學期上課件-專業(yè)英語

JournalsandScientific BasicStructureofResearch ExamplesandReading Shortening Time Showing Answering Presentation Grammar Syntax（句法 DeclarativeSentences（陳述句 Punctuation（停頓 Voice,,and Bythe Phrases（短語 AtomLaserShootsPulsesofCoherent ObservationofInterferenceBetweenTwoBose Wewereusedtousingtextbooksforwhatevercourses.Yettherewasnotextbookof“ScientificEnglish”availableforgraduatestudents.ItwastakenforgrantedthatI,anEnglishteacher,shouldwriteoneforthem.Learninglanguageisdifferentfromstudyingscience.Forexample,wemaypracticeanexerciseoverandoveragainuntilwehandleiteasily,eventhoughwemayhavealreadyunderstoodit;butwesolveaprobleminsciencetextbookonlyonceortwice.Toimproveone’sEnglish,largeamountofextensivereadingsandpracticeisnecessary.Sinceextensivereadingistimeconsuming,especiallyforstudentswhosemotherlanguageisnotEnglish,thereadingmaterialsshouldbewellchosenanddeservespendingtimetoread.Graduatestudentsshouldalsopracticeheavyreadingofresearchpapers,andthenwritetheirownresearchpapersaswell.Ithuschooselatestpublishedpapersthatreflecttheresearchfrontiersofphysicsandinvolvefrequentlyusedrulesinlanguage.ThesereadingmaterialsshouldbehelpfultostudentstorenewandextendtheirknowledgeinsciencewhilepracticingtheirEnglish.Ithereforeupdatethesematerialseachyear,andsummarizetherulesandusageoflanguageinthosematerialstoconstructaframeworkofaguideofScientificEnglish.Ihopetheguidingprinciplespluspracticescouldhelpstudentstoimprovetheirlistening,reading,writingandspeaking,andatthesametime,tokeeponwithlatestdiscoveries.Presentationsarepopular.Studentsnowadaysaregettingusedtothethem,yettheirskillsneededtobeimproved.ThecourseofScientificEnglishcanprovidethemsuchchancemoresuitablethananyothercourseavailable.HeZhenhuiSeptember21,JournalsandScientificGraduatestudentswillfaceagreatamountofreadingofEnglishscientificpapersinavarietyofjournals.SomeofthemmayhavetowritescientificpapersinEnglishlateron.Othersmayattendinternationalacademicconferences,wheretheywillpresentpostersandpresentation.Therefore,theyshouldknowbasicstructureofscientificpapers,presentationandposter,whichmayhelpthemtopickup,orexpresstheneededinformation.FollowingaresomeABCsofscientificjournalsandGeneral,ComprehensiveScienceJournals:theypublishlessspecialpaperstofacilitatecommunicationsamongeachbranchofscience.Herearesomeexamples:Nature ScienceinChina(中國科學Science Lowerlevel PhysicsWorld(IOP,ScientificAmerican ReportsorProgressinPhysics(IOPUK)Thearticlesinsuchjournalsareeasytounderstand,theyarespeciallysuitablefornovicestogetusedtoreadingscientificpapers。HigherlevelJournals:theyfacetofrontierPhysicalReviewsanditsPhysicalReviewLetters(APS,JournalofAppliedPhysicsanditsAppliedPhysicsLetters(AIP,JournalofPhysics SovietPhysics EuropePhysicsLetters(France) ChinesePhysicsLetters(中國物理快報)AIP:AmericanInstituteofPhysics.ScientificBasically,thereareseveralkindsofscientificpapersyouwouldreadduringyourgraduatestudies:Popularsciencepaper:i.e.,papersinPhysicsWorld;NewsandviewsinNature.Inthiskindofpaper,theauthorwouldintroduceresearchprogress,andmarkthemeaningofthenewresults.Todrawinterestsofthosewhoworkonotherdisciplines,theauthor(s)wouldcitecommentsofrelatedexpertsandemployvividmetaphors.Anexampleofnews-and-viewpaperisthe“ExperimentsMimicInfantUniverseinSuperfluidHelium”inScience,273,576(1996).Revieper:Itpresentssystematic,recentresearchworkthatisnotnecessarydonebytheauthor(s)themselves.Forexample,the“Nitride-basedsemiconductorsforblueandgreenlight-emittingdevices”inNature386351-359(1997andthosepublishedinReviewofModernPhysics,someinPhysicalReview(AtoE),and《物理學進展》(inResearchpaperandletter:Itpresentsparticularworkonaspecificfield,usuallydonebytheauthor(s).Itincludesletter,communication,etc.Oneexampleisthe“Roomtemperaturemagneticquantumcellularautomata”inScience,287(2000)1466.Commentary:Itistheauthor’sowncommentorpointofviewaboutapublishedarticleoralay-happenedevent.Anexampleofcommentaryisthe“Woodstockofphysicsrevisited”inNature,386,115-118(1997),byPaulM.Grant.TheaboveclassificationofsciencearticlesisnotnecessarilyBasicStructureofResearchMostofthescientificpapersthatgraduatestudentsread,andpossiblywrite,areresearchpapers.Thereisabasicstructureforresearchpapers,which,inprinciple,helpsauthorsshowtheirworkmorelogicallyandobjectively.Itisnecessarytoitemizethestructureofresearchpapers:Thetitleshouldbebriefandyetconveytoinformthereaderwhatthepaperls.IthelpsthereaderstojudgewhetherthereisinterestinginformationinInsteadofasentence,atitleshouldbeanounphrase.Therefore,noshouldappearinaAuthorandFollowingthetitle,listedaretheauthorswhocontributedtotheresearchpublished.Usually,theorderoftheauthorsisgivenaccordingtotheauthors’contributiontothepaper1.Theleadingauthordidthemostimportantorcreativepartoftheresearchwork,whichisusuallydeterminedbythegroup’sprincipal.Thefollowingauthor(s)cooperatedwithorassistedtheleadingauthorincompletingtheworkofthepublishedpaper.Thereisacorrespondingauthorwhoisresponsibleforthepaper,andwhoisusuallythegroup’sprincipal.He/sheisthe towhomtheeditororthepublishershouldwrite,toinformthereferees’evaluations,andtheacceptance,orrejectionforpublication.Afterthepaperispublished,itisthe towhomreadersshouldwriteforoffprintanddiscussionsetc.Whentwoormoregroupscontributedtotheresearch,theauthorsaresortedbyaffiliationoraccordingtotheircontribution.Bysearchinganauthor’snameindatabases,suchastheAuthorsIndex1Formathematicsjournals,authorsaresortedaccordingtotheinitialofthefamilySCI,onecanfindwhatpapersandhowmanypaperstheauthorhasNow,imagineyouareoneofthesdescribebrieflywhathasbeendoneinthepaper.Itcontainstheessentialinformation(usuallyresultsandconclusions)ofthepaper.Byglancingthe ,readersshouldbeabletojudgewhetherthepaperisworthyofreading.Somejournals,suchasChemicalCommunication,requireagraphappendedtothe tocreateagraphicaldescriptionofresults. iscalledgraphical Manyjournalsrequirethreetofivekeywords(orsubjectindexnumbers)subsequenttothe .Thesekeywordsandnumbersbringconveniencetoreadersforretrievingpapers.Specifically,whenwriting s,youshouldthinkofeachsentenceasrepresentingoneofthefollowing"codes"basedonitsfunction.Thatis,youshouldwriteonesentencetoconveyeachofthefollowingpiecesofinformationaboutyourresearch:BBackgroundInformation背景PPurposeofStudy目的/研究目標)M=Methodology(方法)FFindings重要發(fā)現(xiàn)/結果CConclusions重要意義/研究結論S mendations提示/建議您可以用BoPoMoFo,ChinaScience!