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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，我們將提供統一超商/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:

“Successful classrooms are so versatile that it is difficult for researchers to distinguish crucial factors separating learning students from failing ones.”

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.

“Southern Song Dynasty General Yue Fei was a tiger of unusual stripe, as fiercely egalitarian to his men as he was dictatorial to his children.”
「南宋大將岳飛就像是非凡的猛虎，對部下力求同甘共苦，對子女則嚴厲管教。」


“A tiger of unusual stripe” refers to the variety of coloration and pattern in the coat of a tiger. The standard configuration is black stripes running around the orange trunk of the body. The stripes also can be brown or gray. However, Malaysian natives report seeing a tiger with stripes running the length of the body.
「A tiger of unusual stripe」意指老虎外皮斑斕的色彩與花樣。一般的虎皮都是在橘黃色的軀幹上佈有黑色條紋，有時也有褐色或灰色，但馬來西亞原著民中曾見到老虎條紋遍布全身的記錄。


As used in a paper about a dynastic Chinese military leader, the metaphor denotes a human characteristic that apparently set him apart from his peers: His charity was more evident at work—on the military campaign trail—than at home. Using a uniquely striped tiger to metaphorically illustrate Fei’s individualism is doubly effective; the virtues traditionally associated with tigers, including ferociousness and courage, also are associated with generals.
在這篇有關中國古代名將的文章中，老虎的比喻暗示岳飛有著超凡出群的品格。他在軍中相當愛護下屬—尤其是在征途中—在家則較為嚴厲。用非凡的猛虎形容岳飛的出眾格外有力，因為傳統上，兇猛與勇敢這類與猛虎的特徵聯想在一起的特質，用來形容軍中將領是最適合不過了。

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 want to write a paper on the character of Emily Dickinson. However, her life was so different from mine that I fear I will not be able to grasp the totality of her being. Should I write about someone whose life more closely mirrors my own?
我想寫一篇探討Emily Dickinson人格的文章，不過她的生活經驗與我實在相差太遠，我很擔心無法捕捉到她的全貌。我是不是該研究另一個生活體驗與我較相似的對象？


The American poet Emily Dickinson was an eccentric personality, of that there is no doubt. She was a slow starter and something of a misfit. She squirreled herself away as a young woman to write intense poems about men and love and God and other things of which she clearly knew nothing, being a recluse. You say you aren’t much like her? Well, good for you.
美國女詩人Emily Dickinson為人特立獨行，這點無庸置疑。她並非早慧的天才，而且與週遭環境有點格格不入，年紀輕輕就一點一滴地創作尖銳的詩篇，抒寫人類、愛、上帝，顯然與世隔絕的她，還寫了許多她一無所知的事物，你說你和她沒有共通之處嗎？算你運氣好。


But that is the whole point, isn’t it? Unlike novelists, who often are encouraged to write about what they know so they can create authentic fiction from personal knowledge, academic writers are required to venture into the unknown. They are entrusted with the greater task of conceiving, developing and justifying an idea. It needn’t be an idea fondly held by the writer. In fact, a topic’s strangeness—which is to say, the writer’s unfamiliarity with it—can be an asset, because it forces more thorough research.
不過研究不就是這麼回事嗎？研究者跟小說家不一樣，小說家常被鼓勵書寫已知的事物，好從個人經驗中創造出有說服力的幻想作品；但學術論文的作者則必須探索未知的事物，因為他們背負著萌生想法、加以發展並證實的重責大任。這些想法作者本人未必喜歡。事實上一個主題若是顯得陌生—也就是說，不是作者熟悉的題材—反而會是研究的好對象，因為作者將會不得不更深入探索。


So, personally not identifying with Emily Dickinson is no more a liability for you than personally not having stepped on the moon is for a writer psychoanalyzing an astronaut. Fresh thinking on any subject, when buttressed by comprehensive research and clear and forceful writing, is not dependent upon one’s personal identification with the subject. Just proceed with an open mind, and relish discovery. You might find you have more in common with Ms. Dickinson than you think.
所以跟Emily Dickinson缺乏交集並非研究上的障礙，就像作家不需要親自登陸月球，照樣能對太空人作心理分析。只要你有詳盡的研究與清晰有力的文章做基礎，未必要認同研究對象本人，也能在任何主題表現充滿新意的作品。只要抱持著開放的心胸，享受發現的快樂，也許你會發現，其實你和這位女詩人的共通處意外地多。

Answer: “alot” should be “many.”

