教学材料《学术写作》-Unit 3 Abstract

Unit3Abstract3.4CharacteristicsofAbstractinGrammar3.5FormalizedStructures3.6WritingRequirementsforAbstract上一页3.1DefinitionofAbstractFromthepointofviewoftextlinguistics,abstractistheshortestdiscourseinESTstyle.Nomatterhowshortitis,itcanbecalledadiscoursebecauseithastextualfunctionsincludingtheconceptualfunctionindicatingthought,communicativefunctionandcontextualfunction.Itisterseandpithy.Abstractisthesubjectivecontentextractedfromtheoriginaltextwritteninconcisewords.Itisdefinedasanabbreviated,accuraterepresentationofthecontentofadocumentwithoutaddedinterpretationorcriticism.下一页返回3.1DefinitionofAbstractOriginally,abstractpromptsthemainideaofaresearchpapertoreadersasanintroductionofit.Withthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,inadditiontobeingattachedpriortothemainbodyofthepaperasasingletext,abstractsarepublishedindependentlybasedonmajorityandsubjectafterbeingprocessed,arranged,classifiedandcompiled.上一页下一页返回3.1DefinitionofAbstractNowadays,ithasbecomeamediatoreport,accumulateandretrievescientificandtechnologicaldocumentssystematically.Thearrangementandwritingofittendtobestandardized.Abstractisregardedasthecentrallinkofscientificandtechnologicalinformation.Recently,almost3,000kindsofpublishedabstractspromptlyandefficientlyreportthenewimportantdocumentsinwideanddifferentfieldstoprofessionalresearchers.上一页下一页返回3.1DefinitionofAbstractMeanwhile,theyhelptheresearcherssaveagreatamountoftimeandenergyinfindingoutthepresentconditionintheirownfieldbycollectingknowledgewidelyanddiscardingthedrossandselectingtheessential.Scientistscanknowover80%ofthescientificandtechnologicalworkspublishedallaroundtheworlddrawingthesupportofabstracts,whilenomorethan6%oftheworkscanbeknownwithoutabstracts.上一页下一页返回3.1DefinitionofAbstractOnecanseethattheabstractistheshortcuttofindouttheachievementinscienceandtechnologyanditisthekeytoopenthescientificandtechnologicalstorehouse.上一页返回3.2 General Functions of Abstract3.2.1MiniaturizingtheTextBeingtheveryfirstpartofaprofessionalpaperandaself-containedentity,theabstractholdsacriticalrolecomparedwithotherpartsofthewholemanuscript.Essentially,theabstractisthecondensedstatementofthecontentofapaper.Asashort,conciseandhighlygeneralizedtext,theabstractisviewedasamini-versionoraminiatureofthedocument,summarizingthecontentofthemainbody.Thewell-preparedabstract,下一页返回3.2 General Functions of Abstractwhichservesasausefultoolinsearchingforinformation,enablesreaderstoidentifythebasiccontentofadocumentmorequicklyandconveniently,todetermineitsrelevancetotheirinterest,andfinallytodecidewhethertheyneedtoreadthewholedocument.3.2.2Deciding“Yes”or“No”Theabstractofapaperisimportantbecauseitmaydirectlyinfluencethepaper’sacceptancetoalearnedjournal:上一页下一页返回3.2 General Functions of AbstractTherevieweroreditormaybeperilouslyclosetofinaljudgmentofthemanuscriptafterreadingtheabstractalone.Whatmakesajustificationcrucialisthatmanyinternationalconferencesponsorsjustreviewtheabstractandmakethedecisionwithoutreferringtothewholetext.Soiftheabstractfailstogeneralizethemanuscript,thequalificationoftheattendantswouldbeaffected.Further,thesubmitteddeterminewhichsessiontheyaregoingtoattend.Agoodabstractshouldattractaudiencesandpromotethoroughdiscussionontherelevantsubject.上一页下一页返回3.2 General Functions of Abstract3.2.3ExpandingtheCirculationAnabstractusuallyprecedesthewholepaperandappearsseparately.Withthegrowthofelectronicdatastorage,abstractsdramaticallyfacilitateinformationretrieval.Itmayberecorded,sometimesverbatim,byvariousabstractingservicesthatpublishreferencevolumesusedforliteraturesearching,e.g.,ScienceAbstracts,EngineeringAbstracts,LinguisticsAbstracts,andetc.So,anabstractwillbemorewidelyreadthanthedocumentitself.