Chapter Three

1. Chapter Three • , ; . : ! “” • Punctuation • ( ) [ ] - /?…

2. The importance of punctuation • 无鸡鸭也可无鱼肉也可唯青菜萝卜不可少 • 无鸡鸭也可，无鱼肉也可，唯青菜萝卜不可少。 • 无鸡，鸭也可；无鱼，肉也可；唯青菜萝卜不可；少。

3. 3.1 The Comma (,) • The comma ordinarily indicates a pause within a sentence．Suppose you say the following： • When he came, I was busy cleaning my room.

4. (1) A comma is used in a compound sentence before the conjunction or connective (and, but, or, for, so, nor, or yet)： • He asked the question in a loud voice，but no one answered． • We were tired，and we decided to have a rest. • Come early，or you’ll miss the show．

5. She couldn’t go to the airport to meet him，nor could she send anyone in her stead． • It must have rained last night，for the ground is wet． • He is an eccentric boy，yet you can’t help liking him. • A memoir is history，it is based on evidence.

6. (2) A comma is used after an adverbial clause or phrase before the subject of the sentence or in the middle of the sentence： • When the bell rang, the teacher dismissed the class． • In the ancient palace，they saw the throne where emperors used to sit． • To see the importance of this railway，one has to look at a map. • Born and brought up in the South，she is not used to eating wheat． • The audience, interested in the topic，asked the speaker many questions.

7. The comma may be omitted when: • On hearing the big noise I knew something terrible had happened. • In one corner of the room they found the injured cat． • I was trying to reach her by phone when she walked into my office． • You’11 be unable to finish the work in time if you don’t start at once. • He found the document in one of the drawers of his desk．

8. (3) Commas are used to separate a series of words or phrases having the same function in the sentence： • The little girl likes to sing, to dance, and to act． • She buys bread, butter, vegetables, and many other things from this supermarket．

9. (4) Nonrestrictive clauses and phrases are set off by commas： • Wang Ling，who is the best singer of the class，will teach us to sing the song． • He had to leave his home town，where he had lived ever since he was born. • Dr. Li, the new chairman of the department, will speak at the meet. • An old lady，nodding and smiling，invited us in. • The young man (who is) talking with the foreign reporters is the inventor of the machine． • This is the house where the famous poet was born．

10. (5) Commas set of parenthetical elements： • Your work，I’m sorry to say，is not satisfactory． • The director，in fact，has done very little work． • To call a spade a spade，the experiment was a failure． • They have many courses：Chinese，English，Mathematics，History，to name just a few.

11. (6)The comma is habitually used in places shown in the following examples： Yes，I think so． No，it’s not very good. She is the new secretary，isn’t she? The delegation will arrive on January 5, 1993． This factory produced 830, 000 bicycles last year.

12. He said, “The Summer Palace is like a fairyland.’’ • “The Summer Palace is like a fairyland,” he said． • “The Summer Palace,” he said, “is like a fairyland.”

13. 3.2 The Period (.) • (1) The period (full stop) is used at the end of a declarative sentence, a mildly imperative sentence, and an indirect question： • Every student should learn to use the punctuation marks. • Learn to use the punctuation marks． • They asked how the semicolon should be used．

14. (2)The period is used with most abbreviations： • Mr. Mrs. Ms. Dr. Ph. D U. S. A • a. m. p. m. N. Y. I. Q. M. A. M. S. • UN UNESCO NATO BBC NBC YOB WTO TEFL

15. 3.3 The ellipsis mark (…) • (1) indicate the omission of one or more words within a quoted passage： • The descriptions of appropriate usage are based on the dicta of recognized authorities；on my own experience as reader，writer, teacher… and occasionally simply on my own preferences and prejudices． • (2) to show a pause in conversation or faltering speech： • “What do you mean?’’ • “I mean… well，I mean you needn’t be involved in it．”

16. 3.4 The Semicolon (;) • (1) It is used between two coordinate clauses not linked by a conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet): • No one is born with knowledge; knowledge must be taught and learned. • If she married that man，her parents would be unhappy；if she left him，she herself would be unhappy.

17. (2) Conjunctive adverbs like however，therefore，hence，nevertheless，moreover，thus，otherwise，besides，etc．，should not be used as conjunctions to link two coordinate clauses．They should be preceded by a semicolon，not a comma． • The trip was not very well planned or prepared；therefore, it was not a pleasant one． • She planned to go with them on the trip；however，her son’s sudden illness prevented her from leaving home． • Buses are always crowded；hence he prefers to cycle． • The invention brought him fame；moreover，it brought him money．

18. (3)The semicolon is used with conjunctions when the clauses have internal punctuation： Unfortunately，Wang couldn’t come；and his absence made things difficult for us． • Before he came，we had expected him to help us；but when he was with us，he didn’t do much.

