A translation of song “All for the love of a girl”

Translated by Fenger

Song by Johnny Horton

Well, today I’m so weary, today I’m so blue
Sad and broken hearted and it’s all because of you

今天我是如此疲惫,今天我是如此伤悲/

都是为了你啊,我心痛欲碎/

Life was so sweet dear, life was a song
And now you’ve gone and left me, oh where do I belong?

生活如此甜蜜, 生活就像歌曲/

你却离我远去, 让我心归何处/

And it’s all for the love of a dear little girl
All for the love that sets your heart in a whirl
I’m a man who’d give his life and the joys of this world
All for the love of a girl

我所有的一切都是为了你啊/

我心中的女孩,我已身不由己/

就让我把全部的生命, 还有我的欢乐/

都奉献给你,我心中的女孩/

只为拥有你的爱/

And it’s all for the love of a dear little girl
All for the love that sets your heart in a whirl
I’m a man who’d give his life and the joys of this world
All for the love of a girl

我所有的一切都是为了你啊/

我心中的女孩,我已身不由己/

就让我把全部的生命, 还有我的欢乐/

都奉献给你,我心中的女孩/

只为拥有你的爱。

A Beginner’s Guide to Scientific Writing

This short article is a summary of my dissertation editing and revising, where several common questions facing the non-native English speaker were addressed, e.g. past vs present tense, the formal unit, and avoiding run-on. As to the writing style, one needs to consider the fields within which the article/paper/thesis will be.

Elements of Style

Basic rules on writing and style can be found in the Elements of Style. A gist of my opinions is so listed.

Elementary Rules

  • place a comma before and or but introducing an independent clause; this way the sentence is loose, and it is better rewriting to define a clear relation between those clauses.
  • use semicolon between to independent clauses, even the second one is preceded by an adverb, such as accordingly, so, then, therefore, or thus.
    • I had never been here before; so I had difficult in finding the way
    • In general, however, it is better to avoid using so in this manner
    • Rewrite: as I had never been here before, I had difficulty in ……
  • enclose parenthetic expressions between commas,
    • for instance, the best way to see a country, unless you are pressed for time, is to travel on foot.
    • restrictive relative clauses are not set off by commas.
    • for instance, the candidate who best meets these requirements will obtain the place
  • a participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject.
    • Not ‘on arriving in Chicago, his friends met him at the station’
    • But ‘on his arrival or when he arrived, his friends met him’
    • Not ‘young and inexperienced, the task seemed easy to me’
    • But ‘young and inexperienced, I thought the task easy’

Composition

  • begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with the beginning
  • ending with a digression, or with an trivial detail, is particularly to be avoided.
  • if more than one sentence is required preceding the topic sentence, better to set apart the transitional sentences as a paragraph

several ways to develop the paragraph with regarding to the topic sentence:

  • restating in other forms, defining its terms, denying the converse
  • giving illustrations or specific instances
  • establish by proofs
  • showing the implications and consequences

avoid make one passive depend directly upon another; for instance, do not use ‘Gold was not allowed to be exported’, use ‘It is forbidden to export gold’ instead.

another common fault is to use as the subject of a passive construction a noun which expression the entire action: such as ‘confirmation of these reports cannot be obtained’; instead, ‘these reports cannot be confirmed’ suffices.

make definite assertions, since the read is dissatisfied with being told only what is not; one wished to be told what is. Hence, express a negative in positive form.

  • not much use -> useless
  • not admirable -> unattractive
  • not import -> insignificant
  • not much confidence in -> distrusted

be concise:

  • owing to the fact that -> since (because)
  • in spite of the fact that -> though
  • call your attention to the fact that -> notify/remind you

avoid loose sentences; use parallel construction; keep related words together, the subject and the principal verb should not be separated by a phrase or clause that can be transferred to the beginning.

Compare ‘there was a look in his eye that boded mischief’ to ‘in his eye was a look that boded mischief’.

If the summary is in the present tense, antecedent action should be expressed by the perfect; if in the past, by the past perfect.