這個口訣來方便MainAmainbodyusuallycontainsfiveIntroduction:Itintroducesthebackgroundofthepresentwork,statesthemotivation.Itisasectionaboutwhatyouweregoingtodoandwhyyoudid.MaterialsandMethods(CalculationModel,Experimentalprocedure):Itdescribesexperimentalprinciples,experimentalsetups(includingsamplesyouchose,techniquesyouemployed,andprocessesyouadopted),methodyouusedfortheinvestigation.Itisasectionabouthowyoudid.Results:Itisaboutyourownwork,whichshouldbestatedobjectively.TheresultsareusuallypresentedinTables,Figures,Graphsandtheircaptions,whichhelpyoupresentwhatyouhadobserved,recorded,deducedorcalculatedmoreclearly.Itisasectionaboutwhatyouhaddone.Discussions:Resultsanddataareyzedinthissectiontobuildnewknowledge,andtoseehowwellyourideaisrealized.Reliabilityandpossibleerrorsoftheresultsareyzed.Comparisonismadebetweenyourandothers’results.Itisasectionabouthowwellyouhaddone,andwhatcanbeconcluded.SummaryorConclusion:Agoodpapercontainsatleastaconclusiondrawnfromtheysisoftheresults,positiveornegative.Somepapersgivesummariesratherthanconclusions,whentheauthorsdidnotthinktheyhadenoughevidencestodrawtheirconclusions.Keepinmindthonclusionisneitherarestatementofthe ,noracompactstatementofwhatyouhavejustdone.Instead,itisaboutyournewknowledgelearntfromwhatyouhavedone,oraboutyourrealizedidea.[Thousandsofpapersarepublishedeverymonthnow.Nobodyhasenoughtimetoreadthrougheachofthem.Tobemoreeffective,somecompetingjournals,suchasAdvancedMaterials,placetheresultsinalmostthebeginningofthemainbodyandleavethemethodto.Tobepublishedatsuchjournals,ofcourse,themanuscriptmustcontainmuchattractiveresults.]Thisisasectioninwhichyouacknowledgetheproject(s),orthefoundation(s)thatsupportedthepublishedwork.ThosewhohelpedyoufinishtheworkareInthetext,referencetootherpartsofthepapershouldbemadebysection(orequation)number,notbypagenumber.Referencestootherpapersshouldbeconsecutivelynumberedinthetext(e.g.,“Y.Kagan[16]predictedthat...”)andshouldbelistedbynumberatofthepaper.Thereferencesareusuallygivenasfollow3:Forbooks:3.A.Messiah,Quantummechanics,Vol.2(North-Holland,Amsterdam,Forapaperina M.H.Anderson,J.R.Ensher,M.R.Matthews,C.E.Wieman,E.A.Cornell,Science269,（ExampleForapaperinacontributed16.Y.Kagan,in:Bose-EinsteinCindensation,A.Griffin,D.Snoke,S.Stringari,Eds.(CambridgeUniv.Press,Cambridge,1995),pp.202-225.（Example1.）Foranunpublished12.R.L.Swofford,Ph.D.Thesis,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley(1973)Itisnecessarytopointoutthatthereisnostricttemplateforscientificpapers.YoushouldreadtheInstructionstoAuthorsofajournalbeforestartingtowriteapaper,consulttheInstructionswhilewritingthepaper,andcheckthepaperagainsttheInstructionsbeforesubmittingyourmanuscripttothejournal.Althoughthestructureofscientificpapersmaydifferfromonejournaltoanother,theorganizationofthepapersisquitesimilar.2Acknowledgmentisusuallyplacedasafootnoteon pageofthepaperinChinese3TheorderofitemsinreferencewouldbedifferentfromjournaltoExamplesandReadingExamplesfrom1to4aretypicalnews-and-viewspapers.Theyaregoodexamplestolearntheusageofpunctuation,numbers,andabbreviationsandacronyms.TheyarealsogoodforEnglish-Chinesetranslationexercises.Towardstheidealdetector[FrancescoParesce,Nature381,115ExperimentsMimicInfantUniverseinSuperfluidHelium[GrayTaubes,Science273,576-577(1996).]AtomLaserShootsPulsesofCoherentMatter[GaryTaubes,Science275,617-618(1997).]Truevisionofaquantumstate[MatthiasFreybergeretal.,Nature386,121-122(1997).]Examples5to7aretypicalresearchpapers.Wewilllearnsomegrammarrulesduringreadingthesepapers.ObservationofInterferenceBetweenTwoBoseCondensations3(M.R.Andrews,etal.,Science275,637-641(1997))ThermallySwitchablePeriodicitiesandDiffractionfromMesoscopicallyOrderedMaterials3(JesseM.Weissman,etal.,Science,274,Like-ChargeAttractionsinMetastableColloidalCrystallites3(AmyE.Larsenatal.,Nature385,230-233(1997).)Examples8to9are