14 Techincal Abstract TP[10页]
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Chapter 14 Technical Abstract An amazing torrent of new technical information comes to us each day, including scientific articles, technical reports, business studies, and daily memos, etc. Therefore, it is not surprising that even very bright people are being overwhelmed by the sea of information. The job for a technical writer is to turn the torrent of information into useful knowledge. And one of the most effective ways in doing this is the abstract. Technical abstracts are generally used to accomplish two major tasks: selecting and indexing检索. Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in the full article to quickly decide whether it is worth their time to read it. Also, many online databases use abstracts to index larger works. Therefore, abstracts contain keywords and phrases that allow for easy searching. The abstract is usually the first section of an academic research paper, coming after the title and before the introduction. However, it can also be used independently as a substitute of the research paper in the database or index索引 for paper retrieval论文检索. The abstract provides the reader with a brief preview of the study based on information from the full report. I. Types of the Technical Abstract According to their functions and contents, abstracts can be classified in three types: descriptive abstracts, evaluative abstracts and informative abstracts. 1. Descriptive Abstract说明性摘要 A descriptive abstract indicates the type of information found in the work. It merely identifies the areas to be covered in the report. It is an extended statement of purpose or scope, but makes no judgments about the work, nor does it provide results or conclusions of the research. Some people consider it an outline of the work, rather than a summary. Descriptive abstracts are usually very short—100 words or less. Figure 14-1 Descriptive Abstract This report analyzes the principles of magnetic refrigeration with application to air conditioning. A comparison with the conventional evaporation-condensation gas cycle device is presented. The applicability of magnetic refrigeration to air conditioning is discussed. 该报告分析了磁制冷用于空调的原理。与传统的蒸发凝聚气体装置进行了比较。对于把磁致冷应用于空调进行了讨论。 The descriptive abstract merely tells what the full report contains. After reading the abstract above, you get to know what this article is about, but to get the main idea, you must read the article. The main purpose of the descriptive abstract is to help busy readers quickly decide whether they need or want the information in the article enough to read it entirely. Unlike the informative abstract, it cannot serve as a substitute for the article itself. 1 2. Evaluative Abstract评论性摘要 An evaluative abstract is also called a critical abstract. Its primary purpose is to analyze the accuracy, completeness, usefulness, appeal, and readability of an article. The evaluative abstract emphasizes the writer’s assessment of the original work. In the evaluative abstract you can include your own comments and reactions—your thoughts and feelings regarding the material and the presentation of the material. Figure 14-2 Evaluative Abstract This article presents four strategies for reading technical information effectively. The article is both interesting and instructive, with each strategy described in detail and with examples.本文叙述了有效地进行专业信息阅读的四种策略。文章既有趣味性又有知识性，对每一种策略都进行了详细叙述并举例说明。 In this abstract, the first sentence is descriptive. In the second sentence, the phrases “both interesting and instructive” and “in detail and with examples” give the writer’s assessment of the original article but not the content or main idea of it. Such type of abstract is usually used in book reviews. The characteristics of a sic-tech paper are objectiveness and strictness. The evaluation of the article should be made by readers but not authors. Therefore, this type of abstract is rarely used in research papers. 3. Informative Abstract报道性摘要 An informative abstract summarizes the entire report and gives the reader an overview of the facts that is laid out in detail in the paper itself. It presents and explains briefly the main points of the article, including the background, purposes, methods, results and conclusions, etc. It serves as a substitute of the original and is the proper form for paper retrieving. Figure 14-3 Informative Abstract 1It is generally believed that food habits of closely related species do not overlap significantly where species occur together. 2The objective of the study was to test the theory of competitive exclusion. 3The food habits of larval butterflies of two related species from a zone of overlap near Oil City, PA were examined. 4Transects in five different habitats were used to determine food and habitat preferences in wild populations. 5Two species of captive caterpillars were offered various foods in the laboratory; weight changes of foods and caterpillars were determined daily. 6Food habits in overlapping habitats were significantly different between the two species (p= 0.001). 7Food habits in non-overlapping habitats were not significantly different (p= 0.52). 7There were no differences in food preferences (p= 0.76) or growth rates (p= 0.88) on different foods in laboratory maintained populations. 8These species are able to coexist because they are not competing for the same, and limiting, food resources in the same area. 9These results support the theory of competitive exclusion because the two species did not use the same food resources from similar habitats. 通常认为，生活在同一地域的亲密相关物种的食物习性是不会明显地相互重叠的。该研究的目的是检验竞争排斥理论。对有亲缘关系的两种蝴蝶幼虫的食物习性进行了研究，这些幼虫来自宾夕法尼亚石油城附近的一个部分重叠地区。使用五个不同栖息地的样带来确定野生群体的食物和栖息选择。在实验室里给捕获的两种蝴蝶幼虫提供各种不同的食物；每天都确定食物和幼虫的重量变化。在重叠栖息地的两种幼虫的食物习性有明显差异。在不重叠栖 2 息地的两种幼虫的食物习性没有明显差异。在实验室喂养的蝴蝶幼虫中，在对于不同食物的选择或生长速率方面没有明显差异。这些物种可以共生是因为它们没有在同一地区为相同的、有限的食物来源而竞争。这些结果支持竞争排斥理论，因为这两个物种在同一栖息地不使用相同的食物资源。 Source: Adapted from Jock Irons (2001). How to write an abstract: [On-line]. Available: http://www.uaf.edu/csem/ashsss/abstract_writing.html The purpose of an informative abstract is to help readers identify articles of interest, to outline the main points of an article, and to guide the reading of longer documents. When most people use the word abstract they are probably referring to the informative abstract. Sic-tech paper abstracts are usually written in this form. II. Formats of Informative Abstracts According to their formats, informative abstracts can be classified into two kinds: standard abstracts and structured abstracts. 1. Standard Abstract标准摘要 A standard informative abstract in its complete form usually consists of the following parts: 1) Background: Introducing the present situation of the research 2) Purpose: Stating the task, the problem to be solved, or thesis of the research 3) Methods: Describing the principles, subjects, materials, technology, methods or procedures of the research 4) Results: Presenting the data, effects or properties obtained from the research 5) Conclusion: Providing the solution or answer to the problem raised by the purpose; giving recommendations or predictions on the basis of the results In a standard abstract, all parts are written in one paragraph. The following is an abstract from a research paper on test analysis of Chinese college students’ capability in English communication. Figure 14-4 Standard Abstract 1While Colleague English Tests（CET）have promoted the college English teaching, they have also led to the extension of test-oriented education and hindered students’ capability in communication. 2To examine the validity of CET Band Four, resumed tests were carried out in sampled students of Grade 3 in December, 2002, one year after they took CET-4. 3While the control class was examined with the original paper of CET-4 2002, the treatment class was tested with the same paper in which the multiple-choice questions were all changed into the subjective ones. 4The test scores were processed with the statistical analysis program SPSS. 5The results showed that although there was no significant difference between the two classes in CET-4 scores (p=0.125 >0.05), there was significant difference between them in their experimental test scores (P=0.000<<0.01). 6The scores of the treatment class were significantly lower than that of the control class. 7The results indicate that CET cannot objectively reflect students’ capability in communication, and thus its validity is low. 8To eliminate the negative backwash effect of CET, we suggest that CET be devised as a criterion-referenced test, frequency of the test be reduced, and 3 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/763f692d0422192e453610661ed9ad51f01d5463.html