上一页下一页返回3.2 General Functions of AbstractItcanbecirculatedmorewidelyandfartherthanthepaperitself,thusproducingwideranddeeperacademicinfluencethanthefulltextofthepaper.Tosumup,agoodchoiceofinformationelementsmakestheabstractapotentandinfluentialpieceof“microliterature”intwokindsofsituations.First,itframesthewriter’sideasforthosewhoarebeginningtoreadhispaper.Second,itidentifiesthewriter’scontributionforthosewhoareusingtheinformation-retrievalservice.上一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of Abstract3.3.1LimitedLengthofAbstractAnabstractisaminiatureofthepaperwithastrictlylimitednumberofwords.Normally,200wordsshouldbeasensiblemaximumforarelativelylongpaperorreport,butnevermorethan500words;50–100wordsmaysufficeforashortarticle.Thelengthofanabstractgreatlyvariesdependingonthelengthofthepaperandwheretheabstractappears:Eachjournaland/orabstractingindexhasadifferentrequirement.下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractAsageneralrule,anabstractwillbeapproximately3%–5%ofthelengthofthepaper,butisseldommorethan2/3rdsofapage.Keepthelengthoftheabstracttoarequiredpercentageofthatofthepaper.Differentcategoriesofabstractsaskfordifferentlength.Informativeabstractiswidelyappliedandisalittlelongerthanotherkindsofabstracts.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractBecauseaninformativeabstractusuallycontainstheaims,methods,resultsandconclusionoftheresearchpaper,100–150wordsareordinarilyenoughforit.Somewell-knowninternationalindexorganizations,suchasEI(EngineeringIndex),justrequiressuchalengthofabstract.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of Abstract3.3.2WaystoShortenAbstractsConsideringthecharacteristicsofapaper’sabstractseparatingfromthemainbody,itisreallydifficulttowritetheabstractconformingtotherequirementbutusingthelimitedwords.Fivemethodsasfollowsarementionedtoshortenanabstract.A.TryingtoAvoidRepeatingtheTitleofthePaperintheFirstSentenceinanAbstract上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractB.OmittingSomeUnnecessaryWordsandSentencesC.OnlyOfferingNewInformationD.SimplifyingPhysicalMeasureUnitsandSomeProperNounsE.AvoidingRepeatingUnitTerms上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of Abstract3.3.3FeaturesofVocabularyinAbstractsJonathanSwift(1667—1745)oncesaid,“Properwordsinproperplacesmakethetruedefinitionofastyle.”Thevocabularyofanabstracthasitsownspecificfeatures.Theycanbesummedupasfollows.3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractA.TypicallyProfessionalizedTermsThetermsorwordsusedinabstracts,liketheonesusedinprofessionalpapers,aretypicallyprofessionalized.Eveninthesamefield,themeaningofawordmayvaryslightlyduetoitsdifferentcollocations.Whatismore,thespecialistsinacertainfieldcanonlyunderstandagreatnumberofprofessionalwordsandterms,e.g..上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractB. Specifically Concentrated Meaning InEnglish,verbalphrasesmadeupof“verb+adv./prep.”arequitemany,buttheseverbalphrasesoftenhavemorethanonemeaning.Sotheirmeaningsaresometimesnoteasytodetermine.Inthesecases,weoftenreplaceaverbalphrasebyasinglewordofaspecificmeaning.Forinstance,weuse“absorb”toreplace“takein”or“takeup,”and“discover”tosubstitutefor“findout,”上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of Abstractforthesesingleverbshavemuchmorespecificandaccuratemeanings,andappearmuchmoreformalandeffectiveincreatinganacademicatmosphere.Again,theverb“observe”ismorespecificandaccuratethanthephrase“lookat”inexpressingtheprofessionalconceptof“观察.”Thus,makinggooduseofthisfeaturewillbebeneficialtowritingaccurateandconciseEnglish.