引用还是不引用？-- 写作入门材料
At MyDocumate we see a considerable number of clients who choose to use a quotation in their essay, usually at the beginning or the end.
These are MyDocumate’s key points to take into consideration when thinking about using a quote in your admissions essay:
MyDocumate发现相当多的客户在文章的开始或者结尾使用引语。当你想要在申请文书中使用引语时，不妨参考一下MyDocumate为大家总结的几个关键点：
WHY is this person using this quote?
为什么要使用引语呢？
Quotes usually look forced. Have you really been living your life, or continually motivated by the words of Shakespeare or Albert Einstein. If you really have, then wow! The chances are, however, that you haven’t. And this will be painfully evident to any experienced Admissions Officer.
引语通常看上去有点强迫的意味。你真的是靠莎士比亚的话过活，或是受到爱因斯坦名言的激励吗。如果你真的有，那么哇这确实是一件好事！然而，你很可能并不是这样的。经验丰富的招生负责人显然很清楚这这一点。
They want to hear from YOU!
招生委员会希望听到你自己的话
‘Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.’
––Confucius
“我们最值得自豪的不在于从不跌倒，而是每次跌倒后能重新爬起来。”——孔子
‘Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.’
––Albert Einstein
“树立榜样并不是影响他人的主要方式，它是唯一的方法。”——爱因斯坦
You are using someone else’s words, not your own. Essentially, you are saying that you didn’t know how to start the essay and/or you have nothing original to express to the Admissions Officer. This is not a good thing.
你用的是其他人而不是你自己的话。实质上，你表达出的意思是你不知道怎样写文章的开头或者说你没有要向招生负责人表达的原创内容。这可不是件好事。
Also, while it's easy to type out a quote first and let it inspire you, the resulting essay can come off as an evaluation of someone else's ideas, rather than an expression of your own.
虽然开头引用别人的话，然后表达自己受到这些话的激励很简单，但是文章最终是在评价别人的想法而不是表达你自己的想法。
It’s your voice they want to hear - not Shakespeare, Einstein, Paul Britton, Martin Luther King, David Attenborough, Descartes, Napoleon and DEFINITELY NOT…
… Steve Jobs
招生委员会想听到的是你的想法，而不是莎士比亚，爱因斯坦，保罗布里顿，马丁路德金，大卫爱登堡，笛卡尔，拿破仑的话，并且请千万不要再引用乔布斯的话了。
Not recommended. Of the hundreds of different quotations our clients have expressed in their written materials, we estimate that almost half of the quotes used are attributed to Steve Jobs. He was certainly an inspiring man, but quoting him as an influence has become an very uninspiring cliché.
不建议引用乔布斯的话是因为，我们估计了下，MyDocumate客户们在文书中运用的几百条引语中，几乎一半是来源于乔布斯。乔布斯的确是位鼓舞人心的人，但是他的名言已经成为陈词滥调了。
Using a well-known quotation is especially dangerous since large numbers of other applicants will almost use similar quotations.
使用众所周知的引语就更不可取了，因为大量的申请者几乎用的差不多的话。
And even worse… the Dictionary quote
最糟糕的是…引用词典
Webster's Dictonary defines "determination" as..."
韦伯斯特词典中对“决心”的定义是…
Nothing makes an admissions officer (or anyone reading your materials, for that matter) more frustrated than reading an essay that starts off with a dictionary definition. It really epitomizes everything that’s negative about quotes in admissions essays: itsuggests that you had no idea how to start; it is as unoriginal, abstracted and sterile as it could possibly be!
对招生负责人（或者任何读你文章的人）来说，看到一篇以词典里的定义开头的文章最让人感到失望。它充分体现了申请文书中不恰当使用引语的一切负面影响：暗示你自己没有开头的想法；文章显得十分抽象和枯燥无味！
Does this quotation mean anything to the candidate?
引语对申请者意味着什么呢？
It will often be quite clear that the quote has been pulled off an Internet search. The result is that the composition of the essay looks lazy and unoriginal.
通常，很明显就能看出来引语是从网上找来的。结果就是文章的内容看上去是非原创的，显得申请者十分懒惰。
Does this quotation have anything to do with the essay?
引语和申请文书有关系吗？
The worst scenario is when the quotation comes right at the beginning of the statement with no explanation.
最糟糕的情况是在文章的开头引用了引语后没有进一步的说明。
In general, avoid using a quote in unless it’s really necessary to make a critical point. It’s a waste of your word count, but there are always exceptions…
总之，除了必要的情况下，尽量避免使用引语。引语会浪费字数，但是也有例外的情况…
Tips for how to use quotations meaningfully.
如何有效地使用引语
Use something unusual, funny or obscure, but ALWAYS pertinent to you personally.
