Question

CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS? Every one of us gets so used to punctuation marks that not many of us give them a second thought. Actually, the ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks probably didn’t bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc. The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this: They • put • something • that • can • separate • words • in • a • sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a dot.

When the 5^th century arrived, there were just two punctuation marks: spaces and points. The spaces separated words while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13^th century, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicate a short pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma (逗号).

Since that time, other marks have enlarged the punctuation family. The exclamation mark (感叹号) comes from the Latin word io. It means “exclamation of joy.” The question mark originally started out as the Latin word questio, meaning question. Eventually, scholars put it at the end of a sentence to show a question.

Punctuation even keeps changing nowadays. New marks are coming into existence, and old punctuation marks are used in new ways. Take for example the “interrobang”. This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both. For example, “She did what?” or “How much did you pay for that dress?” Obviously, the interrobang is not widely used or recognized yet, but its invention shows that English is not yet finished with its punctuation.

1.From the first paragraph, we can know that _______.

A. good readers had trouble reading without punctuation marks

B. a sentence always read from left to right in ancient Greece

C. ancient Greeks switched the direction of punctuation marks

D. the use of punctuation marks can date back to ancient times

2.The passage is developed _______.

A. by time           B. by space

C. by comparison      D. by importance

3.We can learn from the passage that _______.

A. ancient Romans didn’t use any punctuation marks

B. exclamation and question marks came from Latin

C. spaces and slashes were already used before the 5^th century

D. Aldus Manutius first started to use commas

4.What can be concluded from the last paragraph?

A. The combination of two marks will not work.

B. It takes time for people to accept new punctuation marks.

C. Old punctuation marks need to be standardized.

D. Punctuation marks are still changing today.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章介绍了标点符号的出现及逐步发展的过程，并且它还在发展变化中。

1.D推理判断题。第一段讲述了古希腊古罗马时期没有标点人们读句子的情况及标点符号的出现，根据最后一句The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a dot.可知开始有了标点符号的使用，故选D.

2.A推理判断题。第一段的ancient Greeks和ancient Romans，第二段的the 5th century，第三段的Since that time,最后一段的nowadays可知文章是按照时间顺序写的，故选A.

3.B推理判断题。根据第三段The exclamation mark (感叹号) comes from the Latin word io. It means “exclamation of joy.” The question mark originally started out as the Latin word questio, meaning question.可知感叹号和问号都来自于拉丁语，故选B.

4.

考点：考查教育文化类短文阅读。

【名师点睛】

推理判断题的解题方法 ：

推理判断题不仅要求考生读懂文章中的每个句子的意思还要推理它们之间的关系，结合自己的生活常识和经验，再通过逻辑推理和判断，理解文章的言外之意，从而揭示文章的深层涵义。如文中第5小题第一段讲述了古希腊古罗马时期没有标点人们读句子的情况及标点符号的出现，根据最后一句The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a dot.可知开始有了标点符号的使用，故选D. 第6小题第一段的ancient Greeks和ancient Romans，第二段的the 5th century，第三段的Since that time,最后一段的nowadays可知文章是按照时间顺序写的，故选A.

任何一篇文章都有其特定的写作目的，读者应当知道如何去做或按照某种方式传递思考问题。

推理判断题的答案不可能在文章中直接找到，因此推理时我们务必要忠于原文，在文章中寻找并确定可推论的依据，即：已知部分－推论的前提，从中推测出未知部分－推理的结论，切忌妄加评论，把自己的观点当成作者的观点。