為了限制語言，而是為了釋放語言、讓語言盡情表現。如果句子結構太僵硬，選字太嚴格精確，文章就會失去生氣，變得矯揉造作、呆板，甚至乏味。你擔心自己過於注重文字，忽略了想要傳達的想法是否完整，這是很好的。畢竟，論文最重要的不是文字，而是想法。文章的字句要仔細選擇、組合，但不應該蓋過思想的力量。

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

“The chemistry laboratory bristled with activity, with the students worrying over individual experiments and the lab professor moving among them with calming encouragement.”

Those three words complete the picture of a busy student lab overseen by an instructor with reassuring influence. Each of the words is important and effective. The “with” suggests that it was not the presence of the instructor that was important; it was the professor’s accompanying attitude. The professor’s “calming” character offset classroom anxiety wherein nerves “bristled” like raised hackles. Finally, the instructor’s “encouragement” perfectly mitigated the “worrying” of the students. The sentence conveys a picture of a well-functioning class laboratory. Academic writers employ words with the same precision as bricklayers use bricks. Each word is important.
填上這三個字後，就完成這樣一幅景象：學生在實驗室裡忙著操作，老師一邊巡視，一邊安慰學生。每個字都很重要，每個字都有它的效果。“With” 一字暗示教授在場並不是重點，重點是教授與學生同在。學生原本神經緊繃，就像貓狗緊張時，頸背毛髮直豎 (“bristled”)；教授 “calming”（撫慰人心）的角色，則減輕了教室中瀰漫的焦慮氣氛。最後，教授的 “encouragement”（鼓勵）適當緩和了學生的 “worrying”（憂慮）。句子描寫的景象，是實驗室課堂運作良好的寫照。寫作學術文章時，遣詞用字必須像水泥工砌磚一樣精確，每個字都很重要。

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，將獲得兩百元統一超商／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 chemistry laboratory bristled with activity, with the students worrying over individual experiments and the lab professor moving among them ____ ____ ____ ____ ____.”

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 Demoiselle crane flies across the Himalayas in its migratory flights, some of the most ambitious flights of any migrating bird. Its wings are nearly six feet long and it flies 20,000 feet above the ground, winging its way north and south in the spring and autumn, respectively. The birds flock in large numbers, often several hundred, before flying off in military formation. Though the Demoiselle breeds exclusively, it sometimes chooses to congregate with other cranes. The bird’s numbers are sufficiently numerous to be considered unthreatened by extinction.”

This beautiful bird deserves to be beautifully written about. While the writing is not ugly, neither is it uplifting. Mostly it is imprecise. Using “Himalayas” as shorthand for Himalaya Mountains is slangy, at least in first reference. The crane’s wings are, in fact, not six feet long—its wingspan is that length, which is to say, wingtip to wingtip. Characterizing the birds as flocking in “large numbers” doesn’t stand up in comparison to migrating flocks of other birds that are numbered in the tens of thousands. And who, exactly, deems the Demoiselle unthreatened by extinction? What other shortcomings are evident in the writing?
簑羽鶴很優雅，描寫時也應該優雅一點。這段文章寫得不算笨拙，但也稱不上風範雍容。文章主要問題是用辭不精確，用縮寫 “Himalayas” 表示喜馬拉雅山脈 (“Himalaya Mountains”) 不夠正式，起碼第一次提到時不該用縮寫。此外，簑羽鶴的翅膀實際上沒有六呎長，應該說展翅時身長六呎，也就是兩翼尖相距六呎。還有，其他鳥類遷徙時，往往聚集成千上萬，相較之下，簑羽鶴遷徙時只聚集數百隻，實在稱不上 “large numbers”（大量）。最後，文章說簑羽鶴並未瀕臨絕種，究竟是從哪個標準來看？你還找得到文章其他問題嗎？

Acceptable 認可的文章

“The Demoiselle crane migrates across the Himalaya Mountains, a strenuous flight for any migrating bird. Its wingspan of nearly six feet can propel it to heights of more than 20,000 feet as it instinctively heads north and south in the respective seasons. The birds congregate in flocks of several hundred before taking their seasonal flights in militarily-precise formations. Though the Demoiselle is socially exclusive by nature, it sometimes chooses to congregate with other cranes. The Demoiselle is not considered threatened by extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.”

在學術寫作中，「完美」是相對的，但也是我們追求的理想。想寫出完美的研究報告，首先選擇題目必須明智。本次學術專欄特別推出「完美撰題八大原則」，為大家介紹選擇題目的原則，每項原則將定期刊登於TPS專頁。
“Perfect” is a relative term in academic writing, but it always is the ideal. The first rule in the pursuit of perfection in a paper is to choose a topic wisely. This essay introduces and explains one guide in selecting a topic. Each guide is contained in “8 Guides in Choosing a Perfect Research Paper Topic” and will be posted on the TPS Fan page as introduced.

