Choosing Evidence from a Short Passage · 从短文中选择证据
A dense passage is a different problem
- The exam gives you a passage of a few hundred words, and everything in it was chosen.
- So there is no filler to skip, and no room to quote generously.
- The skill is deciding which four or five words do the most work for your claim.
Four well-chosen words can carry more than a whole paragraph copied by a nervous hand.
密集的文本是另一类问题
- 考试给你的是几百词的一段文字,其中的每一样都是被选定的。
- 因此没有可以跳过的填充,也没有慷慨引用的余地。
- 这项技能在于判断哪四五个词,为你的主张做的工作最多。
精挑的四个词，可能比紧张时抄下的一整段更有分量。
The order that keeps a paragraph in shape is... · 保持段落结构合理的顺序是……
Decide which of the six purposes you need and the quotation almost chooses itself. · 决定你需要六种目的中的哪一种，引文几乎会自动选择出来。
Pick the purpose before the quotation
- Evidence is used to illustrate, clarify, exemplify, associate, amplify or qualify a point.
- Decide which of the six you need first, and the quotation almost chooses itself.
- Choosing a quotation first and then hunting for a use is how paragraphs lose their shape.
先定目的,再定引文
- 证据用来说明、澄清、举例、关联、放大或限定某个要点。
- 先决定你需要六者中的哪一个,引文几乎就自己选好了。
- 先挑引文再去找用途,正是段落失去形状的原因。
Quoting more is a safe strategy in a timed essay. · 在限时论文中，多引用是一种安全的策略。
Unexplained evidence is not yet effective, so quoting more just costs time. · 未经解释的证据尚未生效，因此多引用只会浪费时间和精力。
Sufficiency under time pressure
- Evidence is sufficient when its quantity and quality provide apt support.
- In a timed essay, three well-explained quotations beat eight unexplained ones every time.
- Unexplained evidence is not weak support — by the CED's own definition it is not yet effective at all.
时间压力下的充分性
- 当证据的数量与质量提供了恰当的支撑时,它才是充分的。
- 在限时写作中,三处解释充分的引文,永远胜过八处没有解释的。
- 未经解释的证据不是薄弱的支撑——按 CED 自己的定义,它根本还不算有效。
Select all · 所有 the factors sufficiency depends on. · 选择 所有 充分性所依赖的因素。
Naming devices is not evidence at all. · 列出手法根本不是证据。
Eight unexplained quotations are less sufficient than three explained ones. The CED makes sufficiency depend on quantity and quality, and effectiveness depend on commentary — so quoting more is not a way to be safer; it is a way to run out of time before any of it counts.
八处未经解释的引文,不如三处解释充分的引文来得充分。CED 使充分性取决于数量与质量,并使有效性取决于评述——因此多引用不是更保险的做法;那是在任何一处引文起作用之前就把时间用光的做法。
Keep or discard this quotation? · 保留还是删除这句引文？
Sort each candidate by what it contributes to one argument. · 根据每个候选项对一个论点的贡献进行分类。
The process is , so building a thesis from the strongest phrases is legitimate. · 这个过程是，因此从最有力的短语构建论点是合法的。
What is not legitimate is keeping a thesis the passage stopped supporting. · 不合法的做法是当文章不再支持论点时仍坚持该论点。
Recursion is allowed, and useful here
- The process is recursive: an interpretation can come from the evidence, or the evidence from the interpretation.
- On a short passage, reading for the strongest phrases first and building the thesis from them is legitimate and fast.
- What is not legitimate is keeping a thesis the passage stopped supporting.
递归是被允许的,而且在这里很有用
- 这个过程是递归的:阐释可以来自证据,证据也可以来自阐释。
- 面对一段短文本,先读出最有力的短语、再据此建立论点,是合法而且快速的。
- 不合法的是:抱着一个文本已不再支持的论点不放。
Put the evidence-selection pass in order. · 按顺序排列证据选择步骤。
The phrases that strike you first are usually the strongest evidence in the passage. · 最先打动你的短语通常是文章中最有力的证据。
An evidence-selection pass
- Underline the five phrases that struck you first. They are usually the strongest evidence in the passage.
- For each, decide which of the six purposes it can serve.
- Keep three, discard two, and write a linking sentence for each one you kept.
证据挑选检查
- 把最先击中你的五个短语画出来。它们通常就是这段文字中最有力的证据。
- 对每一个,判断它能服务于六种目的中的哪一种。
- 留下三个,舍去两个,并为留下的每一个写一句连接的话。
A student underlines five phrases, then assigns purposes: two would exemplify the same point (keep one), one would qualify the claim (keep — the rubric rewards this), one would amplify (keep), one has no purpose in this argument (discard). Three quotations, three jobs, no repetition.
一位学生画出五个短语,然后为它们分配目的:两个会为同一要点举例(留一个),一个会限定主张(留下——评分标准奖励这个),一个会放大(留下),还有一个在这个论证中没有用途(舍去)。三处引文,三项工作,毫无重复。
On a short passage everything was chosen, so decide the purpose before the quotation — illustrate, clarify, exemplify, associate, amplify or qualify. Sufficiency depends on quantity and quality, and unexplained evidence is not yet effective. The process is recursive, so building a thesis from the strongest phrases is legitimate.
面对短文本,其中的一切都是被选定的,因此要先定目的,再定引文——说明、澄清、举例、关联、放大或限定。充分性取决于数量与质量,而未经解释的证据还算不上有效。这个过程是递归的,因此从最有力的短语出发建立论点是合法的。