<-NARRATOR:->Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.

旁白：听一段学生和教授之间的谈话。

<-MALE STUDENT:->So Professor Tibbits, your notes said that you want to see me … about my Hemingway paper?I have to say, that grade wasn't what I was expecting. I thought I'd done a pretty good job.

学生：Tibets 教授，你的备注说要跟我见面谈谈关于我的海明威的论文？我必须说，那个分数实在低于我的预期。我以为我写的还不错呢。

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Oh, you did. But do you really want to settle for pretty good when you can do something very good?

教授：噢，你确实写的不错。但你想要明明可以做到“非常好”的情况下仅仅做到“比较好吗”？

<-MALE STUDENT:->You think it can be very good?

学生：你觉得它可以达到非常好？

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Absolutely!

教授：当然！

<-MALE STUDENT:->Would that mean you'd... I could get a better grade?

学生：这是否意味着，你⋯⋯我可以得到一个更好的成绩吗？

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Oh, sorry! It's not for your grade. It's... I think you could learn a lot by revising it.

教授：噢，抱歉！这不是为了你的成绩。是⋯⋯我认为你通过修改润色它会学到很多东西。

<-MALE STUDENT:->[reluctant] You mean, rewrite the whole thing? I'm really swamped; there’s deadlines wherever I turn, and … and I don’t really know how much time I could give it.

学生：你的意思是，把原文重写一遍？我忙不过来。被各种（作业的）截至日期压得，我真的不知道我能（为这篇论文）付出多少时间。

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Well, it is a busy time, with spring break coming up next week.It's your call. But I think with a little extra effort, you could really turn this into a fine essay.

教授：现在正是忙碌的时候，加上下周春假要来了。由你决定。但我觉得如果付出一点额外的努力，你会把它变成一篇很好的文章。

<-MALE STUDENT:->No... yeah... I mean, after I read your comments, I... I can see how it tries to do too much.

学生：不⋯⋯嗯，我的意思是，读完你的评论，我能明白这篇文章写的有点过。

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Yeah. It's just too ambitious for the scope of the assignment.

教授：对。在作业的范畴里，它有点太急功近利了。

<-MALE STUDENT:->[upspeak] So I should cut out the historical part?

学生：所以我应该删掉历史的部分？

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Yes. I would just stick to the topic, anything unrelated to the use of nature imagery has no place in the paper.All that tangential material just distract from the main argument.

教授：是的。我希望你扣紧主题。任何与自然意象的使用无关的内容都不要在论文中出现。所有这些离题的材料都偏离了主论点。

<-MALE STUDENT:->I never know how much to include, you know... where to draw the line?

学生：我不知道要包括多少内容，你知道⋯⋯在什么情况下适可而止？

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->[sarcastic] Tell me about it! All writers struggle with that one.But it's something you can learn, that will become more clear with practice.But I think if you just cut out the... emm...

教授：可不是么，所有的作者都在与之做斗争。但这是你可以学习的东西，这在实践中会更加清晰。但是我觉得如果你能去掉，嗯⋯⋯

<-MALE STUDENT:->The stuff about history, but if I cut out those sections, won't it be too short?

学生：关于历史的素材，但如果我把这部分删掉，会不会太短了？

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Well, better a short, well-structured paper than a long paper that's poorly-structured and wanders off topic.<-MALE STUDENT:->So, all I have to do is to delete those sections?<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->Well, not so fast. After you cut out those sections you'll have to go back and revise the rest … to see how it all fits together.And of course, you'll have to revise the introduction too, to accurately describe what you do in the body of the paper.But that shouldn’t be too difficult; just remember to keep the discussion focused.Do you think you can get it to me by noon tomorrow?

教授：一个简短的、结构良好的论文总好过结构混乱而又离题的长篇大论。学生：所以，我要做的就是删除这些部分？教授：没那么快。在你删掉那些部分之后，你要回去修改剩余的部分，看看它们通不通顺。而且当然，你要重写前言部分，来准确地描述你论文的主体。但那应该不难，就记住你的讨论要保持在重点上。你觉得你明天中午之前能交给我吗？

<-MALE STUDENT:->Wow... emm... I have so much.. er.. but I'll try.

学生：啊⋯⋯我有那么多（事情要做呢），嗯⋯⋯我尽力吧。

<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->OK, good! Do try! But if you can't, well, shoot for after spring break, OK?

教授：好的！试试看吧！但如果你赶不出来，春假之后一定交上来吧？