4. Faulty parallelism
Be sure you use grammatically equal sentence elements to express two or more matching ideas or items in a series.
平行結構是很容易出錯的,在托福語法中也是出題點,這種錯誤很容易被忽視。英語我們的是非母語,在語感上來識別錯誤的可能就降低了。寫作和檢查的時候注意主胃、動賓的搭配、一致,主動被動的轉換。
Faulty parallelism
The candidate‘s goals include winning the election, a national health program, and the educational system.
改正:
The candidate‘s goals include winning the election, enacting a national health program, and improving the educational system.
原句:
Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as postponing it for so long.
改正:
Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as they are to postponing it for so long.
5. Unclear pronoun reference
All pronouns must clearly refer to definite referents [nouns].
Use it, they, this, that, these, those, and which carefully to prevent confusion.
錯誤的使用代詞或模糊的是用代詞,是我經常在論壇作文里面發現的。不是說不可以用,但是一定要很清楚地有所指。作文的開頭部分,我的建議是盡量不要用很多代詞,因為開頭部分是整個文章的一個概覽,thesis必須clear, 不要怕麻煩,即便是多陳述一遍(不要用原句!換換說法),也是對thesis的強調,并不累贅。正文、結尾只要使用代詞得當就可以了。
不要小看代詞,它對你思想的表達有的時候很關鍵,如果指代不清,其他寫得再好讀者也會confused
Unclear pronoun reference
Einstein was a brilliant mathematician. This is how he was able to explain the universe.
改正:
Einstein, who was a brilliant mathematician, used his ability with numbers to explain the universe.
原句:
Because Senator Martin is less interested in the environment than in economic development, he sometimes neglects it.
改正
Because of his interest in economic development, Senator Martin sometimes neglects the environment.
6. Incorrect pronoun case
Determine whether the pronoun is being used as a subject, or an object, or a possessive in the sentence, and select the pronoun form to match.
比較弱的錯法,不過你敢保證你從沒犯過?!
Incorrect pronoun case
Castro‘s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between he and President Kennedy.
改正:
Castro‘s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between him and President Kennedy.
原句:
Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than them to judicial reinterpretation.
改正:
Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than they [do] to judicial reinterpretation.