Scientific writings deal with matters related to science and technology．So its style is plain and simple．Rhetorical devices which are commonly employed in literary English are not very frequently used in scientific writings，except for popular science writings．However，English for Science and Technology often adopts a formulaic style of writing in its textual format to attain clarity and accuracy．Firstly，in respect of its textual format，apart from the title and abstract，a scientific text is usually divided into three parts: introduction，main body and conclusion．The introduction gives the background information and the significance of the research．The main body contains a detailed discussion on the research．The conclusion makes a summary of the discussion and puts forward suggestions for future research．As far as sentences are concerned，scientific English often adopts a“forward position”sentence pattern，that means，the main information is placed ahead as much as possible so that the reader can catch the gist of the message and grasp the writer＇s line of thought．Let us look at the following sentence．

Seawater can be used for a supply of drinkable water if it can be separated from the salt dissolved in it．

　如果海水中的盐能分离出去海水就可用作饮用水。

Comments: In this sentence，the main information is contained in the first part of the sentence that is put ahead of the subordinate clause “if it can…”So the reader can quickly grasp the key point of the sentence．

In scientific writings，some writing formulas and sentence patterns，which refer to stylistic rules，layouts and expressions in texts alike，are commonly used．For instance，a research paper generally contains title，abstract，introduction，materials and methods(equipmentandtest/experimentprocedure)，result，discussion，summary，acknowledgements and references．In addition，sentence patterns tend to be fixed and regular．Some common sentence patterns are listed as follows．

1)Some patterns in the beginning of scientific texts are as follows．

The patent describes…本专利叙述……

The present invention is related to…本发明介绍……

The method of…is discussed in the report本报告讨论……的方法

An overview is presented of…in this article本文概述……

An examination is made of…in the article本文研究……

This paper deals with…本文讨论……

2)Some common sentence patterns are as follows．

In the technical standard texts，the use of certain standards will be clearly and definitely specified．Some commonly-used patterns are as follows．

The term“This method”is commonly used as the subject of a sentence in method standard．

Although rhetorical devices are not frequently used in scientific English texts，they are still to be paid attention to deal with while translating because rhetorical devices are here and there appearing in such texts．Simile is sometimes used to make a comparison between two thing using the words“like” ，“as” ，or“as if”to clarify a kind of logic．Metaphor is used to describe one thing by stating another thing to create an association．For example，the words“windows” ，“menus”and“network”in computer，and“traffic”(通信)and“tunnel” (信道)in IT，etc．Personification is used to represent something that is without life as a human being or as having human qualities．The words“memory”(记忆器)，instructions” (指令)and“data processing” (数据处理)in computer，and“arm” (手臂)，“robot-cop” (机器人警察)，“robonurse” (机器人护士)and others are good examples．Rhyme is usually used in literary texts，but it is sometimes used in scientific texts，especially in titles and an introduction，for example ，“solar system search from space”(从太空探索太阳系)and“tracing disease to trace minerals” (疾病的微量矿物质探源)．Actually，other rhetorical devices like metonymy，parallelism，repetition，etc．may be used every once in a while．

6．2. 3 Organizational and Rhetorical Characteristi...

6．2. 3　Organizational and Rhetorical Characteristi...