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractTherearealsomanyotherwordsandphraseswhichhavemorespecificmeanings,forexample,“Suitablefor”ismoreaccuratethan“allrightfor”inexpressing“适合于.”Thus,theyprovetobemoreformalandacceptableintheabstractsofprofessionalpapers.C.LatinandGreekWordsManyEnglishwordsofGreekandLatinoriginarestillusedaspartofacademicEnglishvocabularyespeciallyinscientificandtechnicalterminologyinabstracts.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractWordslikeanalysis,formula,symposium,stimulus,focus,antenna,whichcomefromGreekandLatin,arefamiliartomostofus.ItisalsoafactthatbothGreekandLatinwordsusedasaffixesandsuffixesas-logy,-ion,graph,andetc.canbeeasilyseeninprofessionalpapers.Hence,ifyougetfamiliarwiththisfeatureofword-formation,itwillhelpenlargeyourEnglishvocabulary,improveyourwritingabilityespeciallyforabstracts.(Tomlinson,Brian,1985,69)上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractD.FrequentUseofCompoundWordsInordertoexplainvariousphenomenaandpropertiesofamatter,itisadvisabletousecompounds(includingcompoundnouns,compoundadjectivesandcompoundverbs,andetc.)suchashorsepower,blueprint,water-proof,cross-sectional,overload,whitewash,andetc.Generallyspeaking,thelastwordservesasthecoreofthecompoundword.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractE.Commonly-usedContractedWordsTimeandspeedplayanimportantroleinresearchwork,andforthispurpose,moreandmorecontractedwordsappearinabstractsastheydoinprofessionalpapers.Suchshortformsasradar(radiodetectingandranging),sonar(soundnavigationandranging),chemokinesis(chemicalkinesis),GRE(GraduateRecordExamination)andothersarealreadyacceptedgenerally.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractF.FrequentUseofAntonymsIntheabstractsofprofessionalpapers,authorshaveoftentoexposethenatureofthematter,andindicatetheaspectsofacontradiction.Therefore,antonymsquiteoftenappearinpairforms.Forexample,positive—negative,integration—differentiation,professional—nonprofessional,regular—irregular,cover—discover(uncover)andthelike.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractAttentionshouldbepaidtosomeaffixeswithnegativemeaningsuchasanti-,de-,non-,mis-,ir-,im-,il-,un-,-less,etc.,whichareoftenusedtoformantonyms.G.NewWordsMeaningsDerivedfromWordsAlreadyKnownWiththedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,newconceptsareincreasinglyemerging.Theabstractislocatedpriortothemainbodyandintroducesthequintessenceofthewholeresearchpaperwiththenewestinformationitlaunches.上一页下一页返回3.3 Linguistic Features of AbstractSosomenewandoriginal

termsarenormallyusedinanabstract.Accordingly,themeaningsofmanyordinarywordsareprogressivelyenriched,extendedandprofessionalized.上一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammar3.4.1AppropriateUseofActiveVoiceandPronounsResearchingenormousamountofEnglishabstractsforscientificresearchpapers,differencecanbefoundinvoiceusebetweenabstractsandnormalEnglishresearchpapers.Itisassumedthatone-thirdoftheverbsinESTwritingareinthepassivevoice.