第一章英语写作常识与规范

第一节标点符号

1． 顿号“、” 英语没有顿号，一般用逗号取代。汉语中用顿号表示一句话中间并列的词和词组之间的停顿。如：This kind of machine is widely used in India, Russia, the U.S.A. and China. (这种机器在印度、俄罗斯、美国、中国广泛应用。)
2． 书名号 汉语书名号为《》，表示书籍、报刊等名称。英语中不用书名号，而是用斜体字表示，以区别于印刷体；但打字或书写时，因没有斜体字，便在书名或刊名下划一横线。例如：I often read the newspaper---New York Times.
(我经常阅读《纽约时报》这份报纸。)
3． 句号 英语的句号是是实心的小圆点，即 “.”, 常用于陈述句和祈使句之后。而汉语的句号是空心圆圈，即“。”。
4． 冒号 英语中的冒号一般只用来对主句进行说明、引申、解释等等，汉语中除有上述相似用法外，更多用于直接引语的说明及一般函件的开头语。例如：
The year is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.(一年分为四季：春、夏、秋、冬。)
5. 逗号 “，” 在英语中，引起直接引语的说明以及一般函件开头的称呼语等一类用语后都用逗号，而不象汉语那样用冒号。（但美国用冒号）。逗号是英文写作中最常用的标点符号。对中国学生而言，也是最容易出错的地方。因为以中国人写作的思维，只要一句话意思没完，便要用逗号，而对于英文写作，只要句子结构完整便要用句号。例如：
逗号误用：I set out for the biggest bookstore in town, at the school gate I saw a girl of my class, she was going there, too, we decided to go together, we walked, the bookstore was not far away.
正确的句子：I set out for the biggest bookstore in town. At the school gate I saw a girl of my class. She was going there, too. We decided to go together. We walked. The bookstore was not far away.
(我开始去城里最大的书店。 在学校门口我看见了班里的一个女孩, 她也要去那儿, 我们决定一起去, 我们走着,书店就在不远处。 )
6. 分号 表示短暂而明确的停顿，主要用法有两种。一是连接两个内容相关但语法逻辑上完整的独立分句，分句之间不用连词。分号就相当于逗号与连接词的组合。如：The project was finally completed; we were very pleased.(我们很高兴我们终于完成了计划。) 相当于The project was finally completed. We were very pleased. 或The project was finally completed，and we were very pleased.
7. 省略号 英语的省略是三个实心的小圆点，位于一行的中间。英语etc不能和省略号连用而汉语则可以。如：
 正确的句子：There is a pen, two apples, three oranges ect in the box.
 标点误用：  There is a pen, two apples, three oranges…etc. in the box.
8. 引号 “” 引号用来表示文中的直接引语，英语中单引号和双引号都可用，汉语一般只用双引号，但引号中如再加引号可用单引号。“I heard ‘stop thief, stop thief’ being shouted, ” he said.

第二节 文章的总体布局

在写作时，无论是手写还是使用打字机或电脑，都应注意文章的总体布局，如题目的写法、行文的间隔、字体字号的选择等等。题目应放在第一行的中间，第一个单词的首字母和每一个名词、动词、形容词、副词等的首字母都要大写。题目中的功能词如冠词、介词、并列连词、不定式小品词除了作为第一个单词首字母要大写外，其他情景下一般要小写。但among，between，about等双音节、多音节介词也可首字母大写。题目中若有冒号、破折号，其后面单词的首字母应大写。题目的结尾除了可使用问号或感叹号外，不可使用其他标点符号。如：
My First Visit to the Summer Palace
Dickens and David Copperfield
What Can the Artist Do in the World of Today?
在正文的布局上，段落应清晰，各段的排列应保持一致。每段开头一般应向右缩进4至5个字母的间隔。但在电脑排版中，也可左右都对齐。但在这种情况下，段与段之间应多空一行。无论采用哪种方式，都应注意保持格式的一致。单词与单词之间应留一个字母的间隔，每一完整句之间一般留一个或两个字母的间隔。标点符号应书写清楚，特别应注意英文句点与中文句号之间的区别。

课堂练习
1．指出下列句子中标点符号用法上的错误并加以改正。
1) The job is difficult, however, we will try our best to finish it.
2) The examination was over; and we were overjoyed.
3) As I opened the door, he told me, that I was late.
4) The universal symptom of the suicide impulse, is depression.
5) Tom, Sarah and Mary, are going to join us on the first phase of this project.
6) An employee, who expects rapid promotion, must quickly improve his or her worth.
7) I had a heart-to-heart talk with Linda, and John.
8) We painted the room, pink.
9) Following the instruction the technician installed the machine within one hour.
10) The process may be waiting for a signal, or the process input, may be delayed by network interrupts.

2．给下面的段落加标点，并改正大小写。
you should take clothes for hot and cold climates the desert even though its in africa gets very cold at night in addition dont forget the small essentials water purifying tablets a needle and cotton a pair of sunglasses and one or two good books I also took a penknife a sleeping bag and a stove