如果你的目标是写小说，应该看原版The Elements of Style （免费下载）：

http://www.jlakes.org/ch/web/The-elements-of-style.pdf

为了“完整”性，我们继续用The Elements of Style 。不喜欢看英文原著的，凑合着看我的注解（不是翻译）。 

III
 A Few Matters of Form 

第三部分有点“杂”。我只挑几个科技英语写作可能会用到东东。

Quotations. Formal quotations cited as documentary evidence are introduced by a colon and enclosed in quotation marks. 

注解：在文件中，正式的引号前面有个冒号。看下面的例子。

The United States Coast Pilot has this to say of the place: "Bracy Cove, 0.5 mile eastward of Bear Island, is exposed to southeast winds, has a rocky and uneven bottom, and is unfit for anchorage." 

A quotation grammatically in apposition or the direct object of a verb is preceded by a comma and enclosed in quotation marks. 

注解：短文、小说中常常是这样用引号的：

I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor, "Never worry about your heart till it stops beating." （逗号＋引号）

Mark Twain says, "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." （逗号＋引号。注意了，不是冒号＋引号）

When a quotation is followed by an attributive phrase, the comma is enclosed within the quotation marks. 

注解： 如果“发言人”是在引号后面出现，后半个引号的前面，是逗号。看下面的例子。

"I can't attend," she said. （逗号＋后半个引号）

Typographical usage dictates that the comma be inside the marks, though logically it often seems not to belong there.

注解：美式英语，逗号是在后半个引号前面，尽管你可能看着别扭。请看：

"The Fish," "Poetry," and "The Monkeys" are in Marianne Moore's Selected Poems. 

匆匆忙忙注解完第三部分，希望对你有帮助。

［科技英语写作基础（系列）：大纲（1）

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=306792&do=blog&id=1146690

科技英语写作基础（系列）：大纲（2）

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=306792&do=blog&id=1146716］

1.    语态（1）

2.    常用时态

3.    一些标点符号“规则”（句号、逗号，参考The Elements of StylePart I）

4.    一些语法“规则”（主语、谓语的一致性、变化多端的代词、分词短语的主人，参考The Elements of Style Part I）

5.    一些基本的写作“原则”（文章结构、段落、语态、简洁性等，参考The Elements of Style）

6.    修改、修改、再修改［简洁为上, see Chapter 7 Concision by Joseph／三种修饰语＋两种“问题修饰语”，即悬空修饰语（p161）、错位修饰语／, see Chapter 8 Length by Joseph／逻辑性／一致性］

请大家多提意见。