#4 – Keep an open mind
原則四 保持心胸開放

This suggestion really shouldn’t be necessary. An open mind should be a chief characteristic of any writer laboring in the academic field. The whole purpose of academia is to learn and, in the learning, to expand the body of knowledge that undergirds understanding and progress. Learning is stifled by barriers to learning; the most insidious of these is the closed mind. So in searching for a research topic, an academic writer should be open to virtually all possibilities.
心胸開放是學術領域作者應有的基本特質，本來不必特別提出。學術研究就是為了學習，並在學習過程中擴展整體學識、增進理解與推動進步。阻礙學習的因素很多，其中最隱而不顯的障礙就是保守封閉的思想。所以學術作者尋找研究主題時，應該對所有可能保持開放。

One of the indicators of openness is the capacity for surprise. When a mind is partly or entirely shuttered, it is less receptive to peripheral flashes of insight. It is so focused on a preconceived agenda that it simply doesn’t sense glancing inspiration. A writer open to inspiration is more apt to be startled by a new thought, which might enter his mind through an unrelated conversation. Such revelations are the direct result of a person’s willingness to be surprised.
開放的思想有項指標，就是能體悟到出人意表之處。如果思想保守或完全封閉，即使隱約有所體悟，也很難好好把握。太執著於預定的步驟，腦海裡就沒有空間容納轉瞬即逝的靈光。寫作時若能敞開心胸、擁抱靈感，就更容易受新思想啟發，從無關的對話中採擷新的看法。願意接納新奇的想法，就能直接受益。

The rest of the story is how a surprising idea is handled. A closed-minded person dismisses such an idea because it disrupts his ordered mindset. An open-minded person muses upon it. Explores it. Evaluates it. Weighs it. Only then might the person drop the idea because it is found to be wanting or, better yet, to abandon it in favor of yet another idea spawned by the first one. The beauty of openness is that it is expansive in nature. Growth and learning are the natural results.
除了察覺新奇的想法，還要知道如何運用。心態保守的人對新的想法不屑一顧，害怕這種想法會擾亂他們規規矩矩的思考方式。心態開明的人則會潛心鑽研，探索、評估、權衡新的想法，判斷這個想法是否有所不足，再將之放下；或是從中衍生另一個新的思想，所以拋棄原先的想法，這種情況更理想。開放的心態本身廣闊無垠，自然有助學習與成長。

Answer: “holy” should be “wholly”

“The two authors from quite different centuries are mirror images, with one irrational but brimful of emotion, and the other wholly unfeeling and full of calculation.”

Error: The writer made a spelling mistake, falling victim to sound-alike words. The word “holy” should have been “wholly.” The former refers to the divine, to matters of holiness and subjects of reverential value, whereas “wholly” refers to the entirety of a matter, to a complete, whole subject. That is, the author was “wholly,” or entirely, unfeeling. The writer might have errantly used yet another homophone—holey. Something described as “holey” has holes in it. Obviously, academic writers need to become as familiar as possible with language—by reading and listening critically—so that homophones and homonyms don’t slip into their papers in embarrassing ways.
作者混淆了同音字 “holy” 與 “wholly”，“holy” 意指與神有關、神聖、值得虔敬的事物，而 “wholly” 就是事物的整體，表示全體、完整的事物，作者應該是要形容文中的作家「完全」(“wholly”) 欠缺感覺。另外，作者可能也要小心另一個同音字 “holey”，意為「有洞的」。由此可知，寫作學術必須認真練習閱讀與聽力，努力熟悉語言，才不會在寫作論文時不小心用錯同音異字，貽笑大方。

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 two authors from quite different centuries are mirror images, with one irrational but brimful of emotion, and the other holy unfeeling and full of calculation.”

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 theologians respectfully discussed points of doctrine that separated them, knowing that, in the end, their beliefs generally emanated from the same divine ballpark.”
「幾位神學家帶著敬意，討論彼此不同的教義論點，明白深究起來，他們的信仰源自同一個神聖的競技場。」

A “ballpark” is a place where outdoor ball games are played. Baseball. American football. Soccer. Lacrosse. Rugby. In each case, the playing field for the athletes is a manicured grassy field with lines that denote in and out of bounds and other linear markers that conform to a game’s rules and regulations. Usually the playing field is surrounded by areas where fans of a game can stand or sit while they watch the athletes play. Fans of opposing teams generally gather on opposite sides of the playing field, yet all are well within the confines of the same ballpark.
“Ballpark” 指進行棒球、橄欖球、足球、長曲棍球、英式橄欖球等戶外球賽的場地，通常球員在修剪整齊的草皮上比賽，場上畫了線區分場內外，並依照比賽規則畫有不同的場地線。場外通常有一塊區域，讓球迷或站或坐，觀看比賽。兩隊的球迷通常分踞場地兩側，不過都位在該場地範圍內。

