For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.(2000,閱讀1)半導體制造業是美國發明的,而且是新的電腦時代的核心產業,一度被認為會成為下一個受害者。
There is another way to commit evolutionary suicide: stay alive, but have fewer children. (2000,閱讀4)進行進化式自殺還有一種辦法:一直活著、少生孩子。
3.分號
一個分號表示語意并列,2個或2個以上的分號表示結構的并列。有時可利用分號推測句子意思或作者態度。
This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America. (1997,閱讀5)這不是曇花一現,在過去幾年里,英國和美國的通貨膨脹率始終低于預測水平。
4.破折號
兩破折號中為插入語時,看暫時跳讀
But in the past 100, 000 years—even the past 100 years—our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not. (2000,閱讀B)可是過去10萬年——甚至在過去100年里,我們的生很活發生了變化,但我們的身體卻沒有改變。
I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of “juggling your life,” and making the alternative move into “downshifting” brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status. (2001,閱讀5)