商品描述

商品描述 Lesson 26 Technical Descriptions 第二十六课 商品描述 教学目的 学生通过学习分析商品描述的范例，掌握商品描述的语篇组织结构和词汇语法 特点，能够撰写简单的商品描述。 教学安排 本课需要3个学时完成。其中课文讲解和范例分析需要1学时，课外材料展示 和课堂练习各1学时，后者利用计算机多媒体教室进行。 1(学生分组讨论课文的各个部分:概述，写作目的和读者预估，商品描述文本 的类型，语言特点，视觉手段的应用。 2(学生参照范例进行口头练习:目的是熟悉范例内容。 3(家庭作业:收集商品描述实例;撰写一份商品描述。 主要教学内容 本课主要讲解商品描述的写法，涉及写作目的和读者预估、文本组织、语言特 点，视觉手段的应用。 The technical description is a verbal representation of a product or process. An effective description transfers a mental image from the writer’s mind to the reader’s. Technical descriptions are useful writing in business. Descriptions of products are indispensable to a product catalogue, or purchase order. By showing how a product is constructed, how it works and perhaps why it is used, as in promotional literature, customers have a good idea of its features. Descriptions of certain products or mechanisms are also used to provide basic information as a framework for further discussion. More often they are found in one section of a manual or report. Technical writers must develop a mental picture of the product or mechanism before they are able to present it properly. They also have to be aware of the purpose of the descriptions and on this basis decide on pertinent details to include in their writing. . The audience is worth careful analysis. What use may the reader make of the descriptions? What and how much does he know about the product or process? This information as well as the purpose of descriptions determines appropriate details to cover, choice of words and structures, and the extent of illustrations. The more knowledgeable reader needs fewer details and simpler or no illustrations. He is also likely to tolerate more difficult words and structures than the less knowledgeable one. 重点讲解 1( 围绕本课课文中的范例讲解三种类型的商品描述 There are three major types of descriptions in business writing: descriptions of external features, descriptions of procedures, and descriptions of products. Our focus in this lesson, though, is descriptions of products. Description of products. This type of description gives detailed information on a product, such as its appearance, functions, components, etc. It thus presents an overall picture of a product and thus is used as part of product featuring. The basic questions to answer in this type of description are: What is it like? What is it used for? What are the parts of the product? How do the parts fit together? How does it operate? How do you use it? The sample in the textbook is a description of a solar cell. Note that it is first defined in general terms. Then an account of the historical background is given to help the readers understand the device better. The account continues with information on how it works and concludes with how it is used today. 2( 商品描述的文本发展方式 Depending on the type of description, the method of development differs markedly. When doing a process description, the process is usually divided into distinct stages which are presented step by step. Usually, a chronological order is convenient for the purpose. In descriptions of products, however, the descriptions usually follow this sequence: external overview – descriptions of the function and purpose – detailed discussion of components. Since the product or operation being described is likely to be new to the reader, the writer would do well to start with sufficiently general statements. This is usually done by means of a definition of the product or equipment in the most general terms. For example, the description of a financial product like a bank card usually starts with a general definition like: a card issued by a bank for credit or identification purposes. In the sample, a solar cell is defined as a device, which is a general word. Once this framework of reference is established, the reader is prepared to process the details of functions, components, operation, etc. 3( 商品描述文本的语言特点 Since descriptions usually concern unfamiliar concepts, you need to make them accessible to the reader. One of the ways is by analogy. You may compare the unfamiliar concept to a familiar one. Therefore, simile and metaphor are commonly used in descriptions of new devices or processes. For example, Internet banner advertisement is a fairly new concept. One way of describing it is by drawing an analogy between it and graphics: Internet banner advertisements are rectangular graphics containing words, pictures, animation (sometimes) and, most importantly, links to an advertiser’s homepage. 4( 商品描述中视觉手段的应用 Illustrations in the form of photographs, drawings and diagrams are very powerful visual aids. They make technical descriptions easier to process by showing relationships more dramatically than words alone. They also give a great deal of information efficiently and thus save technical writers time in describing details. Photographs are often used to accompany technical descriptions. By looking at the photographs, readers have a realistic view of the object. Also visible to them is the proportion of each part of the object in relation to the other parts. Drawings present a three-dimensional view of an object or mechanism. They are effective in highlighting specific aspects of the object or mechanism. A cutaway drawing, for example, can show the internal workings of the object or mechanism. In the sample description, drawings are used to illustrate the internal working of a solar cell. Diagrams are often used to show the abstract relationship among the parts of a mechanism. The illustrations in the sample description are all diagrams. 思考题 1) In what way(s) does the description of products differ from the other two types of descriptions? 2) What are some advantages of using visual aids in descriptions of products? 练习 1) 收集不同商品的描述文本2份。 2) 就你熟悉的商品写一份描述。 Language of descriptions Illustrations in descriptions Exercises: 1. Put the sentences back where they belong in the text about wine-making: a. There they are crushed mechanically. b. The bottled wine is stored in a dark cool place to prevent spoiling. c. When making white wine, the grape skins are taken out of the tanks. d. After fermentation, the wine is put in wooden casks and is left to develop its flavor and fragrance. Wine has been made since ancient times using roughly the same process. The grapes are picked from the vines and delivered to the winery. 1.________ The crushed grapes and their juice are transferred to tanks. When making red wine, the grape skins are put in the tank with the grape juice. 2. ________ The juice ferments and turns into wine. During fermentation, the sugar in the grape juice turns into alcohol and carbon dioxide. 3. ________ During this time, the wine is poured from one cask to another to get rid of the solid matter which has sunk to the bottom. The wine is filtered and bottled. 4. ________ 2. Rearrange the following sentences into a paragraph describing a camera: a. The camera is the basic tool for recording light images. b. Cameras are equipped with various devices for controlling the light rays as they enter this opening. c. It is simply a box from which all light is excluded except that which passes through a small opening at the front. d. These light reflections are captured on a sheet of film attached to the back wall. e. At the press of a button, a mechanical blade or curtain, called a shutter, opens and closes automatically. f. The lens focuses, or projects, the light rays onto the wall at the back of the camera. g. During the fraction of a second that the shutter is open, the light reflected from the subject toward which the camera is aimed passes into the camera through a piece of optical glass called the lens. 3. Describe a device you use at school to a reader who knows little about it.