题文

阅读理解。

When punctuation (标点) began, it was mainly to help people read out loud. Until a few hundred years ago, not many people were taught to read, so there was a lot more reading out loud by the few people who could.      To help those reading out loud in the old days, sign (符号) known as "points" were added to pages of writing. Punctuation comes from the Latin word punctus, meaning "point". These points told readers when to pause (暂停) or take a breath, and what to emphasize (加重).      In Europe from the early centuries AD, these points were widely used although not everybody used the same points for the same thing. When printing was invented, printers had to be made more clearly about what to put where, so that everyone was doing the same thing. Since that point, all sorts of punctuation rules have been discov ered and invented.      Speech marks ".."      Speech marks or quotation marks are used to show that someone is speaking. The sort we have in English today began to be widely used during the 18 century. Before that readers simply understood from the way a sentence was written that someone was speaking although sometimes spoken words were underlined.      Comma, colon: period (full stop).      All three of these sorts of punctuation marks were given their Greek names by Aristophanes, a librarian who lived in Byzantium in the 2'd century BC. They were marks on the page, each with a message to the reader. Comma meant a short pause. Colon meant a medium (中等的) sized pause. Period meant a long pause.      Exclamation mark!      In the early days of punctuation, if you saw this sign, you were supposed to pause. Some people think the exclamation mark began as what the Creek word JO looked like if it was turned 90 degrees. This word means"Oh, gosh!" With the I on the top and the O under it, the sign as we know it today was developed.      Question mark?      In the middle age, a squiggle (圆弧) above a full stop was sometimes used to show the sentence was a question and that a person's voice should go up at the end. By the 17" century it had turned into what we call a question mark. The shape may have come from the letter Q short for that Latin quaestio, meaning "question".       Writers make choices about punctuation because they think differently about sentences and words. It's part of the personality of their writing. Some writers hate punc- tuation, but others love punctuation. So whether you love or hate punctuation, the best advice may be to just enjoy it, play with it, think about it and use it. It belongs (属于) to the language and it belongs to you.

1. When did punctuation begin to be widely used, according to the passage?

A. In the 17th century. B. In the 2nd century BC. C. In the 18th century. D. In the early centuries AD.

2. All punctuation rules were discovered and invented in order to ________.

A. help people read out loud B. meet the need of printing C. guide the way of writing D. mention the spoken words

3. Which of the following is true?

A. A long pause comes after question mark. B. Speech marks were named by a librarian. C. Question mark comes from a Latin word. D. The shape of a word makes exclamation mark.

4. What's the problem about punctuation today?

A. People have completely different ideas about it. B. Not many people are taught to use it correctly. C. It has different meanings to different people. D. Sometimes spoken words must be underlined.

题型：阅读理解  难度：偏难

答案

1-4        DBDA

据专家权威分析，试题“阅读理解。 When punctuation (标点) began, it was mainly to h..”主要考查你对  历史文化类阅读  等考点的理解。关于这些考点的“档案”如下：

历史文化类阅读

考点名称：历史文化类阅读

• 历史文化类阅读：
  本类题型常用的方式是夹叙夹议。叙述的目的是为了议，所以要把握其议才是主要方面。
  阅读这类文章，先弄清其引入的话题，再弄清里面人物对其不同的看法，然后理解作者本身对话题的观点看法或思考。

• 初中英语阅读理解的解题技巧：
  一、要注意养成良好的阅读心理，阅读时要去掉杂念，心绪要安定，精神要专一，要形成一种惬意的顺向心理。
  切不可一遇到几个生词难句，就心烦意乱，失去自控能力。心理学家告诉我们，任何恐慌，过分紧张的情绪都会形成一种消极因素妨碍大脑的正常思维功能。
  因此，遇到困难一定要从容不迫，心无旁骛。这样才能对所读的文章印象清晰，理解深刻。
  
  二、要提高视读的速度，考阅读理解，从另一个方面来说，考的是考试速度。因此做阅读理解时，要注意培养自己快速阅读的习惯。
  切不可在个别难懂的词句上磨蹭，只要全篇理解了，个别难懂的词句可以根据上下文和构词法去猜测，去推断。
  
  三、对文章的评价分析，一定要坚持“词不离句，句不离篇”，要理解文章作者的原意，而不能按你自己的意愿去想当然。
  切记：一想当然，就会出错。