在托福閱讀考試中,在一般的主從句之間加入標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào),往往可以插入更多的內(nèi)容,從而呈現(xiàn)在我們面前一句超長(zhǎng)的句子(詞數(shù)35+甚至40+)。另外,對(duì)英文標(biāo)點(diǎn)不熟悉的同學(xué)可能會(huì)被這類(lèi)句子弄暈。不過(guò)其實(shí),這種句子看懂之后其實(shí)比長(zhǎng)難句的修飾成分要簡(jiǎn)單。
破折號(hào)用在托福文章中,主要是插入同位語(yǔ)的功能,如下例:
TPO22-2
The new candid photography—unposed pictures that were made when the subjects were unaware that their pictures were being taken—confirmed these scientific results, and at the same time, thanks to the radical cropping (trimming) of images that the camera often imposed, suggested new compositional formats.
這種情況破折號(hào)中的,內(nèi)容可以視為破折號(hào)前名詞的一個(gè)補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明,理解句子結(jié)構(gòu)時(shí)候完全可以把這部分扔掉,于是分析如下:
Topic:Candid photography confirmed scientific results.
Details:Method of candid photography(contents between dash lines)
New compositional formats thanks to the radical cropping of images(meanwhile)
英文中冒號(hào)的用法有一點(diǎn)值得注意,冒號(hào)前必須是具有完整結(jié)構(gòu)的句子。具體用法在這里。
冒號(hào)之后的內(nèi)容主要是解釋說(shuō)明冒號(hào)前的內(nèi)容,如下例:
TPO24-3
Scholars believe that this cooperation allowed people to contend with a patchy environment in which precipitation and other resources varied across the landscape: if you produce a lot of food one year, you might trade it for pottery made by a distant ally who is having difficulty with crops—and the next year, the flow of goods might go in the opposite direction.
冒號(hào)后提出了一種可能的情況,用以佐證冒號(hào)前合作產(chǎn)生競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的論斷,于是分析如下:
Topic:Scholar believe cooperation allowed people to contend with the environment.
Details:Environment: precipitation and other resources varies across the landscape.
Illustrate how people act in this kind of cooperation by one example, say exchange spare crops with pottery.
分號(hào)的作用很簡(jiǎn)單,常用于分離沒(méi)有連接詞連接的句子。通常用在非常嚴(yán)肅正式的文體中,托福寫(xiě)作中不太推薦使用。在實(shí)際閱讀中,我們只要把分號(hào)后面的內(nèi)容看成另外一句句子即可,如下例:
TPO22-3 Since practically all the solar system's mass resides in the Sun, this similarity in chemistry means that chondrites have average solar system composition, except for the most volatile elements; they are truly lumps of nebular matter, probably similar in composition to the matter from which planets were assembled.
其他常見(jiàn)的標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)還有括號(hào)等,限于篇幅這邊就不介紹了。標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)盡管看上去不起眼,但是在句子中它起到了很多的作用,也會(huì)幫助我們理解句子。預(yù)祝大家托??荚嚾〉煤贸煽?jī)!
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