“The African-American literary peers of the 1930s writer Zora Neale Hurston criticized many of her stories for not being polemical enough.”


Error: The writer has fallen victim to popular usage in combining “a” and “lot” to form the nonword, “alot.” While just substituting "a lot" for the nonword is a good choice, a better choice is to substitute “many.” Why? Because "many" is one word, not two. Furthermore, the opposite of "a lot" is "a little." The phrases are so overused in familiar conversation that neither one adds anything fresh to a conversation, let alone to an academic paper.
作者犯了一個常見的錯誤，那就是將a和lot放在一起，成了一個未經正式確認的口語字詞alot。儘管我們可以將這個錯字更正成a lot，但更好的選擇是用many，原因是因為many是一個字，比兩個字a lot來的簡潔。除此之外，a lot的反義字是a little，這兩個詞太常出現在日常生活裡，實難增添對話的新意，若使用於學術論文中則無法讓文章表現出色。

Nonetheless, "a lot" is not ungrammatical. For the last 20 years, “alot” has been appearing with increasing frequency in colloquial dictionaries, yet serious arbiters of language reject it. A similarly illicit word—“alright”—is further along in its adoption into the canon of accepted words, but most language authorities still insist upon “all right.” Until such time as “alot” is deemed to be correct, academic writers should not employ it. Its appearance will not impress an editor. This writing mistake is No. 3 of 10 Common Writing Errors That Can Spell “Rejection” for Your Manuscript, which are posted elsewhere on The Published Scholar site.
然而，正確來說，用a lot是合乎文法規則的。反觀過去二十年來，越來越多口語字典收錄了alot一字，事實上，真正講究語言的人並不採用此用法。另一個有爭議的字是alright，這個字的接受度雖然較高，但多數語言專家仍堅持使用all right。在alot被承認為正確用法之前，學術論文寫作時應該避免使用此字，因為這樣無法讓審閱的人留下好的正面印象。這樣的寫作錯誤可參照本專頁所張貼之「10 個導致退稿的常見寫作錯誤之三：“ ‘A lot’ Is Not a Word”」。

Thanks for everyone's participation in this week's Spot the Error Contest, it's been fun!
謝謝所有粉絲們參與本周的「你是挑錯的高手嗎?」活動，將實用、有意義的知識和大家交流與分享。


TPS Editorial Team

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 African-American literary peers of the 1930s writer Zora Neale Hurston criticized alot of her stories for not being polemical enough.”

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

“Urban sprawl is defined by various experts as the movement of population and commercial activity from a central area to immediately adjacent areas. It generally carries a negative connotation because the growth happens like kudzu, traffic becomes a headache, and the environment turns sour. While the term was first applied to American cities, it is a world-wide complaint now. Worst of all, the impact of sprawl, once it starts, tends to go on and on.”

This paragraph suffers from serial sloppiness. A few examples:
這段文章充斥著散漫的句子，包括：

--The writer lets unidentified “various experts” define the core term. Who are these “experts?” The writer’s roommate and texting buddy?
解釋關鍵詞時，作者用了「許多專家 “various experts”」這種不嚴謹的說法。這些專家是誰？作者的室友或傳簡訊的死黨嗎？
--While the growth pattern of “kudzu” is nicely analogous to sprawl, to say it “happens” is vapid.
葛類植物的生長模式雖然與都市擴張相當類似，但動詞用“happens”實在令人感到用詞之乏味。
--To assert that suburban commuter traffic “becomes a headache” is a shaky point. Why? It selectively ignores all those central city traffic jams.
宣稱郊區通勤「令人頭痛」未免站不住腳，為什麼呢？ 因為作者刻意忽視了市中心的交通堵塞。
--The environment “turns sour?” Literally?
環境「變酸」了？真的如字面意義般酸化了嗎？
--And if the “impact” of sprawl “tends to go on and on,” it defies the physics of impacts.
「擴張」的影響若是真的會「沒完沒了的持續」，顯然有違物理的自然原理。


