十四步写英文文章

Fourteen Steps to a Clearly Written Technical Paperby R. T. Compton, Jr.A technical paper will usually have four sections. The purpose of each of these sections is as follows:Section I: IntroductionThe introduction should do the following: 1. Open up the subject. (The subject will be electromagnetic fields in cylindrical dielectric geometrics, adaptive arrays in packet radio, or whatever.)2. Survey past work relevant to this paper.3. Describe the problem addressed in this paper, and show how this work relates to, or augments, previous work.4. Describe the assumptions made in general terms, and state what results have been obtained. (This gives the reader an initial overview of what problem is addressed in the paper and what has been achieved.)5. Overview the contents of the paper. (“Section II contains our formulation of the problem. Section III contains the experimental data...”)Section II: Formulation of the Problem This section should do three things:1. Define the problem to be considered in detail. Typically this section might begin with something like: “Consider a packet radio system consisting of a single central repeater surrounded by user terminals. Each user transmits packets to the central repeater using a slotted ALOHA protocol [1]. The transmissions from all users are assumed to be on the same frequency...”The discussion should proceed in this way until the problem is completely defined.2. Define all terminology and notation used. Usually the terminology and notation are defined along with the problem itself.3. Develop the equations on which your results will be based and/or describe any experimental systems.Section III: ResultsThis section presents the detailed results you have obtained. If the paper is theoretical, you will probably show curves obtained from your equations. If the paper is experimental, you will be presenting curves showing the measurement results. In order to choose the proper curves to present, you must first be clear what point you are trying to convey to the reader. The curves can then be chosen to illustrate this point. Whether your paper is theoretical or experimental, you must provide a careful interpretation of what your results mean and why they behave as they do.Section IV: ConclusionThis section should summarize what has been accomplished in the paper. Many readers will read only the Introduction andConclusion of your paper. The Conclusionshould be written so they can beunderstood by someone who has not readthe main work of the paper.This is the common format for anengineering paper. Of course, the names ofthe sections may differ slightly from thoseabove, but the purpose of each section willusually be as described. Some papersinclude additional sections or differ fromthe above outline in one way or another.However, the outline just presented is agood starting point for writing a technicalpaper.To write your paper, you should proceedas follows:Step 1: Start by writing a complete firstdraft of your paper, except for theIntroduction and Conclusion. (It is easiestto leave the Introduction and Conclusionuntil after the main body of the paper iswritten.) In writing your paper, keep thefollowing in mind:1. You must always present the big picturefirst and then work towards the details.The other way around will not work. Thisis especially true in the beginning ofSection II, where you are explaining theproblem you are studying.2. If you get stuck and cannot figure outhow to explain something, a useful trick isto imagine that you are telling a very goodfriend what you are working on: just putdown the words as you would say them toyour friend.In writing your first draft, do not worry ifthe wording is not perfect. Polishing thedocument comes