The author of the sentence about a meeting of academic religious leaders uses “ballpark” to assert the commonality of the theologians’ faiths. The theologians may be, as it were, on opposite sides of the playing field on a particular doctrinal point and fully prepared to defend their respective positions. Yet they understand that all are “fans” of God and, in all likelihood, will line up on the same side of many secular issues. Consequently, many of their different beliefs can be said to have originated in the same “divine ballpark” as the beliefs of their rivals.
本句討論宗教學術領導人會面，用了 “ballpark”（球場、競技場）一字，表明神學家的信仰是共通的。神學家就像過去一樣，對某個教義論點分執不同意見，佔據競技場兩側，且準備引經據典捍衛自己的立場。然而，他們明白自己都是神的「球迷」，無論如何，在許多世俗議題上都站在同一陣線。因此，許多歧異的理念可以說其實都與對方的理念一樣，源自同一個 “divine ballpark”（神聖的競技場）。

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 write well I am told, but my papers are faulted for being “superficial.” How do I know when I have researched a topic deeply enough to satisfy my professor’s need for in-depth analysis and presentation?
教授說我文章寫得不錯，就是有點「膚淺」；寫文章時，我要怎麼知道自己研究已經夠深入，能夠寫出教授要求的深度分析與報告？

Unfortunately, I cannot answer that definitively because in all probability I don’t know your professor. A level of research that satisfies your professor might be deemed overkill by another professor or insufficient by a third. Besides, some topics have voluminous amounts of material available for probing while other topics are a slim volume on the library shelf. Still, some general expectations exist for academic researchers. The general one is that a paper should give evidence of being complete—that is, it should be without loose ends, unanswered questions, and holes.
很可惜我沒有辦法給你最可靠完整的答案，因為再怎麼說，我都不認識你的教授。讓你教授滿意的研究，第二個教授可能覺得太過火，第三個教授可能還覺得不夠。此外，有些題目可供探討的資料俯拾即是，有些的資料則寥寥無幾。不過，學術研究還是有個大概的標準要求，也就是不能虎頭蛇尾、提出的問題必須解答，以及不能有漏洞。

Sometimes a researcher gives himself a superficial topic, unwittingly or on purpose. This makes it difficult to do in-depth research because the pool of available information is quite shallow. Conversely, sometimes a chosen topic is so deep and wide that a researcher cannot completely explore it without producing a book. Therefore, it is important to wisely pick and frame a topic. Next, a writer should brainstorm a topic’s chief facets. Even if this initial mental outline is not conclusive, it guides a writer as he plumbs a topic. Guided research is less apt to miss something.
有時候研究者有意無意中選了一個膚淺的題目，可供探討的訊息很少，自然也很難深入探討。相反的，有時主題的範圍太廣且內涵精深，想詳盡探討非得寫本書不可。因此，好好選擇、界定題目非常重要。接下來，寫作前應該對題目腦力激盪，思考題目有哪些重要面向，即使初步大綱無法涵蓋所有面向，也給了作者鑽研的方向。有了研究方向，就不容易錯失重點。

Finally, an academic researcher must know himself or herself. It is not a question of character or intellect, but of mindset and habit. Ask yourself: How inquisitive am I? Am I content to offer a generally correct answer or do I want to indisputably pin down the facts? The latter thinking characterizes the best researcher. Again, how thorough am I? Am I OK with lightly surveying a topic or do I want to examine it in detail? A survey, after all, tends to be wider than it is deep. To produce a paper of depth and completeness, a researcher must be geared for the work.
最後，研究者必須了解自己；重點不是自己的個性或能力，而是了解自己的思考方式與習慣。問問自己：我的好奇心夠強嗎？我只要能找出大概正確的答案就滿意了，還是想確切驗證事實？好的研究者應該具備第二種思考特性。此外，我的研究徹底嗎？我只會略為調查題目，或者我會詳盡檢驗？調查通常廣度有餘、深度不足，想寫出深入完整的文章，研究者必須做好準備，放手一搏。

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

“The creeping Isuzu truck, its bed overflowing with scruffy, shirtless men in pajamas, shuddered to a stop in the plaza and disgorged its load like a dog shaking off fleas.”

Those five words enhance the sentence by using a simile that stays in character with the foregoing elements in the sentence. Saying the truck appeared to empty itself of its human payload by shaking itself free of them completes the image of a “creeping” vehicle that is host to some “scruffy” riders. The truck crept, as an old dog might, into the plaza, and rid itself of its human vermin as it “shuddered” to a stop. When metaphors and similes and other figures of speech are used sparingly in academic papers, it is important that they not be awkwardly mixed. To do so is to weaken both the idea contained in a sentence and the sentence itself.
這五個字的比喻特性和句子前半部一致，卡車「抖落」裝載的乘客，符合句子前半描寫：一輛 “creeping”（慢步行進）的卡車載著 “scruffy”（邋遢）的乘客，卡車蹣跚前進，就像隻老狗，開進廣場，“shuddered” （搖晃晃）停下來，就像趕寄生蟲一樣，讓乘客下車。學術論文裡可以適度使用比喻與其他修辭方法，但使用時必須小心，以免句子涵義表達不清楚，句子本身也不高明。