世界節(jié)假日博覽 第154期:國(guó)家標(biāo)點(diǎn)日

National Punctuation 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 stunned at how many executives and CEOs send me articles and correspondence that are poorly written and punctuated…Magazines and newspapers routinely make punctuation errors.“

對(duì)于學(xué)英語(yǔ)的學(xué)生和英語(yǔ)老師來(lái)說(shuō)，國(guó)家標(biāo)點(diǎn)日是個(gè)非常重要的節(jié)日。事實(shí)上任何寫(xiě)英文的人都應(yīng)該慶祝這一節(jié)日。小小的標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)構(gòu)成了英語(yǔ)標(biāo)點(diǎn)系統(tǒng)，我們卻幾乎沒(méi)人覺(jué)得自己是這方面的專家。國(guó)家標(biāo)點(diǎn)日是2004年由一名前記者杰夫·魯賓設(shè)立的。他想讓人們注意到正確標(biāo)點(diǎn)的重要性和提高良好的寫(xiě)作技巧。他說(shuō)：“成功人士有好的溝通技巧，其中就包括知道如何正確書(shū)寫(xiě)。”他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“我接到許多主管和首席執(zhí)行官寄給我的文章和通信，我驚訝于他們?cè)愀獾臅?shū)寫(xiě)和錯(cuò)誤的標(biāo)點(diǎn)……雜志和報(bào)紙也經(jīng)常有標(biāo)點(diǎn)錯(cuò)誤。”


Punctuation is everything in a written language except the actual letters or numbers. Punctuation marks and other things like spaces and indents 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 standardized punctuation system emerged after the invention of the printing press. Many purists believe punctuation is under threat today. They say that the emergence of text messaging is killing off commas, colons and apostrophes. People are in too much of a hurry to bother with correct punctuation.

在書(shū)面語(yǔ)中，標(biāo)點(diǎn)是實(shí)意詞匯和數(shù)字之外最重要的部分。標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)和其他如空格和縮進(jìn)能幫助讀者理解文章的組織結(jié)構(gòu)。每種語(yǔ)言的標(biāo)點(diǎn)規(guī)則都不一樣。含有標(biāo)點(diǎn)的最古老文件可追溯到公元前9世紀(jì)。英語(yǔ)標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)在圣經(jīng)大量出版時(shí)期得到完善。標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的標(biāo)點(diǎn)系統(tǒng)出現(xiàn)在印刷機(jī)發(fā)明以后。許多純粹主義者相信現(xiàn)在的標(biāo)點(diǎn)受到了威脅。他們說(shuō)短信的出現(xiàn)扼殺了逗號(hào)、冒號(hào)和省略號(hào)。人們太忙了，懶得寫(xiě)正確的標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)。