翻译题
According to one of those often-quoted statistics that should be true but probably isn't, the average number of people who read a PhD thesis all the way through is 1.6. And that includes the author. More interesting might be the average number of PhD theses that the typical scientist has read from start to finish. Would it reach even that benchmark? 【F1】What we know for sure is that the reading material keeps on coming, with tens of thousands of new theses typed up each year. Completing a thesis represents a coming of age not just scientifically, but also educationally and personally. 【F2】It signals the passing of an intellectual milestone—from a student under the care of a supervisor to an individual who asks questions of their own. It marks the end of formal education, and graduation to a new phase in life. For many people, it also sees their departure from science altogether. 【F3】Often, the PhD years coincide with significant personal events, as we mature emotionally and meet friends, partners and colleagues who will stay with us for life. All this can also turn thesis-writing into a more significant event than merely the writing up of a (usually) minor piece of science. Still, it's perhaps too easy to get sentimental over the thesis. For a start, the process has to keep up with the times. The PhD is already assessed in many different ways around the world and scientists should welcome ways to keep it relevant. 【F4】The goal of PhD assessment everywhere remains, rightly, to demonstrate that a student has conducted, and can communicate, independent, original research. But the way in which that's achieved can and should be improved. For one thing, it doesn't have to involve a vast printed volume. A lot of students could do themselves, their supervisors, their examiners and their wider audience a favor by keeping it crisp and short Postgraduate supervisors should stress this at the beginning. And it's important to make the work in the thesis available to future researchers by publishing or sharing the data in some form. To contribute to the world beyond the author's immediate circle, a PhD thesis should be read and used, and not just serve as a shelf ornament or doorstop. For those inspired to go back to their own thesis, and those who are examining a freshly written one, it's best to be kind. 【F5】As long as the fundamentals are there—the question is interesting and the approach and analysis rigorous—it's fair to forgive the typos and the research paths that turned out to be dead ends.
问答题11.【F1】
【正确答案】我们唯一能确定的是，不断有新的学术文章出现，每年都有成千上万新的毕业论文出炉。
【答案解析】①what we know是名词性从句作主句主语，for sure作状语表示“确定地”。②表语从句中，reading material指各种“学术文章、学术材料”，keep on coming表示“不断地出现”。③“with+名词+过去分词”是一个独立主格结构，其中tens of thousands of new theses是type的受动对象，故用过去分词形式typed；这个状语对表语从句中the reading material keeps on coming起补充说明或者举例的作用。
问答题12.【F2】
【正确答案】它代表着学识上的里程碑——你可以独立地提出问题，而不再需要导师的指导。
【答案解析】①主句主语It指代上一句说的completing a thesis，即完成一篇毕业论文。②主句宾语是pass an intellectual milestone的动名词形式，其中pass a milestone字面意思为“经过了一个里程碑”，在这里是指“达到了一定的水平，迎来了一个新的阶段”的意思；而intellectual本义是“智商、智力上的”，结合语境应理解为“学识、知识、学术能力上的”。③破折号后的内容是对主句宾语passing of an intellectual milestone寓意的进一步解释说明，主干结构是from A to B。其中A是a student under the care of a supervisor。supervisor表示我们国内的“导师”这个概念；B是an individual，其后带有一个who引导的定语从句。
【答案解析】①主句中，主语the PhD years指“读博时期”；A coincide with B表示“A、B同时发生”；significant personal events类似于中文里的“人生大事”。②as引导的状语从句中，包含and连接的两个并列谓语mature和meet；mature表示“变得成熟”，emotionally副词作状语修饰mature，表示“心理上成熟”；第二个谓宾结构中，宾语后接一个who引导的定语从句。③as所引导的状语从句可以理解为时间状语从句，即“读博期间随着我们心理逐渐成熟，我们的很多人生大事也在此期间发生”，也可以理解为原因状语从句，即“因为我们在这段期间会碰到朋友、伴侣、同事，所以读博是我们很多人生大事发生的时期”。
【答案解析】①主句为“it’s+a．+不定式结构”，其中it为形式主语，不定式才是真正的主语。②该不定式有两个并列的宾语typos和the research paths；typo是“打字(排印)错误”的意思；the research paths后接有定语从句修饰；turn out to be sth．是一个系表结构，表示“到头来发现……／结果是……”，the research paths turn out to be dead ends可理解为“研究走入死胡同”或者“研究得不出实质性结果”。③as long as引导条件状语从句表示“只要……”；the fundamentals表示“基本的东西”；the fundamentals are there中there指的是在研究和论文中存在这些基本的东西。④破折号之间的内容是对the fundamentals的解释或举例。the approach and analysis rigorous为不完整表达，省略了系动词is，完整形式应为the approach and analysis is rigorous；approach指研究方法。