ScanningForceMicroscopyinBiology4(PhysicsToday,(1995),Dec.Nitride-basedSemiconductorsforBlueandGreenLight-emittingDevices(F.A.Ponce&D.P.Bour,Nature386,351-ReadingandReadthegivenexamplesanddiscusshowyouunderstandthemandwhatyouhaveunderstood.Atthebeginning,newwordsorphrasesareexpectedtobeyourbiggestbarriertounderstandthepapers.Yourbackgroundknowledgetothepapers,ifany,willbehelpfultoyourcomprehension.E1.Towardstheideal (FrancescoParesce,Nature381,GrammarAbbreviationsandAcronyms（縮寫與首字母縮寫）Alargesteptowardsthisgoalhasbeentakenwiththereportedonpage135ofthisissuebyPeacocketal.,ofsingle-photoncountingwithsimultaneousenergydiscrimination,usinganiobium-basedsuperconductingtunneljunction(STJ)atvisiblewavelengths.E2.ExperimentsMimicInfantUniverseinSuperfluidHelium[GrayScience273,576-Thisisaresearch-newspaperabouttheapplicationofsuperfluidHeliumn-3totheexperimentalstudiesofthebig-bangtheoryfortheinfantuniverse.Inthesameyeartheworkwaspublished,theNobelPrizeinphysicswasawardedtoProfessorDavidM.Lee,CornellUniversity,Ithaca,NewYork,USA;ProfessorDouglasD.Osheroff,StanfordUniversity,Stanford,California,USA;andProfessorRobertC.Richardon,CornellUniversity,Ithaca,NewYork,USA,whodiscoveredthesuperfluityofHeliumn-3in1972.Kibbleshowedin1976thatundercertainconditionsthesedefectscouldtakeavarietyofforms,amongthem(were)one-dimensionalstrings.Here“them”representsforthe“defects”,whichcanbefollowedby“were”ininvertedwordorder.Butintheearlyuniverse,thephasetransitionwouldhavehappenedmuchtoofastforaconsensustobereached,anddifferent softheuniversewouldhavesettledintodifferentorientations,trapbetweenthem(were)regionswherethedifferentorientationscouldn’tbereconciled.Here“them”representsforthe“differentorientations.Thesubjectof“trap”theNotetheusageof“too...to...”cannotbereplacedby“toofasttoreachaHepointedoutthatthemathematicsofthephasetransitionforliquidhelium(whenitcoolsfromanormalfluidintoasuperfluid—aconditioninwhichit“basicallybehaveslikeavacuum,whichmeansyoucanmoveanobjectandfindno ,”sayHenriGodfrinofthecenterforVeryLowTemperatureResearchinGrenoble—)shouldbethesameasthatofphasetransitionsintheearlyuniverse.”Takingawaytheclausesintheparentheses,youcanfindthatthelong eseasytoread.HowthephasetransitionofHelium-3fromnormaltosuperfluidstateresemblesthephasetransitionofourearlyuniverseafterthebigbang?HowlowshouldthetemperaturereachtodrivetheliquidHelium-3tosuperfluidstate?HowlowshouldthetemperaturereachtostabilizeavortexinthesuperfluidHelium-3?HowthetwogroupscarriedouttheirexperimentstoimitatetheinfantE3.AtomLaserShootsPulsesofCoherentMatter[GaryTaubes,Science275,617-618(1997).]Relatedpaper:Theamazingatomlaser[KeithBurnett,Nature385,Now,theMITgrouphasfoundawaytoextractpulsesofatomsfromacondensateandhasshown,byallowinopulsestointerferewitheachother,thateach[pulse]constitutesthesinglecoherentwaverequiredofalaser.requireofMN：對M有N的要求HereMrepresentsforalaserwhileNfor“singlecoherentwave”.Simplymakingacondensateis“bloodydifficult,”saysBurnett,letaloneturningitintoaTherestoring eexpellingorrepulsiveHavingprovedthecondensateiscoherent,Ketterleandhiscolleaguescanusetheoutputcouplertoextractthecondensateinpulses,whi