Punctuation (补充内容)
The semicolon (;) 1. between two coordinate sentences to make the two parts seem closer, e.g.: (1)No one is born with knowledge; knowledge must be taught and learned. (2) If she married that man, her parents would be unhappy; if she left him, she herself would be unhappy.
2. between two complex sentences, e.g.: (1) Unfortunately, Wang couldn’t come; and his absence made things difficult for us. (2) Before he came, we had expected him to help us; but when he was with us, he didn’t do much. The semicolon (;)
3. to separate a series of items which contain internal commas, e.g.: (1) 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. The semicolon (;)
4. to join a sentence with a word or words omitted, e.g.: (1) Five students from Class Three won prizes in the competition; two from Class One; none from Class Two. (2)There are four Nobel Prize winners in their university; in our university, none. The semicolon (;)
Brackets ( 方括号 ) 1. to indicate editorial corrections or explanations( 引用者改正或说明部分 ) in quoted matter, e.g. HHe wrote: “ One 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. ”
Brackets (方括号) 2.to replace parentheses within parentheses, e.g. 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]).
The dash is used: 1. to mark a break in thought or a change in tone, e.g.: I went through a lot of terrible ordeals ( 严峻的考验 ) in those chaotic (disordered) years — but who didn’t? He might do many good things for the people of the city — if he was elected.
The dash ( 破折号 ) 2. to introduce a final summarizing sentence after a series of nouns that refer to the subject of the sentence, e.g.: (1) Poor management, insufficient supply of raw material, and shortage of skilled workers — these were the main causes of the failure of the factory. (2) Father, Mother, John and Susan — all were surprised by my announcement.
The dash ( 破折号 ) 3. to indicate an unfinished or interrupted statement, e.g.: (1) “ My idea is —” “ You want to quit, don ’ t you? ” (2) “ This is really — really — disappointing. ”
The dash ( 破折号 ) 4. to set off a parenthetical element, e.g.: (1) Three countries — Spain, Italy and Hungary — abstained. (2) His old problems — such as asthma and high blood pressure — are still worrying him.
The dash ( 破折号 ) 5. to replace quotation marks in a dialogue, e.g.: –Have you seen my hat? –It is on the chair over there.
The dash ( 破折号 ) 6. To introduce subheadings and authors after quotations, e.g.: The Growth of the Green Parties — A General Survey
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