SCI写作拾遗.ppt

SCI写作拾遗 GONG Haijun（宫海军）College of HorticultureNorthwest AF UniversityYangling 712100, Shaanxi, P.R. ChinaE-mail: gongnavy@ CONTENT Passive voice Sentence Templates Useful expressions Common incorrect uses Some technical problems Others Chapter 1Passive voice You might use it in the following cases: (1) The actor is unknown: e.g. The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. (We don’t know who made them.) (2) The actor is irrelevant: e.g. An experimental solar power plant will be built in the Australian desert. (We are not interested in who is building it.) (3) You want to be vague about who is responsible: e.g. Mistakes were made. (Common in bureaucratic writing!) (4) You are talking about a general truth: e.g. Rules are made to be broken. (By whomever, whenever.) (5) You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. For example, it may be your main topic: e.g. Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by researchers at the University of Toronto. It is still the only treatment available for diabetes. (6) You are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive voice: e.g. The sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloric acid. 2. When to avoid passive voice (1) When it can be vague about who is responsible for the action: e.g. Both Othello and lago desire Desdemona. She is courted. (2) Academic writing often focuses on differences between the ideas of different researchers. Too many passive sentences can create confusion: e.g. Research has been done to confirm this theory. (Who did the research? You? Your professor? Another author?) (3) Some students use passive sentences to hide holes in their research: e.g. The telephone was invented in the nineteenth century. (I couldn’t find out who invented the telephone!) (4) Passive sentences often sound word