运用一些不寻常的，有趣的或者不知名的引语，但是一定要与你本人相关。
Choose a quote with a meaning you plan to reveal to the reader as the essay progresses. The admissions committee is interested in how you respond to the quote and what that response says about you.
选择可以揭示文章中你想表达给读者的想法的引语。招生委员会对你是如何运用引语以及你的引用能反映出你的哪些方面比较感兴趣。
Make sure you really do feel a strong connection to the quote. Link it to an experience, such as a strong reaction to first hearing the quote or a loved one who used to repeat it to you.
确保你与使用的引语有着较强的联系。将引语与自己的经历联系起来，比如说第一次听到这句话的强烈反应或者你所爱的人曾经和你说过这句话。
Incorporate it into your essay; don’t just offer the quote and then start talking about it afterwards. Try to express why it’s important to you in the same sentence.
把它融入到你的文章中；不要仅仅是引用这句话，然后谈论这句话的内容。而是要尝试解释为什么这句话对你如此重要。
Successful examples!
成功案例！
According to Mother Teresa, “If you judge someone, you have no time to love them.” I first saw this quote when it was posted on my sixth-grade classroom wall, and I hated it. Rather, I hated Mother Teresa’s intention, but I knew that the quote’s veracity was inarguable. I felt that it was better to judge people so as not to have to love them, because some people don’t deserve a chance. Judgments are shields, and mine was impenetrable.
––Stanford acceptance
特蕾莎修女说“如果你总是评判别人，那么你就没时间去爱他们了。”我第一次看到这句话是在小学六年级的时候，它张贴在教室的墙上，那时候我讨厌这句话。确切的说，我是讨厌特蕾莎修女的意图，但是我知道这句话的真实性是不容置疑的。我认为评判别人是为了不去爱他们，因为一些人不值得被爱。评判好比盾牌，我的盾牌是无懈可击的。——被斯坦福大学录取
What’s good about it?
-Immediately linked to personal experience.
-Strong and surprising opinion expressed.
-Candidate’s own words (“Judgments are shields, and mine was impenetrable.”) are more original and powerful.
-The quote is used not because of any perceived value it might have in itself, but how it can effectively illuminate the candidate’s own opinions and independence of thought.
-Reading the whole essay, the student keeps tightly focused on developing the point she used the essay to express, and, best of all (and as with all good writing), she demonstrates personal growth and change.
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这个引用好在哪里？
-直接与个人经历有关。
-表达出了强烈的，令人惊讶的观点。
-申请人自己的语言（“评判是盾牌，而我的盾牌无懈可击”）更原创和有力。
-引用这句话不是因为这句话本身的价值，而是因为这句话有效的阐明了申请者自己的观点和思想的独立性。
-通读全文，该学生紧紧围绕自己想表达的观点进行阐述，最棒的是（同所有的好文章一样）她证明了个人的成长与变化。
“I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast. forgive me, they were delicious so sweet and so cold". This is Just to Say", William Carlos Williams.
You could call him a greedy wretch but presented with such fine plums, whenever stood a chance. You could wonder how he could have shown such callousness, as he had only a shadow of an apology to offer in exchange for the plums so carefully preserved. But,after all,the plums were so delicious, so sweet, and so cold.
Greed- the ultimate survival instinct…”
––Amherst acceptance
我吃掉了冰箱里的李子，也许这是你省下的早饭。请原谅我，因为它们太可口和冰凉了。——“就该这么说”，WilliamCarlosWilliams.
你可以说他是个描绘出李子的美好的贪婪坏蛋，他从来没有过什么机会。你可能疑惑他为什么表现得如此麻木不仁，对于吃掉别人精心保存的李子这件事，他只表达出一丝道歉的意思。但是，谁让李子那么可口，甘甜和冰凉呢。贪婪——最终的生存本能…——被阿莫斯特学院录取
-Unusual choice of quotation – immediately makes the reader wonder where and how the quote relates to the essay – it exhibits the best possible effect of using a quote – it draws the reader in.
-Effective use of humor (‘Youcouldcall him agreedywretch…’).
-Intriguing development of the ideas evoked by the poem.
-Leads smoothly into the candidate’s wider thinking on the issues raised.
-It is developed effectively and meaningfully through the course of the essay – read it here.
-与众不同的引语—立刻让读者想知道这句话与文中的哪些内容有关，并且是如何相关的-它显示了使用引语的最佳效果-吸引读者兴趣。
-有效地运用幽默（你可以说他是个贪婪的坏蛋…）
-由这首诗引发了申请者本人想法的有趣发展。
-顺其自然地引入申请者对提出问题的想法。
-引语在整篇文章中的运用的十分有效和有意义。
本文关键词：留学文书润色