later. When you arefinished with your first draft, put it awayfor a couple of days before you begin Step2.Step 2: Make sure the ideas in the paperare in the right order. If not, move blocksof the paper around with your text editoruntil they are. Ask yourself: “Can thereader understand every passage strictlyfrom the material up to that point?” If not,add material or move ideas around. Makesure there are not gaps in your logicalarguments, and make sure you are notimplicitly assuming that the readerunderstands something needed to followyour arguments, even though you have notstated it. The reader probably understandsless than you think.Step 3: Work on the transitions betweenideas. Make sure that at each stage thereader has a roadmap of where he or she isgoing. The reader must be able to see thebig picture. At the beginning of eachsection, make clear to the reader inadvance what the purpose of that sectionwill be and how that section relates to thepreceding material. At the end of eachsection, you may also want to remind thereader that you have now completed whatyou set out to do in that section. Thenpoint out what the purpose of the nextsection will be, and so forth. Theseconnecting statements are calledtransitions. The reader must always beable to see where you are going and whyand how far you have progressed.Step 4: Check each paragraph for unity.Each paragraph should have one mainpoint. Usually the central point of eachparagraph is stated in a topical sentence atthe beginning of the paragraph, but notalways. You should not mix different ideastogether in the same paragraph. If you arehaving trouble getting a certain section ofyour paper to sound right, go through thatsection one paragraph at a time and askyourself what the main point of eachparagraph is. Foggy writing is often due tomixed-up paragraphs.Step 5: Work on the sentences to reducethe fog index. The Fog Index F is definedas F = 0.4(L + P), where L is the averagenumber of words per sentence and P is theaverage number of polysyllables per 100words of text [1]. (A polysyllable is a wordwith three or more syllables.) To evaluatethe Fog Index for your paper, count thenumber of words per sentence and thenumber of polysyllables per 100 words fora representative portion of your paper fiveor six hundred words long. Ideally, youshould strive for a fog index less than 10.In technical writing, it is sometimesdifficult to get the Fog Index below 10, buta Fog Index above 15 is a warning thatyour material will be very hard for a readerto follow.Consider the following examples takenfrom typical office memos. Note that bothmemos say the same thing.Fog Index = 35: “In order to eliminate thepossibility of errors occurring in the timecharges relating to engineering jobsthrough transposition of numbers or typingerrors, each of the Division PlanningOffices should set up a file of time cardsshowing all authorized project numbersand make a daily check of the charges onall time sheets forwarded to theAccounting Department to be sure that英语学习资料下载大全（更新中）英语阅读资料汇总5分钟和陌生人成为朋友(英文版)共200页PDF下载名著汤姆叔叔的小屋下载（PDF,txt，EXE格式）155篇大学应背英语课文.(中英对照)傲慢与偏见电子书下载泰戈尔散文100篇节选(中英对照）.Gossip girl #1《绯闻少女系列一》by Cecily V on Ziegesar(pdf)《闪灵》(The Shining)PDF下载好书下载：Teaching Young Children a Second Language一本容易读懂的英语小说中国四大名著英文版下载幽谷百和（双语电子书下载）新东方背诵文选全集_共50篇散文佳作108篇-汉译英散文佳作108篇-英译汉奥巴马新书AUDACITY OF HOPE(无畏的希望)PDF下载《鲁迅全集》英文版WORD下载谍影重重－英文版下载神奇动物在哪里英文书下载哈利波特双语全集电子书下载书虫系列简易英汉逐句对照读物 txt傅伟良：英文经济报刊精读（修订版）PDF下载迈克尔杰克逊自传 pdf原版英文下载2006年畅销获奖儿童小说《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》PDF原版英文小说下载英文版金庸神雕侠侣WORD版下载词汇纳尼亚传奇第一部注释兼下载林语堂-《生活的艺术》英文版下载《世界上最伟大的推销员》(羊皮卷)中英文对照谁动了我的奶酪（一书全下载）香水_一个谋杀犯的故事(中英文版)PDF下载钱钟书《围城》完整高清汉英对照版pdf希腊神话中英文对照全集.