APA publication guide

grammar and usage

Typical problems are presented as following:

  • do not use would to hedge (); for example, change it would appear that to it appears that
  • misplaced modifiers and use of adverbs:
    • correct: On the basis of this assumption, we develop a model
    • correct: Based on this assumption, the model…
    • incorrect: based on this assumption, we developed a model
  • only:
    • correct: these data provide only a partial answer
    • incorrect: these data only provide a partial answer
  • dangling modifiers:
    • correct: using this procedure, I tested model a
    • incorrect: the model a was tested using this procedure
    • correct: author found the peaks were located at a, b, and c, a result that is in agreement with those of previous studies.
    • incorrect?: author found the peaks were located at a, b, and c, in agreement/consistent with previous studies.
  • introductory or transitional words: similarly, consequently, importantly, interestingly, etc
    • correct: we find it interesting that / an interesting finding was that
    • incorrect: interestingly, sentence A.
  • subordinate conjunctions: since, while, although.
    • since and while better only refer to time;
    • use while to link events occuring simultaneously;
    • use since for time; otherwise, replace it with because.
    • precise: the argument is purely philosophical, but the conclusion …
    • imprecise: While the argument is purely philosophical, the conclusion …
  • relative pronouns: which, that. use ‘that’ for restrictive clauses and ‘which’ for nonrestrictive clauses, which are set off with commas.

  • ensure parallel construction.

    • results show that … and that …
    • between … and …, both … and …,
    • correct: it is surprising not only that … but also that …
    • incorrect: it is not only surprising that … but also that …

style mechanics

  • period for inch (in.), but not other metric measurement abbreviations
  • use comma
    • between elements in a series of three or more items
    • to set off the year in exact dates: April 23, 1984
  • do not use a comma between the two parts of a compound predicate.
    • subject did A and did B; not subject did A, and did B.
  • use colon
    • between a grammatically complete clause and a final phrase or clause that illustrates the preceding thought. If the clause following the colon is a complete sentence, it begins with a capital letter
    • They agreed on the outcome: Informed participants performs better than do uninformed participants.
    • do not use a colon after an introduction that is not an independent clause or complete sentence
    • the formula is $r = a + e$

    • use centered dot, not slash, to express compound units

    • hyphens: some prefixes and suffixes do not require hyphens:
    • like, wavelike; multi, multiphase; post, pre, preexperimental; ultra.

Past versus Present

According to the 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), the following suggestions

  • for literature review: use past tense (author showed) or present perfect (author has shown)
  • for describing results, use past tense (band gap decreased monotonically)
  • for discussing results and preseting conclusion, use present tense (results of this study suggest)
  • backshifting in subordinate clause

related questions:

Unit

The NIST checklist is a good start. Some common mistakes or improper usage are listed as following:

  • plurals: unit symbols are unaltered, e.g. 200 cm, not 200 cms;
  • space : one space should be present between the value and unit symbols; exception: the superscript angle unit symbol should stay closely;
  • object and quantity: a resistor of resistance 10 kOhm, not a resistance of 10 kOhm.
  • abbreviations: s or second, not sec; m/s not mps; 10 nm to 100 nm, not 10 to 100 nm/ 10-100 nm

List of phrases

  • prior to (before)
  • due to. Incorrectly used for because of, owing to in adverbial phrases: ‘he lost the game, due to carelessness.’ Correct use: ‘this invention is due to Edison;’ ‘losses due to preventable fires.’
  • effect. As noun, means result; as verb, means to bring about, accomplish (affect, ‘to influence’).
  • etc. not to be used of persons. at the end of list introduced by such as, for example, or similar expression, etc. is incorrect.
  • However. in the meaning nevertheless, not to come first in its sentence or clause:
    • NOT ‘The roads were almost impassable. However, we at last arrived.’
    • Should be ‘The roads were almost impassable. At last, however, we arrived.’
      when however comes first, it means in whatever way or to whatever extent.
    • However you advise him, he will probably do as he thinks best
    • However discouraging the prospect, he never lost heart.
  • less. not be misused for fewer. less refers to quantity, fewer to number.
    • ‘his troubles are less than mine’ means ‘his troubles are not so great as mine’
    • ‘his troulbe are fewer then mine’ means ‘his troubles are not so numerous as mine’
    • Exception: ‘less than a number’ is thought of as meaning a less amount.
  • while. avoid the indiscriminate use of this word for and, but, and although. better replaced by a semicolon. fine in the sense of during the time that
    • sentence a, while sentence b -> sentence a; sentence b

FAQ List

This post is created using the markdown feature provided by Jetpack.
references

Come. And Be My Baby

by Maya Angelou

The highway is full of big cars
going nowhere fast
And folks is smoking anything that’ll burn
Some people wrap their lives around a cocktail glass
And you sit wondering
where you’re going to turn.
I got it.
Come. And be my baby.

