英语技术写作样本.docx

英语技术写作样本.docx

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英语技术写作样本

GuidelinestoSuccessfulTechnicalWriting

1.Revisingwithefficientsentences

Themainpurposeofatechnicaldocumentistoinformorpersuadethereaderthroughuseofefficientsentences，nottoimpressorentertainwithfancylanguagedisplays.So，technicaldocumentstransmitworthwhileinformation—evenhighlyspecializedinformation—inthemoststraightforwardwaytotheiraudience.

Readersoftechnicaldocumentsarebusyandimpatient.Theydonotwishtoputmoreintoreadingadocumentthantheycangetfromit.Theyhatewasteandexpectefficiency.Everysentenceinadocumentshouldberevisedtocarryitsownweight，inconveyingthewriter’smeaning.

Observethesameruleinadoptingsentencestyleasyouwouldinchoosingthedocument’scontent：

makeitlongenoughtobeunderstood，yetshortenoughtobetolerated.Whenwritingatechnicaldocument，consulttheguidelinesbelow，whichcanalsoserveasachecklistforyoursentencestyle:

❑Revisesentencestobeclearandavoidambiguity.

Aclearsentencecommunicatesitsprecisemeaningonfirstreading.Itsignalsrelationshipsamongitsparts，andemphasizesthekeythought.Intechnicalwriting，asentenceshouldhaveonlyonemeaning.Makesurethewords，phrases，andpunctuationareabsolutelyclear.

AmbiguousIcannotrecommendthiscandidatetoohighly.

RevisedThiscandidatehasmyhighestrecommendation.

AmbiguousManyexecutivesareskepticalaboutofficeautomationaswellasmanagers.

RevisedManyexecutivesaswellasmanagersareskepticalaboutofficeautomation.

AmbiguousBeingwell-knowninthecomputerindustry，ourprojectwouldbenefitalotfromtheTsinghuateam.

RevisedBecausetheTsinghuateamiswell-knowninthecomputerindustry，ourprojectwouldbenefitalotfromitshelp.

❑Useactiveratherthanpassivevoicemostofthetime.

Usually，theactivevoice（Joetestedthesoftware.）isbetterthanthepassivevoice（ThesoftwareistestedbyJoe.），butincertainsituationsitcanmakesensetousethelessnaturalpassivestyle.However，manywritersroutinelyusethepassivestylesimplybecausetheybelieveitismore“formal”and“acceptable”.Itisnot.Usingthepassivestyleisthemostcommonreasonforpoorlystructuredsentencesanditalwaysleadstolongersentencesthanarenecessary.Unlessyouhaveaverygoodreasonforthechangeinemphasis，youshouldalwayswriteintheactivestyle.

Thefollowingexamplesshowtheimprovementachievedbyswitchingfrompassivetoactive:

FaultyThereportwaswrittenbyPeter，andwasfoundtobeexcellent.

CorrectPeterwrotethereport，anditwasexcellent.

FaultyThelidshouldbesealedwithwax.

CorrectSealthelidwithwax.

BadThevaluesweremeasuredautomaticallybythecontrolsystem.

GoodThecontrolsystemmeasuredthevaluesautomatically.

Weak&ImpersonalAnofferwillbemadebyusnextweek.

StrongerWewillmakeyouanoffernextweek.

❑Avoidunnecessarywordsandrepetition.

Manysentencescontainunnecessarywordsthatrepeatanideaalreadyexpressedinanotherword.Thiswastesspaceandbluntsthemessage.Oftenwritersuseseveralwordsforideasthatcanbeexpressedinone.Thisleadstounnecessarilycomplexsentencesandredundancy.

RedundantTheprinterislocatedadjacenttothecomputer.

RevisedTheprinterisadjacenttothecomputer.

RedundantTheusercanvisiblyseetheimagemoving.

RevisedTheusercanseetheimagemoving.

RedundantTheproductisnotofasatisfactorynature.

RevisedTheproductisunsatisfactory.

❑Makesentencesfluent.

Fluentsentencesarepolished，graceful，andeasytoread.Variedlengthandwordordermakethemfreeofchoppinessandmonotony.Seethefollowingsuggestions:

Needless“that”Thisisaproblemthatbothersme.

FluentThisproblembothersme.

NeedlessqualifierItseemsthattheyhaveavalidargument.

RevisedTheyhaveavalidargument./Theyseemtohaveavalidargument.

ChoppyJoggingcanbehealthfulifyouhavetherightequipment.Mostimportantarewell-fittingshoes.Theyareimportantbecausewithoutthemyoutakethechanceofinjuringyourlegs.Yourkneesareespeciallypronetoinjury.

RevisedJoggingcanbehealthfulifyouhavetherightequipment.Well-fittingshoesaremostimportantbecausetheypreventinjuriestoyourlegs，especiallyyourknees.

Technicalwritingexercises

1.Thefollowingsentencesareunclearorlackfluencybecauseofambiguousphrasing，incorrectwordorder，ortoomuchinformation.Revisethemsothattheirmeaningsareclear.

a）AmaneatingsharkwasspottedintheSouthSea.

b）Wearingspecialequipment，theradioactivematerialfailedtoinjuretheoperator.

c）Thatisawholenewapproachthatneedsattentionandresearch.

2.Thefollowingsentencesneedtoberewrittenintheactiveorpassivevoiceforbetteremphasis，moredirectnessorgreatereconomy.Makenecessarychangesandgivereasons