下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarButitisappropriatetouseactivevoiceinabstracts.Becauseactivevoicecontributestoexpressinginformationclearly,conciselyandintensively,itisappreciatedtryingtouseactivevoiceinabstracts.Takethefollowingabstractasanexampleandlet’sfindthepercentageofactivevoicesentencesinit.Additionally,trytoavoidusingfrstpersonpronounsincasesubjectivityemergesfromthestatementsanditisalsoconvenienttobeprocessedandutilizedintheabstractjournalsedition,上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammaralthoughfirstpersonpronounscanalwayskeeppassivevoicefrombeingused.Nevertheless,itisnoticedthatthecompilingprinciplesforabstractofthenationalstandardGB6447—86pointare:TheChineseabstractisrecommendedtoadoptthethirdpersonpronounsassubjectinthesentence:Itissuggestedapplyingsomeexpressionslike“对……进行了研究”“报告了……现状”and“进行了……调查”anditisunnecessarytousethesubjectslikethispaper,theauthor,etc.ButtheprinciplescannotbeavailableinEnglishabstracts,i.e.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarEnglishsentencescannotbebegunwiththethirdpersonverbslikepresents,discusses,provides,etc.Thiskindofinformativesentencesmustbewrittencompletelywithsubjectandpassivevoiceisusuallyused.Thus,thethirdpersonpronounsareactuallyomitted.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarPassivemodelsarefoundcommonlyinESTdiscourses.ThetypeofpassiveconstructionmaysuggesttheformalityofESTstyle.Butitismorecommontouseactivevoiceappropriatelyandpassivevoiceinsuitableconditions.Thatwillmakeabstractsmoreaccuratelyprovideclearinformation.3.4.2FrequentUseoftheSimplePresentTenseItisknownthattherearesixteentensesinEnglish.However,thesimplepresent,上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarthesimplepastandthepresentperfectaremostoftenfoundinEST.Ofthethree,thesimplepresenttenseismostcommonlyusedinEnglishabstractsbecauseabstractsoftencontaintheresearchaim,theresearchcontentandtheresearchconclusionandresultoftheresearcher.Sometimesthesimplepastcanalsobeusedtostateafindingoftheauthor’spastresearchorapastresearchobservation,investigationorexperimentprocess.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarWhileitisdifferentfromscientificwriting,thepresentperfecttenseisseldomusedinabstractsandthepastperfecttenseismuchlessused.3.4.3MoreNounClustersTheso-called“nounclusters”arenounsmodifiedbyothernounsinsteadofattributiveclausesorprepositionalphrases,andamoreconciseexpressioncanbeachievedbyusingmorenounclusters.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarForinstance,itwouldbebettertosay,“highprecisioninstrument”ratherthan“instrumentofhighprecision,”“nearbyenginenoise”insteadof“noiseoftheenginethatarenearby”;and“datatransmissionsystems”canreplace“systemsfortransmissionofdata.”Itismoreconcisetosay“TheChineseScienceNews”insteadof“TheNewsofScienceofChina.”上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarFromtheaboveexampleswecanseethatthefirstnounservesasanadjectivetomodifythesecondandsuchexpressionsarefairlyconciseandeasytofollow.Ofcourse,therearenorigidrulesinthisrespect.Theremayalsobecasesinwhichtwonounscannotbeputtogether.Forexample,wecannotsay“theChinamap”but“themapofChina.”Socorrectcomprehensionandapplicationoftheparticularfeaturesofnounclustersareessentialinwritingabstracts.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammar3.4.4 Postmodifiers for NounsOneofthecharacteristicsofEnglishabstractsisthatpredicateisshortwhilesubjectand/orobjectare/islong.Therefore,thereisatendencyinthestyletoheavilyusenounspostmodifiedbyadjectivalphrases,infinitivephrases,prepositionalphrasesandevenattributiveclauses.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarUsingalltheseconstructionsmaybemoreconciseandsomekindofcoherencemaybeimpliedbetweentherelatedlinguisticelements.Thus,inordertocompileEnglishabstractswell,itisimportanttoapplynoun+postmodifersproperlyandcorrectly.Forinstance,(1)Themeasurestobetakentomaintaintheoperationalsafetyofacomputerinstallationaredescribed.