英文寫作及準備的幾個技巧

小弟不才，迄今才撰寫了三篇英文文章，但寫作過程中也積累了一點經驗，不敢敝帚自珍，今天也斗膽向各位蟲友貢獻一下。我這幾篇文章，不論內容如何，但每次審稿人對於語言的評價都是還不錯的，well written，總結起來不外有三個小竅門：

一是平時多積累。我在日常讀文獻的時候，如果發現很好的句子句式，都會記錄在一個文檔裏面，如下面的一段話，就是我在一篇文章的摘要中發現的：

This paper describes the concept of sensor networks which has been made viable by the convergence of microelectro-mechanical systems technology, wireless communications and digital electronics. First, the sensing tasks and the potential sensor networks applications are explored, and a review of factors influencing the design of sensor networks is provided. Then, the communication architecture for sensor networks is outlined, and the algorithms and protocols developed for each layer in the literature are explored. Open research issues for the realization of sensor networks are also discussed.

文章用詞忌重複，中文如此，英文亦然。特別是動詞的使用，如在一段話中出現了幾個相同的動詞，感覺文章就跌價不少，而如果用了幾個意思相近而又貼切的詞，自然就會增色幾分。如上文中的describe，explore，provide，outline和discuss，就使得文章有了文采，值得學習和收藏。堅持收集例句，素材多了，自然自己的造句的時候就有底子了。此外，還要注意，在收集例句的過程，隨着例句的增多，也需要對例句進行整理和分類，方便學習和檢索。

二是注意行文中Transition words的使用。Transition words就是在行文過程中，連接意義相關句子的詞，如Therefore，thus，in particular等等。使用這些詞，會使得文章連貫性好，邏輯性強，讀起來一氣呵成，自然會給審稿人好印象。下面是一個關於Transition words的一個總結，供各位蟲友參考：

Transitions Study Sheet

Transitions for time:

before, afterward, after, next, then, as soon as, later, until, when, finally, last, meanwhile, during, at times, sometimes, oftentimes

Example: WWII broke out in Europe in ng this time the United States remained wasn’t until 1941, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, that the United States entered the r its entry, it was only a matter of time before the Allies defeated Germany and the Axis powers.

Transitions for place:

in the background, in the distance, beyond, behind, above, below, in front of, elsewhere, in the middle, to the left, to the right

Example:My favorite painting is Botticelli’s Birth of the middle of the painting stands Venus, the Roman goddess of love, standing on a floats majestically above the beautiful water below her left a figure representing wind blows fierce

clouds of wind in her her right a figure behind her attempts to cover her with a blanket and protect is a truly breath-taking piece of art.

Transitions for examples:

for example, for instance, as an example, like, specifically, consider as an illustration, that is, such as, similar, similarly

Example:Oftentimes people who study from history fail to learn from the mistakes of the example, during WWII Hitler decided to invade Russia just before decision was the same decision Napoleon made over a hundred years earlier, and Hitler’s army met a similar he learned from his history, Hitler might have avoided making this costly mistake and the outcome for the war might have been instance, if Hitler had decided to invade England by sea rather than Russia by land, he might well have won the war.

Transitions for emphasis:

chiefly, equally, indeed, even more important, in particular, most important, without a doubt, indubitably, unquestionably, definitely

Example:Without a doubt, Chinese food is one of my favorite ough I find Japanese and Thai food equally delicious at times, Chinese food is definitely my favorite Asian particular I enjoy the spicy Szechuan style of cooking commonly found in Chinese food.

Transitions for restatement:

in short, that is, in effect, in other words

Example:When I asked my girlfriend to marry me she said, in effect, that she wouldn’t be ready for marriage until after she completed her PhD first I was crushed, that is, I felt like she said no because she didn’t love me ver, after she explained her reasons to me I felt better and agreed with other words, I came away feeling better than I had anticipated.

Transitions for comparison:

similarly, likewise, also, the same as, different than, opposite, unlike, instead

Example:When my older brother was deciding where to go to college he spoke to my father about where he should surprisingly he went to the same school my father did, it was time for me to choose a college I did the exact opposite.I didn’t ask my father where I should go, and as a result, I didn’t also go to MIT like he and my brother ead I went to UCLA.

Transitions for concession:

although, of course, admittedly, true, doubtless, granted that, no doubt, indubitably, without a doubt, definitely, certainly

Example:Some people might be surprised to learn that the two most successful NBA teams of all-time are the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles ough neither of these teams is very good right now, they are the two teams with the most champions in NBA Celtics definitely had the best streak of these two teams; winning eight championships in a row at one ttedly there is always the chance that some future team could break this record, but this seems course no one can predict the future with any certainty.

Transitions for consequence:

thus, so, then, it follows, as a result, therefore, hence, consequently, accordingly, because

Example:I’m sorry, but I can’t let you turn in your homework late because it wouldn’t be fair to the other a result your grade has dropped lower and you are now failing the equently you need to get 100% on the final so you can pass the class and then graduate from efore, I suggest you study very hard so I don’t have to fail luck!

Transitions for conclusion:

to sum up, in summary, finally, therefore, thus, in conclusion, to conclude

Example:Finally, Beijing has a lot of nice places to shop that appeal to sum up then, Beijing is a wonderful place to visit because it has beautiful parks and historical monuments, friendly people and lots of nice places to any travelers who are planning to come to China should definitely visit Beijing during their stay.

Transitions for addition:

furthermore, in addition, besides, next, first, second, moreover

Example:UCLA is a wonderful university to attend as an t, it is respected academically and is well-known for its high standards of hermore, UCLA has a strong network of alumni who often recruit students to come work for over students who do such work as undergraduates often receive jobs with these same companies once they addition to these two benefits, UCLA also has exciting sports teams that are fun to des, with so many good reasons to go to UCLA, why would you want to go anywhere else?

我的第三條經驗就是句酷網站，，一個專門找例句的網站，也許有些蟲友也知道。我們寫文章的時候，很自然會想到一些中文的表達方法，但是常常苦於找不到貼切的英文表達，查電子詞典，往往湊出來的句子也是面目全非。句酷網站提供了一個很好的查找例句的渠道（不是廣告奧，呵呵），你可以通過中英文關鍵字，找到很多例句。比如，我想説“值得指出的是”，在句酷裏面查了一下，找到了如下幾個句子：

It is worth emphasizing that...

it is worth pointing out that ...

A point worth emphasizing is that...

感覺都還不錯，都可以選用。更為關鍵的是，這些例句一般都會有出處，這樣就可以根據例句內容和出處來選擇比較地道的表述了。我的一個經驗是，對於來自的例句就得小心點，這些都是國內兄弟寫的文章中的句子，常常不是很合適。

今天起得早，又睡不着，寫這點東西，希望能對大家有一點點啟發。上個月自己的第一篇trans的minor revision剛剛投出去，這些天一直在焦急的等待中，寫點東西與大家分享，也順便給自己祈祈福。第一次在小木蟲寫帖子，希望大家能喜歡，歡迎大家一起討論，批評指正，謝謝！