世界节假日博览 第154期:国家标点日

 　　National Punctuation¹ Day is a very important holiday for teachers and students of English. In fact, anyone who writes in English should celebrate this day. Few of us feel we are experts at the small marks that make up the English punctuation system. The day was founded in 2004 by Jeff Rubin, a former journalist. He wanted to draw attention to the importance of proper punctuation and to promote good writing skills. He said:"Successful people have good communication skills, and that includes knowing how to write properly." He added:"I'm stunned² at how many executives and CEOs send me articles and correspondence that are poorly written and punctuated…Magazines and newspapers routinely make punctuation errors."

　　对于学英语的学生和英语老师来说，国家标点日是个非常重要的节日。事实上任何写英文的人都应该庆祝这一节日。小小的标点符号构成了英语标点系统，我们却几乎没人觉得自己是这方面的专家。国家标点日是2004年由一名前记者杰夫·鲁宾设立的。他想让人们注意到正确标点的重要性和提高良好的写作技巧。他说：“成功人士有好的沟通技巧，其中就包括知道如何正确书写。”他补充说：“我接到许多主管和首席执行官寄给我的文章和通信，我惊讶于他们糟糕的书写和错误的标点……杂志和报纸也经常有标点错误。”

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　　Punctuation is everything in a written language except the actual letters or numbers. Punctuation marks and other things like spaces and indents³ help the reader understand the structure and organization of writing. Punctuation rules are different in every language. The oldest document containing punctuation dates back to the 9th century BC. English punctuation developed when large numbers of Bibles were produced. A standardized⁴ punctuation system emerged after the invention of the printing press. Many purists believe punctuation is under threat today. They say that the emergence⁵ of text messaging is killing⁶ off commas, colons⁷ and apostrophes. People are in too much of a hurry to bother with correct punctuation.

　　在书面语中，标点是实意词汇和数字之外最重要的部分。标点符号和其他如空格和缩进能帮助读者理解文章的组织结构。每种语言的标点规则都不一样。含有标点的最古老文件可追溯到公元前9世纪。英语标点符号在圣经大量出版时期得到完善。标准的标点系统出现在印刷机发明以后。许多纯粹主义者相信现在的标点受到了威胁。他们说短信的出现扼杀了逗号、冒号和省略号。人们太忙了，懒得写正确的标点符号。

　　1.draw attention to 吸引...注意力

　　例句：Be uniquely different. That’s what will draw attention to your ideas.

　　与众不同，你的观点就自然会吸引听众的注意力。

　　2.be stunned at 震惊

　　例句：Your mind will move at the speed of light on this day, and you may be stunned at your own inventiveness.

　　在这天，你的大脑能光速般运转，你将会为自己的创造力所震惊。

　　3.be different in与...不同

　　例句：If the port number and credentials⁸ are different in your setup, then you need to specify⁹ the appropriate values here.

　　如果您的设置中的端口号和凭据不同，那么您需要在这里指定适当的值。

　　4.under threat 处在威胁之下

　　例句：The survival of the European single market and of the EU itself would then be under threat.

　　这样一来，欧洲共同市场，乃至欧盟本身的生命力，都将处在威胁之下。

1 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

2 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

3 indents   

v.切割…使呈锯齿状( indent的第三人称单数 )；缩进排版

参考例句：

• Has Evans collected the indents for Chinese products yet? 埃文斯收集了中国货的订单没有？ 来自辞典例句
• Indent Code-Indents your code to a generally accepted style. 缩进代码-缩进您的代码以一种普遍接受的风格。 来自互联网

4 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

5 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 colons   

n.冒号( colon的名词复数 )；结肠

参考例句：

• Enter unlisted values here. Use semi-colons to separate multiple values. 在此处输入未列出的值。用分号分隔多个值。 来自互联网
• Colons separate hours, minutes, and seconds, although all need not be specified. 用冒号分隔小时、分钟和秒，但所有这些内容并非都需要指定。 来自互联网

8 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

9 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。