Choosing Evidence for Your Own Paragraph · 为自己的段落选择证据
Finish this sentence before you use anything
- I am using this piece because it ...
- If you cannot finish that sentence, the evidence is not chosen — it is available.
- Evidence chosen for a stated reason produces commentary almost by itself.
Choosing a quotation only because it is nearby is like hiring the first person in a queue as your expert witness.
在使用任何材料之前,先把这句话补完
- 我用这一条,是因为它……
- 如果你无法把这句话补完,那这条证据就不是被选出来的——它只是手边有。
- 有明确理由而选出的证据,几乎会自动产生评述。
只因引文就在手边便选它，就像请队伍里的第一位路人当专家证人。
Three good reasons
- ... it illustrates a claim that would otherwise stay abstract.
- ... it establishes credibility on a subject where readers may doubt you.
- ... it connects your position to a value the audience already holds.
三个好理由
- ……它把一项否则会停留在抽象层面的主张具体化。
- ……它在读者可能存疑的主题上确立可信度。
- ……它把你的立场与受众已经持有的某项价值连接起来。
Why was this piece chosen? · 为何选择这一段？
Match each piece of evidence to the reason it earns its place. · 将每段证据与其获得入选资格的理由匹配。
The reason you chose a piece of evidence should become... · 你选择某段证据的理由应转化为...
The hardest sentence to write is one you already had when you selected the evidence. · 最难写的句子是你在选择证据时就已经构思好的那一句。
Select all · 所有 the good reasons this lesson gives for choosing a piece of evidence. · 选择本课给出的所有选择证据的充分理由。
Length is not a reason; each piece must do a job the others do not. · 长度不是理由；每一份证据都必须承担其他证据无法替代的功能。
Cutting evidence
- Under time pressure, more evidence feels safer. It is not.
- Each piece you keep must earn the space with a job the others do not do.
- Two pieces doing the same job is one piece and some wasted words.
删减证据
- 在时间压力下,证据多会让人感觉更保险。其实不然。
- 你保留的每一条都必须以别的证据做不到的工作来换取它所占的篇幅。
- 两条做同样工作的证据,等于一条证据加上一些浪费掉的字。
Including more evidence is generally safer under time pressure. · 在时间压力下，增加更多证据通常更为稳妥。
Two pieces doing the same job earn the marks of one and use the space commentary needed. · 两段承担相同功能的证据只会获得一份的分值，却占用了原本用于评论的空间。
More evidence is not safer. Two pieces doing the same job earn the marks of one and cost you the space that commentary needed — and commentary is where four of the six rubric points live.
证据更多并不更保险。两条做同样工作的证据只能拿到一条的分,却占掉了评述所需的篇幅——而评述正是六分中的四分所在。
Match each situation to the reason for choosing evidence. · 将每种情况与选择证据的理由相匹配。
The audience's obstacle decides which piece of evidence earns its place. · 受众的障碍决定了哪份证据值得占据位置。
From reason to commentary
- The reason you chose the evidence is the first sentence of your commentary.
- "I chose this because it shows the cost was known in advance" becomes "This matters because it shows the cost was known in advance."
- The hardest sentence to write turns out to be one you already had.
从理由到评述
- 你选取这条证据的理由,就是你评述的第一句。
- "我选它是因为它显示成本事先就已知晓"变成"这一点之所以重要,是因为它显示成本事先就已知晓。"
- 最难写的那句话,原来是你早就有的。
Read the claim and the commentary while skipping the ____ — they should still connect. · 阅读主张和评论时跳过____ — 它们仍应保持关联。
If the commentary only makes sense with the quotation in view, it is summary. · 如果仅在有引语的情况下评论才讲得通，那就是总结。
A check before you move on
- Read the claim, then the commentary, skipping the evidence entirely.
- Do they still connect? If yes, the commentary is doing its job.
- If the commentary only makes sense while looking at the quotation, it is summary.
继续之前的一项检查
- 读一遍主张,再读评述,完全跳过证据。
- 两者是否仍然连得上?如果是,评述就在起作用。
- 如果评述只有对着引文才说得通,那它就是概括。
A student cites three statistics that all show the same decline. The second and third add nothing the first did not, and the paragraph runs out of room before any commentary appears. One statistic and two sentences of commentary would have scored higher.
一名学生援引了三个都显示同一下降趋势的统计数据。第二、第三条并未添加第一条所没有的东西,而段落在任何评述出现之前就写满了。用一个数据加两句评述,分数本会更高。
Choose each piece of evidence for a stated reason — to illustrate, to build credibility, or to connect to a value the audience holds. That reason becomes your first commentary sentence, and two pieces doing the same job earn the marks of one.
为每一条证据给出明确的选取理由——用于具体化、建立可信度,或连接受众持有的某项价值。这个理由会成为你评述的第一句,而两条做同样工作的证据只能拿到一条的分。