Some prophets say the world is gonna end tomorrow
But others say we’ve got a week or two
The paper is full of every kind of blooming horror
And you sit wondering
what you’re gonna do.
I got it.
Come. And be my baby.

information overload

 对这个题目有了更深的理解。此记。

“Contemporary technology makes available many small pieces of factual information. As a result, people have become so preoccupied with bits of fragmented information that they pay too little attention to the larger issues and overall perspectives.”
现代技术使得许多事实信息碎片留存。这导致了人们对这些信息碎片先入为主,而几乎不关心更大的问题和事物的全局。

事实信息碎片具体指什么?举例。
  fragmented information perpaps means a small fraction of isolated infromation that such as a new survey identifying

现代技术是信息碎片大量留存的真正原因吗?是,为什么会发生这种情况?举例说明;否,真正的或其他的原因是什么?举例。
 modern technology to a large extent contributes to the remaining of fragmented info. this is partly due to the fact
that nowadays, info can be distributed in a relatively low cost and more effecient ways. Internet is a platform through which
one can have access to tons of info, while the main force seems to be the increasing competition, commercial or political or scientific.

现代技术影响了人们对事物的理解和把握吗?否,为什么?是,通过哪些方式?举例说明。

信息碎片真的有可能会干扰人们对全局的理解吗?为什么,举例。

信息碎片在所有情况下都会影响到人对事物的理解吗?是,为什么?否,举例说明。

人们在理解事物的过程中对信息碎片先入为主,会导致哪些好的或者坏的结果?分别举例说明。

人们在理解事物的过程中更关注大问题和全局,而忽略细节,会导致哪些好的活着坏的结果?分别举例说明。

人们更容易关注信息碎片,而忽略事物的全局或是更重大的问题吗?为什么,举例说明。

从细节出发看问题,和从整体出发看问题,会让人们对事物的理解有所不同吗?为什么?举例。

如果说所有人的认识都局限于自己的某个层面,那么哪些人会支持此论题的观点?他们为什么会这样认为?
你的观点是什么?为什么?

the black swan

–站在那怕再无聊的书架前,也能发现一本好书。

我就是这么发现the black swan 的,虽然之前听过,却没能招来看。
翻看一章,虽然翻译的比较差劲,还是能透过文字感受到作者的一点思想:对随机现象的理

解和领会是我们看世界的一个新视角,一个很重要却常常被忽略的视角(可能和大脑的设计

和机理有关吧,比如倾向于理解那些能理解的,忘记那些不能领会的)。

其中很多思想可以借鉴:
1:fact and trend
2:多做尝试,少做计划;
。。。。。

一定找原版书来看看。

the brain that changes itself note1

The first chapter depicts one who suffered from a balance system and felt that she was falling, because of deficits of her brain resulting from overdose of some drugs. Then doctor used a treatment in which a device was installed on her tongue, sending signal to the brain to coordinate her response to external action. After a long time of training, a new channel is built up to replace the damaged part and she recovered. It is a convincing case which demonstrates that on the contrary of former ideas which held that the brain is developed and then fixed, it can be rewired,(I paraphrase) -just like the cell can be activated, so does the brain.

An even more example comes from the doctor’s father(DF), who had a stroke and then lost basic ability to speak, walk and even crawl. In a similarly way, DF is trained with great patience and extraordinary ideas, then he regains it. After about 7 years, DF had a heart disease and pass away when he was climbing a mountain. The research of his brain shows that his brain had serious damages, indicating that the brain changed itself to form a new path to deal with the nervous reaction.

Chapter two is about a girl named Barbara who had problem in logic, reasoning and reading. For example, she cannot read the clock, distinguish the difference between A’s B and B’s A. But she can write well. She made a lot of effort to enter college. After reading a case of a Soviet soldier who had a bullet in his brain but survived it, and developed a similar symptom as Barbara, she gave up the traditional therapy and attempted to develop a cure, finally she healed herself.

According to the research and experience of author, somewhat brain disability seems ordinary among all of us, only with different level.

An alarming conclusion is that the curriculum of rote memorization of long poems helps building a strengthened brain function of memory and thinking in languages. However, these curriculums were dropped by the educators since 1960s, who claimed that it was boring and helpless. As a result, many students lost the only opportunity to exercise the brains systematically. Moreover, according to the author, this change also contributes to the decrease of eloquent people. (it occurs to me that we should do a research about Mr Obama’s education). And people’s rely on PPT can be interpreted as a compensation of a weak pre-motor cortex.

These discovery remind me that maybe some of my peers in elementary school who had a poor score suffer from certain brain problems, which, if identified, can be treated with much less efforts.
To be continued