When the Evidence Says No · 当证据表明否定时⟦number⟧
Revision is written into the objective
- Textual evidence may require revision to an interpretation and a line of reasoning if the evidence does not sufficiently support the initial interpretation.
- So changing your mind is not a failure of planning — the CED expects it.
- The failure is keeping a reading the evidence has stopped supporting.
A first reading is a draft map; new evidence is allowed to move the road.
修正被写进了目标之中
- 如果证据不足以支撑最初的阐释,文本证据可能要求对该阐释及推理线索作出修正。
- 因此改变主意不是计划的失败——CED 预期它会发生。
- 失败在于抱着一个证据已不再支持的解读不放。
第一次解读是一张地图草稿；新证据出现，路线可以改。
Changing your interpretation mid-essay means you planned badly. · 在文章中途改变你的解读意味着你规划不佳。⟦number⟧
The CED states that evidence may require revision — it expects this. · CED指出证据可能需要修正——这正是预期到的情况。⟦number⟧
How you find out
- The signal is usually a paragraph that will not come out right.
- You have the quotation, you have the claim, and the sentence connecting them keeps needing a however.
- That resistance is the evidence telling you the reading is too strong or the wrong shape.
你如何发现
- 信号通常是某一段怎么写都不对劲。
- 你有引文,也有主张,而连接两者的那句话总是需要一个"然而"。
- 那份阻力,正是证据在告诉你这个解读太强,或者形状不对。
The usual signal that a reading needs revision is... · 阅读需要修正的常见信号是……⟦number⟧
That resistance is the evidence telling you the claim is the wrong shape. · 这种抵触情绪正是证据在告诉你主张的形状不对。⟦number⟧
Revise the claim, not the evidence
- The wrong repair is to reach for a different quotation that fits the claim you had.
- The right repair is to narrow, qualify or reshape the claim until it fits what the text actually shows.
- A narrowed claim you defend beats a wide one you argue around.
修正主张,而不是证据
- 错误的修补,是去找另一处能配合原有主张的引文。
- 正确的修补,是收窄、限定或重塑这个主张,直到它与文本实际显示的相符。
- 一个你捍卫得住的收窄主张,胜过一个你只能绕着讲的宽泛主张。
What should be revised here? · 这里应该修改什么？⟦number⟧
Sort each situation by the right repair. · 根据正确的修复方法对每种情况进行排序。⟦number⟧
Revise the , not the evidence. · 修正，而不是证据。⟦number⟧
Narrow it, qualify it, or change its verb. · 缩小范围、加以限定或更改动词。⟦number⟧
Do not hunt for evidence that fits a claim the text will not support. The CED says evidence may require revision to the interpretation — so the repair belongs on the claim, not on the quotation. An essay that argues around its own evidence is visible to any reader who has the text.
不要去搜寻能配合一个文本撑不住之主张的证据。CED 说证据可能要求对阐释作出修正——因此修补应落在主张上,而不是引文上。一篇绕着自己的证据讲话的文章,任何手边有文本的读者都看得出来。
Select all · 所有 the right ways to repair a claim the text resists. · 选出修复文本所抵制的正确主张的所有方法。⟦number⟧
Omitting the awkward evidence is arguing around it, which a reader with the text can see. · 省略棘手的证据是在回避论证，而持有文本的读者能看出来。⟦number⟧
Revising mid-exam is cheaper than it feels
- Under time pressure the instinct is to push on, because rewriting feels expensive.
- But a thesis can usually be repaired by changing four or five words in one sentence.
- Crossing out one clause and continuing costs a minute; defending an unsupportable reading costs the essay.
考试中途修正比感觉上便宜
- 在时间压力下,本能是硬着头皮写下去,因为重写感觉代价很大。
- 但论点通常只需改动一句话里的四五个词就能修好。
- 划掉一个分句再写下去只花一分钟;为一个撑不住的解读辩护,代价是整篇文章。
Put the revision check in order. · 将修正检查按顺序排列。⟦number⟧
The last step is the one people forget, and it is where a revised essay contradicts itself. · 最后一步是人们最容易忘记的，也是修改后的文章自相矛盾的地方。⟦number⟧
A revision check
- When a paragraph resists: is the evidence wrong for the claim, or the claim wrong for the text?
- If the claim: narrow it, qualify it, or change its verb — then reread the thesis.
- Then check that the earlier paragraphs still serve the revised reading.
修正检查
- 当某一段写不顺时:是这处证据不适合这个主张,还是这个主张不适合这个文本?
- 如果是主张:收窄它、限定它,或换掉它的动词——然后重读论点。
- 然后检查前面几段是否依然服务于修正后的解读。
Initial: the narrator is indifferent to his sister. Third paragraph keeps needing a however, because he twice does something for her without being asked. Revised: the narrator's help is always practical and never spoken — narrower, and now every piece of evidence, including the awkward two, supports it.
最初:*叙述者对妹妹漠不关心。*第三段总是需要一个"然而",因为他两次未经请求就为她做了事。修正后:叙述者的帮助永远是实际的,却从不诉诸言语——更窄,而此刻每一处证据,包括那别扭的两处,都支持它。
Evidence may require revision to an interpretation and a line of reasoning — the CED expects it. The signal is a paragraph that keeps needing a however. Revise the claim, not the evidence: narrow it, qualify it or change its verb, then reread the thesis and the earlier paragraphs.
证据可能要求对阐释及推理线索作出修正——CED 预期它会发生。信号是某一段总是需要一个"然而"。要修正主张,而不是证据:收窄它、限定它,或换掉它的动词,然后重读论点和前面几段。