2a-清华科技英语写作课件.pdfVIP

Scientific Writing and Presentation in English Lecture 2a: Verbs for Scientific Writing (I) A. Godfrey Tsinghua University, Spring 2008 • lights, music, ACTION!!!!! Verbs are where the ACTION is at… • Verbs are the words that describe “actions” – go, look, eat, swim – cut, measure, imply, conclude • provide important information on – when an action takes place or started (TENSE) – whether the action has is continuing or has a continued effect (TENSE) – who/what is the focus of the action (VOICE) Scientific Writing: Lecture 2a #3 Verbs: Tense (when the action occurs) • simplest classification into three time-zones – PAST (I swam) – PRESENT (I swim) – FUTURE (I will swim) • also can give an indication, either explicitly or implicitly, that the action, or an effect of the action, persists (is ongoing). Scientific Writing: Lecture 2a #4 Verbs: Voice (who or what is most important) • ACTIVE – We annealed the sample in a nitrogen atmosphere furnace for 10 hours at 1000K. • PASSIVE – The sample was annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere furnace for 10 hours at 1000K. • Choice of active or passive is one of style not grammar – BUT – in some cases the passive is preferred – it shouldn’t matter whether you, me, him or her put the sample in the furnace. What matters is that the sample ends up in the furnace. Scientific Writing: Lecture 2a #5 Choosing the correct tense can help in presenting you new “idea” • Q: why should we study verbs in detail? • A: they allow you to differentiate between – existing results / previous results (now believed to