19. On the committee are quite a few well-known people；for example，Professor Zhao，Dean of the Normal College；Mr．Han，editor-in-chief of the local evening paper；Miss Xu，a popular actress；and Mr．Hu，Director of the Bureau of Culture • Five students from Class Ⅵ won prizes in the competition；two from Class I ；none from ClassⅡ． • There are four Nobel Prize winners in their university；in our university，none．

20. 3.5 The Colon(:) • (1) The colon is used to introduce an explanation，a summary，or an appositive： • She showed me the books she had just borrowed from the library：two novels by Jane Austen and a book on the history of English literature． • Three causes have been given for the failure：poor planning，insufficient manpower, and the shortage of material．

21. (2) The colon may precede a quotation or j statement： • My grandpa often mentions one saying by Confucius：“To say you know when you know，and to say you do not when you do not，that is knowledge.” • At the meeting he made an important announcement：he would resign from the committee in two weeks．

22. (3)The colon is used to separate the hour from the minute in time references，to mark the scores of games，to end the salutation of a business letter，and the introductroy remark of a speaker • The train leaves at 10：45 a. m． • China beat Japan 3：2 in the women’s volleyball tournament． • Dear Mr. Brown： • Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen：

23. 3.6 The Question Mark(?) • Did you study English literature at your college? • You cleaned the room this morning? • Five yuan is enough? • Did she buy milk? butter? beef? eggs?

24. 3.7 The Exclamation Mark (!) • What a beautiful day! • How can you believe the dishonest man’s words! • Help! Help! A boy has fallen into the river! • ‘‘Get out!” he yelled． • Wow! What a strange hat! • “What a nice day，”she said. • Oh，don’t bother about it． • Long live the People’s Republic of China!

25. 3.8 Quotation Marks(“…”) • (1) Double quotation marks are used to enclose direct (but not indirect) quotations either in dialogue or from a book；single quotation marks are used to enclose a quotation within a quotation： • “What do you mean by ‘evolutionary mechanism’?” one of the students asked．(A quotation within a quotation)

26. (2) Long quotations in type—written papers are single-spaced and indented from both sides，or from the left only．Quotation marks may or may not be used．If they are used with a passage of two or more paragraphs，they are placed before each paragraph and at the end of only the last；they are not placed at the ends of the other paragraphs．

27. (3) When two or more persons are talking together, each person’s speech, however short it is, is written as a separate paragraph, together with reporting verbs and accompanying descriptions. • “Did you go to the zoo yesterday?” she asked her son, smiling. • “Yes, I did,” he said. “I had a good time there.” • “I’m sure you saw the Pandas.” • “Of course, But there was such a crowd around them that I couldn’t get close enough to see them clearly,” he said with a sigh.

28. (4) When other marks of punctuation are used with quoted words, phrases, or sentences, American practices are as follows： • 1) The period and the comma are placed within the quotation marks： • “John，”she said，“I’ve lost my gloves.” You should read his article on “New Criticism,’’ which is very interesting.

29. 2) The colon and the semicolon are placed outside the quotation marks： • First he talked about “New Criticism’’; then he discussed “postmodernism.’’ • The dictionary gives a brief explanation of “postmodernism”：a style of building, decoration, art, etc., which uses an unusual mixing of old and new forms.

30. 3) The dash，the question mark，and the exclamation mark are placed within the quotation marks when they are connected only with the quoted words；they are placed outside when they are connected with the Whole sentence： • She asked，“What does modernism mean?” • What is the meaning of “New Criticism”? • “Help! Help!” she cried． • Stop crying “I want it”!

31. 3.9 Parentheses(( )) • (1) Parentheses are used to set off parenthetical, supplementary, or illustrative matter： • A PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) delegation is to visit China next month.Bai Juyi (772—846) was a great poet of the Tang dynasty. • (2) Parentheses enclose figures or letters used for enumeration： • Coordinate clauses are linked by (a) a comma and a conjunction，(b) a semicolon or a colon，and (c) a dash．

32. 3.10 Brackets([]) • (1) Brackets are used to indicate editorial corrections or explanations in quoted matter．He wrote：“0ne great poet of the Song dynasty [Su Shi] said that in Wang Wei’s poetry there was painting and in his paintings there was poetry. • (2) Brackets are used to replace parentheses within parentheses. • William Strunk Jr．and E．B．White wrote a very useful little book for students learning to write (The Elements of Style [New York: Macmillan, 1972])．

33. 3.11 The Dash(— ) • (1) the dash marks a break in thought or a change in tone：I went through a lot of terrible ordeals in those chaotic years—but who didn’t? • He might do many good things for the people of the city—if he was elected. • (2)The dash indicates an unfinished or interrupted statement：“My idea is—”“You want to quit, don't you?”“This is really— really —disappointing．”

34. (3) The dash sets off a parenthetical element： • Three countries——Spain，Italy and Hungary——abstained． • His old problems—such as asthma and high blood pressure—are still worrying him． • (4) The dash is sometimes used to introduce a final summarizing clause after a series of nouns that refer to the subject of the clause:Poor management，insufficient supply of raw material，and shortage of skilled workers——these were the main cause of the failure of the factory． • Father, Mother，John and Susan——all were surprised by my announcement．

35. (5) Some writers use the dash just like quotation marks in a dialogue. • ——Have you seen my hat? • —— It is on the chair over there. • (6) The dash is sometimes used to introduce subheadings and authors after quotations： • The Growth of the Green Parties • —— A General SurveyWe learn from history that mennever learn anything from history. • ——Hegel

36. 3.12 The Slash(／) • This university provides scholarships and／or loans. • In this well-known poem Shelley wrote：“Be through my lips to un-awakened earth／The trumpet of a prophecy! Oh，wind,／If Winter comes，can Spring be far behind?’’ • A kilometer is 31／50 of a mile • Rent：50 yuan／sq. m.