卤肘子的做法Part One: Unnecessary Words
All authorities on the style of English pro agree that good writing is conci. Careful writers say what they mean in as few words as possible.
Vigorous writing is conci. A ntence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary ntences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.八宝粥记
It follows that any words which perform no uful function in the ntence—that is , which add nothing to the meaning—should be edited out.
Almost every text that has been translated into English from Chine( or that has been written directly in English by a native speaker of Chine) contains unnecessary words. Draft translations are commonly full of them, and even polished final versions are ldom free of them.
Read anything that has been published in English for foreign readers—a magazine article, a news story, an advertiment, a government report—and you are likely to find superfluous words. Read even the shortest of English texts—the label on a food product , a billboard on Chang’an , the company
name on the front of a building—and , if you are on the alert to recognize them, chances are that you will find words that could and should have been omitted.
有气无力的近义词Unnecessary words are the hallmark of Chinglish.
醉虾怎么做Unnecessary words can be any part of speech—nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, articles, and so on. In the following chapters we shall consider the most important types, starting with unnecessary nouns and verbs, whi ch often go hand in hand.
I .Unnecessary Nouns and V erbs
Nouns
Most unnecessary nouns in Chinglish appear not alone but in short phras, combined with articles and prepositions. When you eliminate the nouns , you eliminate the articles and prepositions as well.
Many of the nouns are easy to recognize. They are plainly redundant becau their n is already included or implied in some other element of the ntence. Here are a few examples (A) with suggested revisions (B)and comments in brackets.
加快经济改革步伐
A: to accelerate the pace of economic reform
B: to accelerate economic reform
(To accelerate = to increa the pace of )
农业获得大丰收
A: There have been good harvests in agriculture.英语考试答题技巧
家访家长意见建议20字B: There have been good harvests.
[“Harvest”implies agriculture: there are no harvests in i ndustry.]
城乡人民生活水平持续上升。
A: Living standards for the people in both urban and rural areas
continued to ri.
B: Living standards in both urban and rural areas continued to ri.
【The notion of living standards appl ies only to peopl e.】
这些困难从本质上说是暂时的。
A：The hardships are temporary in nature.
B: The hardships are temporary.
[Any adjectives describes the “ nature” or “character” of the noun it modifies . To say that hardships are “temporary in nature” is like saying that the Chine flag is red in color” or that pandas are few in number.”]
我国未来的经济发展在很大程度上有赖于……
A：The development of our economy in the future will, to a large extent, depend on…
B: The development of our economy will, to a large extent, depend on…
[ The future ten of the verb(will depend) is sufficient to express futurity.]
我们应采取一系列措施来保证……
A: we should adopt a ri es of measures to ensure that….
B: we should adopt measures to ensure that….金的繁体字
[Here the plural form of “measures” covers the n of a “ries”]
Other unnecessary nouns(or gerunds) may be less easy to identify. Nevertheless, a little thought will reveal that they add nothing to the meaning of the ntence. When they are deleted, the n is not diminished, only clarified. Some examples:
在实现农业机械化和电气化后……
A：following the realization of mechanization and electrification of agriculture
B：following the of mechanization and electrification of agriculture
必须加强国防建设。
A: It is esntial to strengthen the buil ding of nati onal defen.
B: It is esntial to strengthen national defen.
这些构成了努力实现过渡时期的伟大任务的重要条件。
A: The constitute important conditions in striving for the fulfillment of the general task in the transi ti onal peri od.
B: The are important conditions for fulfilling the general task in the transition period.
当时，东北的形势仍然是敌强我弱。
A: At that time the situation in northeast China was still one where
the enemy was stronger than the people's forces .
绝尘而去B: At that time the enemy was still stronger than the people's forces in northeast China.
["Situation" is a particularly dangerous noun. Not only is it
generally unnecessary, but it drags other unnecessary elements
after it (in this instance, "one where").
解决问题的关键在于削减开支。
A: The key to the solution lies in the curtailment of expenditure.
B: The solution is to curtail ( or. cut back on) expenditure.
["Key" is sometimes uful, but usually it too can be dispend
with. And like "situation," it often leads to further unnecessary
complications (here, "lies in"). ]
党内民主是已详细讨论过的问题。
A: Inner-Party democracy is a subject that has been discusd in detail.
B: Inner-Party democracy has been di scusd in detail.
Category nouns
There is one type of noun that derves special mention, becau it is the commonest unnecessary word in Chinglish. This is the general noun that rves only to introduce a specific noun( or gerund) to follow: “ a rious mistake in the work of planning.计划工作中的错误。