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammar(2)Theintegrationofmicro-computermemoryandperipheralfunctionsintoasinglepackagecentralprocessingispresented.(3)Aformalizationoftheproceduresuitableforcomputerimplementationisdeveloped.(4)Approximateformulasarealsodeveloped,whicharesufficientlyaccuratefortechnicalapplications.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarIntheactualabstractwriting,thevariousconstructionsmentionedabovetendtobemixedtogethertomodifyanoun.Certainly,theantecedentnounisadominantnuclearleadingaseriesofpostmodifierstoextenditselftoanominalphrasecontainingvariousrelevantinformation.Butwritersshouldnoticethereasonablearrangementofpostmodifierswhilecomposingandeditinganabstractinordertomaketheorderoftheextendedpartofthenounevidentandtheexpressingmeaningclear.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarTheextendednominalconstructioninchainhavingtheaidofpostmodifiersisjustoneofthemaincharacteristicsofabstractwritingdifferentfromthegeneralESTwriting.Thisisalsotheessentialtechniqueofwritinganabstractwhoselanguageisterse,structureiscompact,arrangementofideasisdistinctandexpressingmeaningisaccurate.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammar3.4.5ShortSentencesinAbstractEnglishabstractsdifferentfromthemainbodyshouldtrytoutilizeshortsentencesbutavoidrepeatingmonotony.Forexample,Inthispaper,anenhancement,whichisnamedasABC,isproposedtotrytogetamorepowerfulobject-orientedmethod.Thesentenceaboveshouldbechangedintotwosimplesentences:Anenhancementmethod,ABC,isproposed.Itisamorepowerfulobject-orientedmethod.上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarAppropriatephrasesshouldreplacesentencesandsuitablewordstaketheplaceofphrasesinordertosimplifythestructurebycuttingoutthesuperfluous.Forexample,increasedcanreplacehasbeenfoundtoincrease,wasforwasconsideredtobeandseeminglyforitwouldseemthat,etc.Andtheuseofparticiplephrases,infinitivephrases,gerundphrases,prepositionalphrases,adjectivephrasesandcompoundnominalstructurearequitefrequentlyappliedtosimplificationofcomplexsentences.Forinstance,上一页下一页返回3.4 Characteristics of Abstract inGrammarAtechniqueofopticallydetectingtheedgeandskeletonofanimagebydefiningshiftoperationsformorphologicaltransformationisdescribed.Byemployinggerundphrases,thesentenceabove,thoughlong,isquiteconciseandclear.Thedifferencebetweentheerodedandtheopenedimagesisthencomputed,resultinginathinnerimage.Thetwopastparticiplesandapresentparticiplephraseareemployedtosimplifyalongcomplexsentenceintheaboveexample.上一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures3.5.1TopicSentencesThefirstsentenceinanabstractisusuallycalledthe“topicsentence.”Byansweringthequestionof“what,”thetopicsentencealwaysgoesstraightforwardlytothesubjectortheproblemandindicatestheprimaryobjectivesofthepaper.Itshouldbeginwithanimportantrealityandavoidbeginningwithaphraseandaclause.下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructuresForexample,Thepaperpresentsasimpleprescriptionforestimatingtheenergyatwhichnuclearforcesbegintoplayaroleinheavy-ionCoulombexperiment...Somesentencepatternsfrequentlyusedastopicsentencesarelistedasfollows:(1)Thepurposeofthispaperis...(2)Theprimarygoalofthisresearchis...(3)Theintentionofthispaperistosurvey...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures(4)Theoverallobjectiveofthisstudyis...(5)Thechiefaimofthepresentworkistoinvestigatethefeaturesof...(6)Theproblemwehaveoutlineddealslargelywiththestudyof...(7)Theprimaryobjectofthisfundamentalresearchwillbetorevealthecauseof...