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在備考英語四級的過程中，各位考生不僅要注意詞匯的積累，句型的掌握，還要注意標點符號的正確使用。
冒號的用法
冒號表示停頓，其停頓時間比分號長比句號短。它可用逗號，有時也可用句號代替。盡管現在冒號的使用不如50到75年前頻繁，但現在它使用仍很方便，因為它告訴讀者其后仍是對上文進一步的陳述。冒號還能產生輕微的戲劇效果。
冒號常用于引出一個詞、短語、或完整的句子(子句)來強調，舉例解釋，或證明剛才所說過的內容。
注意：冒號之后的詞可用大寫也可用小寫字母開頭。如果冒號之后的詞是另一個完整句子的開始，則用大寫字母開頭。反之，如果冒號之后的詞只是句子的一部分，則用小寫字母開頭。
例 May I offer you a suggestion: don’t drive without your seat belts fastened.
The thought continued to perplex him: Where will I go next?
用于引出一連串用來解釋或強調已敘述過的內容。如：
In the basement, he kept some equipment for his experiments: the test tubes, some chemical agents, three sun-lamps, and the drill.
冒號后常為縮排且不用引號、與全文分離的長引文。
President Jiang Zemin enjoys quoting the first line of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
精典范例
There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
--英國作家Oscar Wide
寫作時，切忌這樣寫：
The four major reasons for the landslide victory were: the candidate’s personal popularity, the enthusiastic support of his party, his stand on budget issues, and the general mood of the nation.
這樣用的問題在哪?問題出在冒號用于動詞were之后，你可能在英語為母語的人寫的報紙或流行刊物中見到這類用法，但它在學術寫作中不被大學教師所接受。 在學術論文中，主語補足語或直接賓語應緊跟在冒號之后。主語補足語的修飾詞(obvious)使原本存在句子中的問題得到解決：冒號不應緊跟在動詞之后。
上面例題中，取得壓倒性勝利的四個原因是明顯的：the candidate’s personal popularity, the enthusiastic support of his party, his stand on budget issues, and the general mood of the nation.
破折號的用法
用于表示句子正常語序中突然或出人意料的中斷。如果意義明確，它也可用于代替括弧或逗號。通常，破折號特別強調它所隔開的部分。
破折號常用于對一長項已表達過的內容進行總結。
例 The day was the longest in her life - or so it seemed to her.
Could you - I hate to ask! - help me with these dishes?
When we left town - a day never to be forgotten - they had a record snowfall.
Most of the paintings in the gallery - in fact all but one - were done in the early 19th century.
What he lacked in intelligence - and he lacked a good deal - he made up for in physical strength.
The three of them were seated at one end of a long dining table that could hold - had once often held - eighteen people.
William Harvey did not discover the circulation of the blood in the body. It was discovered - or rather, always assumed - in China.
More than 600 unforgettable - and often surprising - photographs and Illustrations will rivet your attention, no matter what your age.
破折號常用來總結一系列已表達過的內容。如：
Time and patience - two simple words - yet why are they so hard for me to remember.
分號的用法
分號有時又稱為小句號。它表示一個停頓，其停頓時間在逗號與冒號的停頓時間之間。文章如采用許多分號，其風格則變得嚴肅、正式。為了正確使用分號，有必要先學會辨認主句。當兩個主句沒有任何連接詞(and, but, or, nor, for)連接而出現在同一個句子里，這時最好采用分號使之分離。分號的主要作用很簡單，它常用于分離沒有連接詞連接的句子。但最好不要在從句之間形成如此之強的停頓。如果你要連接從句，而又不愿意用連接詞時，則采用分號。
The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.
You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you’ve got something to say.
In the past, boy babies were often dressed in blue; girls, in pink.
Can’t you see it’s no good to go on alone; we’ll starve to death if we keep traveling this way much longer.
John F. Kennedy said at his inaugural speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
Our power to apprehend truth is limited; to seek it, limitless.
Science needs to be lived alongside religion, philosophy, history and esthetic experience; alone it can lead to great harm.
下列各詞和短語如用于連接復合句時，常與分號連用：
then however thus furthermore
hence indeed consequently also
that is nevertheless anyhow in addition
in fact on the other hand likewise moreover
still meanwhile instead besides
otherwise in other words henceforth for example
therefore at the same time even now
例：
Being clever and cynical, he succeeded in becoming president of the company; meanwhile his wife left him.
The weather was cold for that time of the year; nevertheless, we set out to hike to the top of that mountain.
According to one national survey, high school boys expected a starting salary of $19,500 for their first full-time job; on the other hand, high school girls expected a starting salary of only $15,000.