A more disciplined version of the paragraph appears below.
此段文章編輯潤飾後內容，刊登如下。

Acceptable 認可的文章

“Urban sprawl is defined as the bleeding out of population and commercial activity from a central area to immediately adjacent areas. Sprawl generally carries a negative connotation because it restricts optimum land use, aggravates transportation issues and impairs the environment. While the term was first applied to U.S. metropolitan areas, it now is viewed as a global concern. Once the “sprawl” planning process begins, it tends to be self-perpetuating.”

教授學者們通常會規範寫作標準，制定如何撰寫碩博士論文與學術文章以及格式要求。學術界所評定的標準植基於以何種撰寫方式會被認可，何種撰寫方式則會被拒絕。本專欄提出「12個獲得學術認可的論文撰寫技巧」，幫助你寫出符合規範與認可標準的文章。
The community of scholars has rules that govern how dissertations, theses and other academic papers are composed and formatted. Academic convention has established what is acceptable and what is not. Following is one of 12 recommendations to help you submit a conventional and acceptable paper.

Tip 6 – The ideal voice for a paper: third-person and active
技巧六：論文的理想語氣：「第三人稱」與「主動」


Having resolved to write purposefully and to employ a writing style that emphasizes clear and vital language, the author of an academic paper next must address the mechanics of the language. One of these issues is choosing the appropriate “voice” to communicate the substance of the paper. This is essential. Finding its “voice” is central to a paper’s function and effectiveness.
下了決心要寫出目標明確、有重點、有活力的文章後，身為論文作者下一步要面對的就是，語言的處理技巧，其一就是，必須用適當「語氣」傳達文章內容。這個原則相當重要，能否運用適當的語氣，關係到文章的作用與表達的效果。

A letter to a friend is written in casual language, while a scholarship application is formal and respectful. But an academic paper is authoritative. A paper advances an original or unusual idea in a one-on-one forum; advancement depends largely upon the perceived authority of the person voicing the idea. If the written voice resonates with convincing force, it can prevail.
寫給朋友的信箋，遣詞可較為隨意；獎學金申請函，則需正式且恭敬。談到學術論文，則語氣必須夠權威。論文是在一對一的版面上傳達原創或獨特的想法，其成效取決於作者的論述語氣是否具權威性。如果寫作的文字充滿說服力，內容自然會被接受。

The best way to convey clout is to write the paper from a third-person point of view. This means a writer should not use “I” or “you” or “we” sentence structures, which are perfect for ordinary conversation and quite imperfect for scholarly presentation. Employing the less intimate third-person objective voice lets the collected persuasive material speak for itself.
要讓文句切中要點，最好的方法就是用第三人稱寫作。換句話說，不要採用“I”、 “you” 、 “we”開頭的句子。這些句子用在一般對話中似無不妥，但用在學術表達則顯得有失穩當。第三人稱句子讀起來少了親近、也較客觀，更能突顯文章的整體論述。


The third-person perspective also conveys authority because it increases the “distance” between an author and the subject of a paper. The writer disappears when “I” is dropped from the text. Similarly, the reader is not dragged into it when “you” is absent. The resulting vacuum is filled by the influential “voices” of footnoted experts, laboratory data, and recorded experience.
第三人稱口吻也較具權威，因為作者與主題間的距離，在第三人稱下會顯得更遠。少了主詞“I”之後，作者會從文章中消失；同樣地，沒有了“you”，讀者也不會被拖進文字裡。填補空缺的將是更具說服力的「聲音」，像是鑽研考據的專家、實驗數據、經驗記錄等。