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures(8)Themainobjectiveofourinvestigationhasbeentoobtainsomeknowledgeof...(9)Theexperimentbeingmadebyourresearchgroupisaimedatobtainingtheresultof...(10)Experimentson...weremadeinordertomeasuretheamountof...(11)Theemphasisofthisstudyliesin…上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures3.5.2SupportingSentencesThetopicsentenceisusuallyfollowedbymorethanonesupportingsentenceswhichfurtherspecifythesubjecttobepresented.Researchmethods,experiments,procedures,investigations,calculationsanalyses,resultsandothersignificantinformationitemswillbeprovidedinthispart.Thesesupportingsentences,therefore,canbetakenasthe“mainbody”ofanabstract.上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructuresUsefulsentencepatternsusedinthispartincludethefollowing:(1)Themethodusedinourstudyisknownas...(2)Thetechniqueweappliedisreferredtoas...(3)Theapproachadoptedextensivelyiscalled...(4)Detailedinformationhasbeenacquiredbytheauthorsusing...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures(5)Theresearchhasrecordedvaluabledatausingthenewly-developedmethod.(6)Thisisaworkingtheorywhichisbasedontheideathat...(7)Thefundamentalfeatureofthistheoryisasfollows.(8)Thetheoryischaracterizedby...(9)Theexperimentconsistedofthreesteps,whicharedescribedin...(10)Thetestequipmentwhichwasusedconsistedof...(11)Includedintheexperimentwere...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures(12)Thewinchiscomposedofthefollowingmainparts:...(13)Wehavecarriedoutseveralsetsofexperimentstotestthevalidityof...(14)Theyundertookmanyexperimentstosupportthehypothesiswhich...(15)Recentexperimentsinthisareasuggestedthat...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures(16)Anumberofexperimentswereperformedtocheck...(17)Exampleswithactualexperimentdemonstrate...(18)Specialmentionisgivenhereto...(19)Thisformulaisverifiedby...3.5.3ConcludingSentencesAstheendingpartofanabstract,concludingsentencesusuallyanalyzetheresults,explaintheapplication,andpointoutthesignificanceoftheresearch.上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructuresForexample,...Theresultsprovideatheoreticalbasisfortheoptimumdesignoffuturesystemswithhigherstoragedensities.Someusefulsentencepatternsarelistedbelow:(1)Insummingupitmaybestatedthat...(2)Itisconcludedthat...(3)Theresultsoftheexperimentindicatethat...(4)Thestudiesshowedthat...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures(5)Thepioneerstudieshaveindicatedin...(6)Theinvestigationcarriedoutby...hasrevealedthat...(7)Laboratorystudiesof...didnotfurnishanyinformationabout...(8)Allourpreliminaryresultsthrowlightonthenatureof...(9)Thisfruitfulworkgivesexplanationof...(10)Theauthor’spioneerworkhascontributedtoourpresentunderstandingof...(11)Theresearchworkhasbroughtaboutadiscoveryof...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructures(12)Thesefindingsoftheresearchhaveledtheauthortotheconclusionthat...(13)Thedataobtainedappeartobeverysimilartothosereportedearlierby...(14)Ourworkinvolvingstudiesvestobeencouraging.(15)Theauthorhassatisfactorilycometotheconclusionthat...(16)Finally,asummaryisgivenof...上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructuresWehavediscussedthegeneralstructureofanabstractandlistedanumberofsentencepatternsusedindifferentpartsofabstracts.However,eachabstracthasitsowncharacteristicsduetoitsparticularsubjectandpurpose.Inpreparinganabstract,therefore,weshouldchoosethestructuresuitabletoourspecificpaperandavoidadheringtoanyrigidpatterns.上一页下一页返回3.5FormalizedStructuresSentencesinanabstractcanbecoherentverticallyorcompoundinparallel