科技论文写作中的避免歧义
Highlights from Chapter 3 in <<The Craft of Scientific Writing>> by Michael Alley
1. An ambiguity is a word, phrase, or sentence that readers can interpret in more than one way.
Example: The solar collector worked well under passing clouds.
2. Ambiguities are difficult to catch on first drafts when your focus is on placing complex ideas onto paper. Rather, the best time to catch ambiguities is during the revision stage when you can view the writing as your readers will.
3. Ambiguities often arise from four specific sources: word choice, word order, pronouns, and punctuation.
Avoid words with multiple interpretations:
1) right: correctness/direction
2) as: while/because
4. Consider the ordering of words, especially the word “only”:
1) Time, manner, and place—such an order avoids many ambiguities.
2) Only I saw the dog today.
I only saw the dog today.
I saw only the dog today.
I saw the only today today.
I saw the dog only today.
Be careful!
5. Be selective with “it” and avoid the standalone “this”
1) Example: Because the receiver presented the radiometer with a high-flux environment, “it” was mounted in a silver-plated stainless steel container.
2) Example: No peaks occur in the olefinic region. Therefore, no significant concentration of olefinic hydrocarbons exists in fresh oil. “This” places an upper limit on the concentration of olefins – less than 1 percent.
Many scientists use the standalone “this” much more often.
6. Insert commas after introductory phrases and clauses:
1) Commas act as yield signs that tell readers when to slow down so that they will see the sentence in a certain way.
In scientific writing, when a comma is needed to keep a sentence from being misread, it is mandatory.
Example: After cooling the exhaust gases continue to expand until the density reaches that of free stream.
-Comma is required after “cooling”.
If you begin a sentence with the word “however” to mean “on the other hand,” that word must be followed by a comma—no exceptions. Otherwise, “however” has the meaning of “no matter how.”
7. Another source of ambiguity involves missing commas in a series of three or more items.
Example: The three elements were hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
8. Punctuating lists in scientific writing requires special attention.
Example: We examined neat methanol and ethanol and methanol and ethanol.
To rid the ambiguity:
We examined four fuels: neat methanol, neat ethanol, methanol, and ethanol.
9. Ambiguities are difficult to find when you first draft a document. Just after a drafting session, the sentences are no longer fresh. What you need is distance from the draft. A good night’s sleep provides such distance.