Introductions and Conclusions Revisited · 引言与结尾再探
The same two positions, with an argument behind you
- Unit 4 covered what an introduction and conclusion may do.
- By Unit 7 you have written several arguments, and the question changes.
- It is no longer what these paragraphs can do but which job this argument needs from them.
An introduction that worked for Essay A may greet Essay B as if it has mistaken the house.
同样的两个位置,身后已有一篇论证
- 第四单元讲了引言与结论可以做什么。
- 到第七单元,你已经写过若干篇论证,问题也随之改变。
- 它不再是这两段能做什么,而是这一篇论证需要它们做哪一项工作。
适合甲作文的开头，搬到乙作文里，可能像敲错了门还热情地打招呼。
Choosing the introduction's job
- If the reader will doubt you, use the opening to introduce the writer and earn standing.
- If the topic is unfamiliar, use it to establish context.
- If the reader knows the subject but not why it is urgent, establish the exigence.
选定引言的工作
- 如果读者会怀疑你,就用开篇介绍写作者并赢得立足之地。
- 如果题目对读者陌生,就用它确立语境。
- 如果读者了解主题却不知道它为何紧迫,就确立促因。
If the reader has reason to doubt you, use the opening to introduce the . · 如果读者有理由怀疑你，用开篇引入。
Earning standing early is one of the introduction's permitted jobs. · 尽早建立信誉是开篇的允许功能之一。
Match each reader obstacle to the introduction's job. · 将每个读者障碍与开篇的功能匹配。
The obstacle chooses the job, exactly as it does for methods of development. · 障碍决定功能，正如它决定展开方法一样。
Choosing the conclusion's job
- Present the thesis in its earned form when the argument has changed what the claim means.
- Explain its significance when the reader may accept the claim and not see why it matters.
- Situate it in a broader context when the argument belongs to a larger question.
选定结论的工作
- 当论证已经改变了这一主张的含义时,以其被赢得的形式呈现论点。
- 当读者可能接受主张却看不出它为何要紧时,说明它的重要性。
- 当论证属于一个更大的问题时,把它置于更广阔的语境中。
Which job did this ending choose? · 这个结尾选择了哪项功能？
Match each conclusion to the permitted job it does. · 将每个结尾与其允许承担的功能匹配。
Select all · 所有 the jobs the CED permits a conclusion. · 选出CED允许结尾承担的所有任务。
There is no permitted job of apologising for the essay's limits. · 没有允许为文章局限道歉的功能。
A conclusion that could have opened the essay has not been earned. Summary fails this test automatically — it is available before a word is written, which is precisely why it uses the most memorable position for the least new information.
本可以作为文章开头的结论不是被赢得的。概括自动通不过这一检验——它在写下第一个字之前就已可得,而这恰恰是它把最容易被记住的位置用在最没有新意信息上的原因。
A conclusion that only restates the essay has used its position well. · 仅重申文章的结尾未能善用其位置。
It uses the most memorable position for the least new information. · 它将最少的新信息放在了最令人难忘的位置。
Reading an ending closely
- Ask which of the three permitted jobs the conclusion actually chose.
- A conclusion that situates the argument more broadly is claiming the issue is bigger than the text.
- A conclusion that only restates has left the most memorable position unused.
细读一个结尾
- 要问这个结论实际选择了三项允许的工作中的哪一项。
- 把论证置于更广语境的结论,是在主张这个议题比该文本本身更大。
- 只作复述的结论,则把最容易被记住的位置浪费掉了。
The test for whether a conclusion has been earned is... · 检验结尾是否值得拥有，标准是……
Summary fails automatically — it is available before the essay is written. · 总结自动失效——它在动笔前就已存在。
Making the ending earn its place
- Write the last sentence you could not have written first.
- That test rules out summary automatically, because a summary is available before the essay is written.
- If your conclusion could have opened the essay, it has not been earned.
让结尾配得上它的位置
- 写出那句你不可能一开始就写出的最后一句话。
- 这一检验自动排除了概括,因为概括在文章写出之前就已经可得。
- 如果你的结论本可以作为文章的开头,那它就不是被赢得的。
"The scheme is not failing to measure its success; it is succeeding at measuring the wrong thing." That sentence needed the whole essay to become sayable — which is exactly why it works as an ending and could not have worked as an opening.
*"这个方案并不是未能衡量自己的成功;它是成功地衡量了错误的东西。"*这句话需要整篇文章才变得说得出口——这恰恰是它作为结尾有效、而作为开头无效的原因。
By Unit 7 the question is which job this argument needs. Choose the introduction's job from the reader's obstacle — doubt, unfamiliarity, or not seeing the urgency — and the conclusion's from the three permitted. Test the ending: could it have opened the essay?
到第七单元,问题变成了这一篇论证需要哪一项工作。从读者的障碍——怀疑、陌生,或看不出紧迫性——来选定引言的工作,并从三项允许的工作中选定结论的。检验结尾:它本可以作为文章的开头吗?