一名退休的记者，为了保护撇号在英语中的正确使用，发起了一项倡议。但现在，他放弃了自己的倡议，因为他说“无知已经获胜”。

They linger above our letters, they wander around the endings of our words - but apostrophes, it seems, are an endangered species. The Apostrophe Protection Society - yes there really is one - says their future is, well, up in the air.

它们停留在字母之上，徘徊在单词的结尾，但撇号似乎是一种 “濒临灭绝的物种”。撇号保护协会——是的，确实有这么一个协会，说撇号的未来 “悬而未决”。

The society's ninety-six-year-old chairman, John Richards, says they're vital, yet people have struggles with these squiggles. Mr Richards has agonised over apostrophes for nearly two decades, but now says, thanks to the likes of texting and Twitter, people have simply stopped using them.

撇号保护协会主席，96岁的约翰·理查兹说，撇号在英语中的使用极其重要，但人们却在与这些弯弯曲曲的短线作斗争。理查兹先生为撇号烦恼了近20年，但现在他表示，由于诸如发短信和推特等平台的普及，人们已经不再使用撇号了。

Mr Richards says his society for this abused and misused punctuation mark is now closing, heralding what, for some, might be called an ‘apostrophe catastrophe’.

理查兹先生说，他所在的这个为了减少滥用和误用撇号的协会就要关闭了。对一些人来说，这预示着 “撇号灾难” 的来临。

词汇

linger 逗留，徘徊
wander around 游荡，徘徊
endangered species 濒临灭绝的物种
up in the air 悬而未决
vital 至关重要的
squiggles 弯弯曲曲的短线，胡乱写的字
agonised （精神上）感到极度痛苦的
abused 滥用
punctuation mark 标点符号
heralding 预示……的来临
catastrophe 灾难

阅读理解：请在读完上文后，回答下列问题。

1. What is the name of the group trying to protect the use of the apostrophe?

2. How long has John Richards's campaign for the correct use of apostrophes lasted for?

3. What is he blaming for the decline in the use of apostrophes?

4. In this sentence from the report, is the apostrophe used correctly? “The societys’ ninety-six-year-old chairman, John Richards, says they're vital, yet people have struggles with these squiggles.”

答案

1. What is the name of the group trying to protect the use of the apostrophe?
The campaign group is called The Apostrophe Protection Society.

2. How long has John Richards's campaign for the correct use of apostrophes, lasted for?
Mr Richards has agonised over apostrophes for nearly two decades – so nearly 20 years.

3. What is he blaming for the decline in the use of apostrophes?
He says because of things like texting and Twitter, people have simply stopped using apostrophes.

4. In this sentence from the report, is the apostrophe used correctly? “The societys’ ninety-six-year-old chairman, John Richards, says they're vital, yet people have struggles with these squiggles.”
This is incorrect. ‘The societys’…’ should be written ‘The society’s…’.