英語四級作文必備知識訓練：標點符號的用法
在備考英語四級的過程中，各位考生不僅要注意詞彙的積累，句型的掌握，還要注意標點符號的正確使用。下面是本站小編整理的英語四級作文必備知識訓練：標點符號的用法，以供大家學習參考。
冒號的用法
冒號表示停頓，其停頓時間比分號長比句號短。它可用逗號，有時也可用句號代替。儘管現在冒號的使用不如50到75年前頻繁，但現在它使用仍很方便，因爲它告訴讀者其後仍是對上文進一步的陳述。冒號還能產生輕微的戲劇效果。
冒號常用於引出一個詞、短語、或完整的句子(子句)來強調，舉例解釋，或證明剛纔所說過的內容。
注意：冒號之後的詞可用大寫也可用小寫字母開頭。如果冒號之後的詞是另一個完整句子的開始，則用大寫字母開頭。反之，如果冒號之後的詞只是句子的一部分，則用小寫字母開頭。
例 May I offer you a suggestion: don’t drive without your seat belts fastened.
The thought continued to perplex him: Where will I go next?
用於引出一連串用來解釋或強調已敘述過的內容。如：
In the basement, he kept some equipment for his experiments: the test tubes, some chemical agents, three sun-lamps, and the drill.
冒號後常爲縮排且不用引號、與全文分離的長引文。
President Jiang Zemin enjoys quoting the first line of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
精典範例
There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
--英國作家Oscar Wide
寫作時，切忌這樣寫：
The four major reasons for the landslide victory were: the candidate’s personal popularity, the enthusiastic support of his party, his stand on budget issues, and the general mood of the nation.
這樣用的問題在哪?問題出在冒號用於動詞were之後，你可能在英語爲母語的人寫的報紙或流行刊物中見到這類用法，但它在學術寫作中不被大學教師所接受。 在學術論文中，主語補足語或直接賓語應緊跟在冒號之後。主語補足語的修飾詞(obvious)使原本存在句子中的問題得到解決：冒號不應緊跟在動詞之後。
上面例題中，取得壓倒性勝利的四個原因是明顯的：the candidate’s personal popularity, the enthusiastic support of his party, his stand on budget issues, and the general mood of the nation.
破折號的用法
用於表示句子正常語序中突然或出人意料的中斷。如果意義明確，它也可用於代替括弧或逗號。通常，破折號特別強調它所隔開的部分。
破折號常用於對一長項已表達過的內容進行總結。
例 The day was the longest in her life - or so it seemed to her.
Could you - I hate to ask! - help me with these dishes?
When we left town - a day never to be forgotten - they had a record snowfall.
Most of the paintings in the gallery - in fact all but one - were done in the early 19th century.
What he lacked in intelligence - and he lacked a good deal - he made up for in physical strength.
The three of them were seated at one end of a long dining table that could hold - had once often held - eighteen people.
William Harvey did not discover the circulation of the blood in the body. It was discovered - or rather, always assumed - in China.
More than 600 unforgettable - and often surprising - photographs and Illustrations will rivet your attention, no matter what your age.
破折號常用來總結一系列已表達過的內容。如：
Time and patience - two simple words - yet why are they so hard for me to remember.
分號的用法
分號有時又稱爲小句號。它表示一個停頓，其停頓時間在逗號與冒號的停頓時間之間。文章如採用許多分號，其風格則變得嚴肅、正式。爲了正確使用分號，有必要先學會辨認主句。當兩個主句沒有任何連接詞(and, but, or, nor, for)連接而出現在同一個句子裏，這時最好採用分號使之分離。分號的主要作用很簡單，它常用於分離沒有連接詞連接的句子。但最好不要在從句之間形成如此之強的停頓。如果你要連接從句，而又不願意用連接詞時，則採用分號。
The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.
You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you’ve got something to say.
In the past, boy babies were often dressed in blue; girls, in pink.
Can’t you see it’s no good to go on alone; we’ll starve to death if we keep traveling this way much longer.
John F. Kennedy said at his inaugural speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
Our power to apprehend truth is limited; to seek it, limitless.
Science needs to be lived alongside religion, philosophy, history and esthetic experience; alone it can lead to great harm.
下列各詞和短語如用於連接複合句時，常與分號連用：
then however thus furthermore
hence indeed consequently also
that is nevertheless anyhow in addition
in fact on the other hand likewise moreover
still meanwhile instead besides
otherwise in other words henceforth for example
therefore at the same time even now
例：
Being clever and cynical, he succeeded in becoming president of the company; meanwhile his wife left him.
The weather was cold for that time of the year; nevertheless, we set out to hike to the top of that mountain.
According to one national survey, high school boys expected a starting salary of $19,500 for their first full-time job; on the other hand, high school girls expected a starting salary of only $15,000.
括號的用法
括號用於隔開與中心意思相關不緊密的言語。
In New York (I’ve lived there all my life and ought to know), you have to have a license for a gun.
I thought I knew the poem by heart (boy, was I wrong!).
For a long time (too long as far as I’m concerned), women were thought to be inferior to men.
The first time I went driving (do you remember the day?), I was so scared.
其他幾種標點的用法
問：如果連續使用兩個形容詞，可用逗號分開它們嗎?
答：在"Singapore is a clean, friendly city state"一句中，逗號代替了"and"。 連續兩個形容詞同時修飾一個名詞時，可用逗號把它們隔開。但當其中一個形容詞修飾另一形容詞時，不需要用逗號隔開它們：
On my way back home, I stared at the pale blue sky.
問：何時用連字符連接單詞?
採用連字符連接的兩個詞，意思可一目瞭然。例如，沒用連字符的合成詞light year，字面意思是一年比另一年不重要;加上連字符，我們就很清楚light-year是光年的意思。
通常，我們在處理名詞前兩個或多個詞的組合時，可用連字符。
例：know-how
ready-to-wear
faster-than-expected production
life-form
state-of-the-art technology
medium-range missiles
當這一羣詞用作形容詞時，僅對它們所修飾的名詞之前的詞使用連字符。
It was a fast-paced city life.
即City life is fast paced.
Bring me the up-to-date report.
即Bring me up to date.
還有，以"-ly"結尾的副詞不用連字符。
Wrong: We do not work with financially-unstable organizations.
Correct: We do not work with financially unstable organizations.
Wrong: We are required to attend all regularly-scheduled meetings.
Correct: We are required to attend all regularly scheduled meetings.
問：你贊成省略縮略語的中間或末尾的句點嗎?
答：這是一個關於寫作風格和品味的問題，有些編者對縮略語用句點;有些則不用。用與不用取決於你。我的建議是，一旦你決定採用哪種方式，就不宜改變。專有名詞中的句點應該保留，姓名之間的圓點應予保留。
問：什麼叫不分段句?
答：兩個完整的句子間僅用逗號，或不用任何其它標點，這兩個句子叫做不分段句。
例：
The air conditioner is broken, we must have it repaired as soon as possible.
How to rid of run-on? Here are a few approaches:
有如下幾種方法可消除不分段句 。
The air conditioner is broken and has to be repaired as soon as possible.
(使用連詞"and")
The air conditioner is broken; it has to be repaired as soon as possible.
(用分號隔開這兩個句子)
The air conditioner is broken. We must have it repaired as soon as possible.
(用句號隔開這兩個句子)