akesthesetupeffectivelytheprimitiveatomlaserandraisesthequestion.WhohaveprovedthecondensateisSofar,theyhavebeenabletogeteightpulsesoutofacondensatebeforetheyhavetoreload,whichtakes20to30seconds.Whatdoes“which”representforinthesentence4andAsthecondensatesfell,theyexpandedintothesurroundingvacuumuntiltheyoverlappedandinterfered,demonstratingtheatomicversionofthebrightanddarkfringesinaninterferencepattern.WhodemonstratestheatomicGrammar:BythenumberHowdidphysicistsachieveaBose-EinsteincondensateforHowdidtheyallowtwopulsesofatomstointerferewitheachHowdoesabeamofatomsresembleaWhatarethepotentialapplicationsfortheatomicE5.ObservationofInterferenceBetweenTwoBoseCondensates[M.R.Andrews,etal.,Science275,637-641(1997)]The1997NobelprizewasawardedtoStevenChu,etal.,whodevelopedamethodtoopticallycoolatomsdowntoseveralK.Owningtosuchaneffectivemethod,inthispaper,Andrewsetal.,cancoolthesodiumatomstoBosecondensates.ReadingWitha10-sdelay,theatomswereexposedtoashort(50s)circularlypolarizedprobebeamresonantwiththeF=2toF’=3transitionandabsorbed20photonseach.“each”isanThegreatestreductionincontrastwasfoundwhentherfwass t25timesbetween0and300kHzat1kHz.Thefrequencyvariedatarateof1kHzintherangebetween0and300Grammar:Voice,,andTense.WhatpropertiesdoesaBosecondensateHowdidtheycreateadoublewellpotentialfortraptheHowmanylightbeamswereusedtodemonstratetheinterferenceofthematterwave?Whataretheyandtheirfunctions?WhytheauthorsusedapumpbeamtoexcitetheatomstotheexcitingHowtoproducehighcontractfringesforthe3-dimentionHowdoesthepatternofinterferencefringesforcontinuoussourcesdifferfromthatforpulsedsources?Andwhy?Howmanytestswereperformedtoconfirmtheinterpretationofthematter-waveinterference?ScientificGuidingPrinciplesforscientificTheprinciplesofscientificwritingderivefromthepurposesofscientificwriting.Thebasicpurposesofscientificpublicationsare(1)torecord(thearchivalfunctionofourresearchjournals);(2)toinformpeers;and(3)toeducatethenextgenerationofscientists.Thearchivaluseofjournalsisverysignificant,becauseajournalinalibrarycanbeconsultedbygreatvarietyofreadersforanynumberofreasonsoveralongtimeperiod.Itisprimarilythispotentialaudiencethatscientistsshouldwritefor.Jargonandunexplainedabbreviations,althoughunderstandabletopeers,shouldthereforebeavoided.Studentsalsowillbebenefitfromsuchconsideration.Toomanyscientists,andperhapsmembersofallprofessions,want“sound”scholarly.Therefore,theysometimesdressupasimplethoughtinanoutrageouscostume.Sometimes,thethreadoftheideagetslostalongtheway,andallweseeisthefrayedcostume.Formorewritingskills,pleasereferto /node/98Asentenceisthebasicunitofcommunication.Aparagraphconsistsofoneormoresentencesonessentiallythesamesubject.Ifeachsetofcloselyrelatedsentencesisneatlypackagedinitsownparagraph,thereaderhasnodifficultyinfollowingrelateditems;then,withthestartofaneragraph,thereaderisautomaticallypreparedforanewsetofthoughts,perhapsadditionalinformationrelatedtotheprecedingparagraph,orperhapsmaterialcontrastingwiththeprecedingparagraph.Ifparagraphsarecreatedwithcare,theyareofgreatvaluetothereaderinfollowingthewriter’slogicaldevelopmentofthoughtsandarguments.ParagraphAneffectiveparagraphshouldhaveanobviousbeginning,middle,andend.Thebeginning(oftenjustthesentence)shouldstateclearlythesubjectoftheparagraph.Thenextgroupofsentencesshouldmarshaltheevidenceinsupportofordescribingthesubject.Thefinalpartoftheparagraph(oftenthefinalsentence)usuallyprovidesaconclusionorasummaryofwhathasbeensaidintheparagraph,oritprovidesatransitiontothenextparagraph.Thesentence(calledthetopicsentence)isthekey.Ifthegeneralsubjectoftheparagraphisnotclear,thedetailsthatfollowinthebodyoftheparagraphwillhardlyinterestthereader.Thelastenceisusuallyimportantalso,underliningtheconclusionoratleastthegistoftheparagraph.Someparagraphs,however,mustendwithoutadefiniteconcludingstatement.Whenthishappens,thesentenceofthenextparagraphshouldmakeitclearthatatransitioninsubjectordevelopmenthasoccurred.Fortunay,Englishhasmanywordsandphrasesthatcanbeusedastransitionalsignpoststoaidthereader.Ifthenewparagraphwillpresentdifferentbutsupportiveinformation,thesentencemightstartwithsuchexpressionsasWealsonotedSmithetal.(1990)obtainedsomewhatsimilarresults,Iftheneragraphwillpresentcontrastinginformation,suitabletransitionsmightbeContrarytothisIfthene ragraphistoserveasaconclusiontothepreviousparagraph,groupofparagraphs,orperhapstheentirepaper,transitionalopeningmightInFiguresandFiguresandgraphsarecommontoolstoshowresearchresultsdirectlyandclearly,especially,forthoseimportantyetbeyondlanguagedescription.Thecaptionsshouldbecompletetodescribethefiguresandgraphs,sothatreaderscouldknowtheresultswithoutgoingintothetexts.Therefore,don’trepeatyourcaptionsinthetextpart.Manyreadersworkinginthesamefieldcouldnotreadthrougheveryrelatedpaperwithcare.Afterreadingtitlesand s,theywouldgotofiguresandtheircaptionsformoredirectresults.Iftheresultswerenotinteresting,theywouldignorethepaper.Therefore,selectthefiguresandwritetheircaptionscarefully.Theyarethefocuspointsofyourpaper.Writingascientificpaper(beyondSimplicityofexpressionisanaturalresultofprofoundThefollowinopapers(Example1and4)aregoodexamplesforScientificEnglishwriting.TheyaresimpleinLanguage,andlogicallywellorganized.Sentencesarenottoocomplicated,andeasytoread.Wordsarechosensimple,exact,andcomprehensible.YoucsoseetheorderlyworkingstyleofGermanfromthewell-organizedpapers.E4.Truevisionofaquantumstate [MatthiasFreybergeretal.,Nature386,WritingInsteadofrepresentingthisstateasawavefunction,theyuseamorevividpresentationoftheWignerfunctionW(x,p).TheWignerfunctioncontainsthesameinformationasthewavefunction,butithastheadvantageofbeingarealvaluedfunction,whichcanbeillustratedinaphasespacespannedbypositionandmomentum.Herethesecond“Wignerfunction”canbereplacedwith“which”principle.Thenthetwosentencesaremergedintoone.Butthatwouldbetoolonganddifficulttoread.Voice:comparethefollowinosentences( DeclarativeSentences)writteninactiveandpassivevoice:Butifwecollectmanypostcardsshowingdifferentviewsofthesamemountain,thenitmightbepossibletobuildathree-dimensionalmodel;equivalently,wecolle etofpositiondistributionsobtainedbyprojectingrotatedversionsofthe‘Wignermountain’ontothexaxis.Butifmanypostcardsshowingdifferentviewsofthesamemountainarecollected,thenitmightbepossibletobuildathree-dimensionalmodel;equivalently,asetofpositiondistributionsobtainedbyprojectingrotatedversionsofthe‘Wignermountain’ontothexaxisiscollected.Obviously,whenthesentenceiswritteninpassivevoice,theestoolongandthesentencehardtoread.Thereaderhastowaitlongbeforetheverb“collect”appears.Whenasentenceislong,balancingcommasareusedtomakeitmorereadable:(seepunctuation)Adrawbackofthismethod,whiakesitmoredifficultexperimentally,istherealizationoftheharmonicpleteatomicquantumprobabilitydistributionofpositionandmomentumprobabilitydistributionforatomicpositions.Pleasepointoutthefunctionofthephrase“measuring...”inthefollowingKurtsieferetal.usedthephase-spacetomographymethod,thepositionsandarrivaltimesofatomsfromtheheliumGrammar:SyntaxandDeclarativeShorteningShorteninganarticleisthemainpartoftheexaminationofScientificEnglishforgraduatedstudents.Intheexamination,itisrequiredtoshortenanarticle(without )fromabout3,000words—thetypicallengthofaresearcharticle,toabout300words—thetypicallengthofan forthearticle.Manystudentsfeifficulttodothat.Itistruethatagoodscientificpapershouldbesimpleandeffectiveinlanguage.Itshouldnotleavemuchtobedeleted.Yetsomethinghastobedeleted,onlythemostimportantisleft.Todothat,somestudentswentshortcut:theyjustcutdownthetopicfromeachoftheparagraphs,andpastedthemtogethertoassembleashortarticle.Inthisway,theymaycatchtheimportantmessageofeachparagraph,butnotnecessarythatofthewholearticle.Inaddition,thismaybeagoodwaytoavoidgrammarmistakes,butaneasywaytocreaogicalconfusion.Itishardformetoknowiftheyhavereallyunderstoodtheoriginalarticle.Toshortenanarticle,Iwouldliketocompareanarticleshorteningwithanwriting.(Seethestructureofaresearcharticleforreferenceof)Towritean ,youhavetoknowthecentralideaofthearticle,whatisthemostimportantandwhatyoudonotwantthereadersmiss.Thetitlewouldhelpyoutocatchthecentralideaofthearticle.Toknowwhatisthemostimportant,pleasefollowthefollowingsteps:A)readthearticleuntilyouunderstand;B)writedownthemostimportantinformationorresults;C)listtheinformationintheorderofimportance.Onlythoseveryimportantareleftforreconstructinganessay,likean .Askyourselfwhenyouread:“Whatistheconclusionofthearticle?”“Fromwhatresult(s)didtheauthor(s)drawsuchconclusion?”“What,andhowmanyexperimentsorcalculationshavebeendone?”“Whytheyweredone?”Sometimes,askyourself“Isthereastrongbackgroundforthework?”Thesefrom--to-the-beginningquestionswouldhelpyouextracttheimportantinformationfromthearticle.(Somearticleshaveasummaryratherthanaconclusion,becausetheauthorsdidnotthinktheyhadenoughevidencesordatatodrawaconclusion.However,theymighthavepushedtheirresearchtoanewlevel;sotheysummarizedtheirnewrecognitionaswellaswhattheyhaddone.)Usually,Figures,Graphs,andTableswouldquicklylyoutheimportantinformationofthearticle.AconnoisseurcanevencatchthemainideaandresultssimplybyglancinertheFigures,Graphs,andTables,withoutscrutinizingthewholetext.Thatiswhysomanyjournals,thoughnotpublishedinEnglish,requireEnglishfigure-captionsforpublication.Itwouldbeenoughforshorteningtranslation,foryoualreadyhavethemostimportantinformation.(SeeTranslatingfromEnglishtoChinese)Butitdoesnotguaranteeyoutoreconstructagoodshortenedarticle.Fordirectshorteningorwriting,correctuseofEnglishisalsoessentialtoexpressyouridea.Whenyouorganizethoseimportantpiecesofinformation,theguidingprinciplesforscientificwritingapplytoyourarticle-shortening.Inshortenedarticles,everysentenceshouldcontainusefulSentencessuchas“Sothemoresophisticatedstrategiesoughttobeadopted,"shouldbeavoided.Else,youshouldpointoutwhatspecificsophisticatedstrategiesoughttobeadopted!Similarly,eachwordshouldbeeffective.Inphraseof“suchasmedicalimaging,etc.”,theword“etc.”isunnecessaryandshouldbeomitted.Content:Asmentionedabove,theshortenedcontentshouldbethemostimportantpart(thecentralidea)oftheoriginalarticle.However,onemightarguethatdifferentpeoplewouldhavedifferentanswerstot