The other voice rule in writing a paper is to use active language—though not always. Passive sentence construction does maintain desired “distance.” (Example: “The test was repeated four times,” rather than “I repeated the test four times.”) However, an active voice propels a paper. (“Four tests produced identical results.”) Don’t be lulled and dulled by “distance” considerations.
論文語氣的另一個規則，就是使用主動句—不過並非必然。被動句的確可以創造出理想的距離（如「實驗重複了四次」就比「我做了四次實驗」來得好）；但主動語氣可以推動文章的起伏與節奏（如「四次實驗的結果相同」）。所以，不要為了創造距離，讓文章變得拖沓呆滯。

After the writer of an academic paper has exhaustively searched sources and validated a thesis, presenting it in a chatty, overly personal and unprofessional voice is such a wasted opportunity. The mechanics of effective presentation are not difficult to employ. Keep objective distance between writer and subject. Let the facts speak for themselves. Actively make the case.
已經盡己所能搜尋參考資料，用盡心力證明自己的論點，若是以閒話家常的態度與不專業的語氣來呈現作品，著實浪費了先前付出的諸多努力。想要有效地表達想法其實不難，只要掌握以下重點：保持作者與讀者間的客觀距離，讓事實昭然若揭，用主動句堅定立場。

Correct Best Answer: Replace “defunding” with “funding.”

“The stigma of mental illness in many developed societies slows timely diagnosis, treatment, and funding of the illness.”


Between the beginning of the sentence and the end of the sentence, the writer lost track of his train of thought. He intended to communicate how putative shame associated with mental illness can have a negative impact on, among other things, financial support for mental health care. However, by using “defunding” instead of “funding,” the writer expressed almost the opposite. To slow defunding is, in fact, to stabilize funding. The lesson is to know where a sentence is headed and to select words that help it arrive.
從句子的開頭到結束之間，作者的思緒出現混淆。他的原意是要表達一般人將精神疾病視為恥辱，對於精神健康照護的補助金額甚至造成負面影響。然而，混淆了 “defunding” 與 “funding” 兩字後，文章表達出來的意思剛好相反。這裡所謂的「減緩 “defunding”」 事實上意味著讓補助金額更加穩定。所以，所以，從中學得的警剔是，句子必須弄清楚邏輯與原意，而且慎選用字，句意才能完整清楚表達出來。

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，我們將提供統一超商/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:


“The stigma of mental illness in many developed societies slows timely diagnosis, treatment, and defunding of the illness.”

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.

“Unclean fossil fuels are popular, even though they deplete or harm natural resources, yet wind power also has the horses to keep lights on through the night—and is clean.”
儘管有耗竭的危機，又會傷害自然資源，不環保的化石能源卻大受歡迎；而風力能源，同樣能維持燈火終宵通明的馬力—而且乾淨許多。


The idiomatic expression “has the horses” alludes to the power of a horse. The animal has long been recognized for its endurance in running, its strength in pulling, and its heavily muscled physique. An early calibration of a horse’s power eventually evolved into measurement of machined engine output of all kinds, with output being referred to in terms of “horsepower.”
這次介紹的慣用語「has the horses」暗指馬的力量。人們早就知道，馬有長時間奔跑的耐力、拖車的力氣，還有肌肉結實的體型，因此早期人們以一匹馬的力量作為標準，後來更演變成所有機器引擎力量輸出的單位，亦即所謂的「馬力」。

As used in a paper about alternative wind power, “has the horses” is a shorthand expression of sufficiency, in this case, power sufficiency. The allusion to horses and horsepower is intended to dispel the notion that wind turbines are not powerful enough to substitute for fossil-fueled power plants. While a more straightforward word choice might have been preferable (“wind power can generate enough electricity”), the idiomatic expression enlivens the sentence.
在這篇討論風力替代能源的例子中，作者以馬力一詞暗示風力發電的強力足敷所需。選擇「馬力」一詞是為了破除一般人的誤解，因為一般認為渦輪風扇的強度不足以取代燃燒化石燃料的發電廠。雖然這裡也許可以寫得更直截了當（如「風力發電也能製造足夠的電力」），但用上了「馬力」一詞，句子就變得更加生動起來。