An Educational Companion to EATS, SHOOTS （一个教育伙伴吃,竹笋）.pdfVIP

An Educational Companion to EATS, SHOOTS LEAVES by Lynne Truss 2 Introduction: The Seventh Sense (pages 1-34) While completing the exercises in this book, keep in mind these differences between American English and British English: 1. Parentheses are called brackets. 2. Periods are called full stops. 3. Exclamation points are called exclamation marks. 4. 7:30 is written 7.30. 5. Americans place all terminal punctuation inside closing quotation marks, while British usage sometimes “picks and chooses.” Exercises Guaranteed to Bring Out Your Inner Stickler 1) Take a walk or drive through your village, town, or city and write down signs or advertisements that are egregiously punctuated. Look particularly for those “pesky apostrophes” and “delightful/horrific examples of idiotic sign-writing.” (Should you become obsessed with these outings, we suggest you wear a disguise and whip out your notebook when no one is looking. You do not want to be recognized as one of Lynne Truss’s sticklers on the prowl!) 2) When you have found a sign with a punctuation error, write a courteous letter explaining the correct use of the apostrophe and “express the gentle wish that, should the offending ‘Bob,s Pets’ sign, for example, be replaced, this well meant guidance might be borne in mind.” These letters won’t be necessary, after the A.P.S. (Apostrophe Protection Society) has created a more militant wing. 3) Look through your local newspaper and find errors such as, “DEAD SONS PHOTOS MAY BE RELEASED.” 4) Look on Amazon for a film/book review and, keeping in mind Lynne Truss’ rules, correct the punctuation. 5) Imagine that you are trying to persuade a non-stickler that punctuation is important. Come up with at least three reasons. 3 The Tractable Apostrophe (pages 35-67) Do not take the apostrophe’s talent for ada