中国传统民间寓言精选（汉英对照）双语英语美文共5 本PDF下载迪士尼神奇英语配套教材+全套神奇英语配套教材Ⅰ(1-8)刘茜：征婚交友网恋英语一本通弘恢：男欢女爱开心英语梦想与现实（PDF下载）墓光之城系列 pdf版下载24小时如何过活（英文书PDF下载）胡杨：大学英语四六级晨读经典365篇下载双语杂志美文下载（共几百多页）英语美文阅读The Chronicles of Narnia(1-7)《纳尼亚传奇》by CS Lewis(txt)双语好文共赏共140篇下载英语小故事下载疯狂英语美文欣赏1共30篇下载疯狂英语美文欣赏2共30篇下载疯狂英语美文欣赏3共30篇疯狂英语美文欣赏4共33篇历届美国总统就职演说下载the secret史上最畅销心灵励志书下载（英文版）亚马逊原版英文畅销书高清晰PDF版下载双语经典美文共约1500篇汇总及电子书下载20首绝妙的英文爱情小诗集电子书下载疯狂英文背诵爱情加油总站及文本下载15篇经典爱情英文美文背诵及文本下载文学经典书籍下载大全英语沙龙创刊10年珍藏版下载英语小短文共21篇电子书下载英语智慧背囊共120篇下载英语快乐求知共120篇电子书下载英语阅读训练及答案共90篇电子书下载英语阅读之聚观天下共100篇电子书下载英语阅读之美丽人生共100篇电子书下载《古希腊神话》中英文对照电子书下载英语语法资料汇总英语语法表下载（学好英语语法必备）英语词汇资料电子书下载大全英语语法资料电子书下载大全笨蛋笨法学外语.四步英语Etymology.Dictionary(词源学词典)[CHM]英语词根词缀记忆小全PDF下载赖世雄语法共51篇电子书下载新东方英语-精析老友记英语词汇资料汇总800句绕口令帮你记住7000个单词单词逻辑记忆法共20篇下载单词记忆法汇总共17篇下载记忆超人-英语单词妙记手册英语+5000个必备基本单词及其解释趣味词汇记忆口诀汇总及下载8天攻克8000词汇(词根部分)精彩谚语集锦（约100页下载）英语句型宝典《单词背上瘾》连载1~25及文本下载73组好易弄晕的英语单词很有用单词背后的故事：194个英语单词的起源及巧记方法汇总及文本下载VOA常用1500单词下载分类词汇汇总及文本下载超级搞笑背单词联想记忆词汇教程中国日报汉英词汇表《不擇手段背單詞》完整版英语同义词辨析辞典别笑！我是英文单词书下载小笨霖英语笔记1-107课下载热门话题新词汇总共17篇下载英语写作资料汇总英文写作，阅读，语法及词汇书下载汇总写作精品背诵句型共40多页WORD下载[新东方]写作常用词组搭配推荐本好书：好英文写作手册四十二天学会英语的模范短文本科英语写作教材PDF下载实用英语写作技巧电子书英语写作指导及范文共80篇电子书下载写作佳句230例应用文写作共29篇下载英语书信范文共143篇下载英语口语资料汇总新东方美国口语教程共60课下载（WORD）格式英语高级口语教程共300多页PDF下载英语中级口语教程共200多页PDF书下载疯狂英语脱口而出练习篇WORD下载疯狂英语脱口而出卖弄篇WORD下载疯狂英语脱口而出准备篇WORD下载人人说英语初级（共200页左右PDF书下载）人人说英语中级（共200页左右PDF书下载）人人说英语高级（共200页PDF书下载）每日英语学习资料下载汇总英语学习共三十二课必修句下载老美说烂的但教科书只字不提的地道美语汇总及下载英语名人名言WORD下载躺着学万能会话电子书下载常用词缀下载分类词汇下载张翔-掌握英语口语系列之超级口语教程张翔-掌握英语口语系列之特级口语教程英语情景对话下载办公室英语下载旅游英语共146篇电子书下载英语情景对话共75篇下载现代英语口语表示法500例WORD下载英语惯用语共90多页PDF格式下载英语有声资料汇总人性的弱点（mp3及PDF文本下载）titanic泰坦尼克号（mp3及LRC字幕下载）疯狂英语脱口而准备篇（mp3和WORD下载）疯狂英语脱口而练习篇（mp3和WORD下载）疯狂英语脱口而出卖弄篇（mp3和WORD下载）人人说英语中级（mp3和文本下载）人人说英语高级（mp3和文本下载）人人说英语初级（mp3和文本下载）Garfield加菲猫（mp3.及漫画书PDF格式下载）精美英语电子书（音频及文字）下载汇总《智慧背囊》电子书（文本及听力）李阳疯狂英语365句有声电子书下载视频教程在线：单词不用记共12讲汇总2009最新高分冒险大片《鬼妈妈》文字及MP3下载美丽英文—幸福没有终点站电子书下载（含文本及听力）读故事记单词-女生版电子书下载英语翻译资料汇总汉译英难点解析500例（共32页WORD下载）2400门课程名称英文大全（WORD下载）英语长句翻译基本功（英语翻译讲座资料共29页下载）经典中文语句英译中国菜单英文译法共50篇电子书下载英语新词汇与常用词汇的翻译共164篇下载翻译趣闻共40篇下载口译技巧及解析共41篇下载笔译技巧及解析共33篇下载英汉对照翻译3000句孙子兵法中英文对照共15篇英语成语及解析共30篇电子书下载复旦大学名师翻译讲义刘士聪：汉英英汉美文翻译与鉴赏(中英对照).英语其他资料下载英语手机JAR电子书共15本下载汇总中国人写英文文章最常犯的错误总结50篇经典英文演讲看故事记单词名人演说共67篇下载英语绕口令共40篇下载休闲英语1共185篇下载休闲英语2共155篇下载英语轻松一刻共60篇下载阅读难点关键句200（中英对照）.名人名言共140篇下载一千零一夜共44篇下载伊索寓言共312篇下载英语小故事下载英语演讲词稿共36篇下载谚语和格言共205篇下载英语阅读理解共100篇下载唐诗300首（中英文对照）.如何学好英语PPT下载美国总统演讲全集WORD和PDF版下载大学英语精读第1册课文WORD及MP3下载英汉对照描写辞典共70多页WORD下载only authorized numbers are used.” (1 sentence, 69 words, 13 polysyllables)Fog Index = 11: “It is easy to transpose digits and make typing errors when entering project numbers. We suggest each Division Planning Office set up a file of time cards showing all authorized project numbers. Then all charges should be checked each day before sending time sheets to the Accounting Department.” (3 sentences. 48 words, 5 polysyllables)To reduce the fog index, you must do two things: (1) reduce the length of your sentences (by breaking long sentences into shorter ones), and (2) get rid of as many complicated words as possible (by using simpler words instead).Step 6: Get rid of as many passive verbs as possible. Always check your paper for passive verbs. (“The data were measured and the results were correlated.”) Change as many verbs as possible into the active form. (“We measured the data and correlated the results.”) Using too many passive verbs makes your writing boring. Editor’s comment: At their worst, passive verbs can make writing incomprehensible. The reader always needs to know who is doing what to whom, and a passive verb often obscures both the agent and the recipient of an action. In Ted’s example, the passive form obscures who it was that measured the data and correlated the results.Step 7: Use verbs more than nouns. Do not bury the main action of your sentences in nouns or adjectives. Instead, let the verbs carry the action. Consider these examples:Example: “The annual report produced a disappointed reaction from the sponsor.”Revision: “The annual report disappointed the sponsor.Example: “It is our expectation that we will see radiation pattern improvement when the antenna is elevated.”Revision: “We expect to improve the radiation pattern by elevating the antenna.”Your writing will sound better if you move the action into the verbs.Step 8: Get rid of as many abstract words as possible. Your paper will practically always sound better if you use specific words instead of abstract words. For example, instead of “We determined the conditions for performance improvement,” say “We measured the noise variance necessary to increase the bit error probability by 5 percent.” The problem is that abstract words oftenconvey a different meaning to the readerthan the one you intended.Step 9: Check for consistent use of verbtense. Many technical professionalschange verb tense frequently between thefuture and present tense for no reason. Youshould check that your verb tense isconsistent throughout the paper. Usually itis simplest just to stick to the presenttense: “We present our results in SectionIII,” instead of “We shall present ourresults in Section III.” (Note that thecorrect future tense for the first person (Ior we) is “shall”, not will.”Step 10: Do not use “this” as a pronoun.Avoid sentences such as “This is...” and“This gives...” When “this” is used as apronoun, its antecedent is often missing orpoorly defined, and the resulting writingusually looks amateurish. A typicalexample in engineering writing is, “Byincreasing the impedance, the radiationlevel is increased and the electric fieldbecomes stronger. This means that...”What specifically does “this” refer to?(Moreover, who did the “increasing”?)The solution to this problem is to change“this” to an adjective by inserting asuitable noun. For example, use “Thisresult is...” “This difficulty is due to...” andso forth.Step 11: Check your entire document forsubtle grammatical mistakes. We are nottalking here about elementary grammarproblems. Presumably you do not writeegregious sentences such as “He don’t gotno potatoes.” Rather, the idea is to watchout for more subtle problems, which arevery common in engineering writing [2]Step 12: Polish and polish. Check that thesentence rhythm and timing are pleasing,and that the ideas flow clearly and simply.If some section does not quite sound right,work on it some more. Eventually you willget the right wording. You are looking forsubtle changes that will improve the waythe paper “flows.” The main tools youshould use for thisstep are: (1) reducing the Fog Index byshortening sentences and eliminating bigwords, as discussed in Step 5, and (2)checking each paragraph to make sure ithas one main point, as described in Step 4.You will get better at this step over time,as you develop a “feel” for clear writing.Step 13: Write the Conclusion. ThisConclusion section should simplysummarize for the reader what has beenpresented in the paper.Step 14: Write the Introduction. TheIntroduction is frequently the hardest partof the paper to write. It must be smoothlywritten. The Introduction should addresseach of the items mentioned in the outlineon Page 1. Moreover, the points discussedin Steps 1-13 should all be used to polishyour Introduction until it is as smooth aspossible.NotesThe Fog Index was first suggested by Mr.Robert Gunning, an early advocate of clearwriting. According to him, the factor 0.4 inthe definition makes the Fog Indexcorrespond approximately to the numberof years of education a reader must have toread a document easily.Reprinted by IEEE Circuits & DevicesMagazine, September, 1992。