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2017 ‫מועד דצמבר‬ - 41 - ‫ פרק ראשו ן‬- ‫ אנגלית‬

Text II (Questions 18-22)

(1) Punctuation marks, such as periods and commas, are symbols that make written
texts easier to understand. Most of the punctuation marks used today were developed in
Europe during the Middle Ages. In the 15th century, with the introduction of printed
books, these symbols became standardized. Since then, punctuation marks have

(5) changed very little.

In 1962, however, Martin K. Speckter, the editor of TYPEtalks magazine, created a
new punctuation mark. Speckter disapproved of the tendency of writers to use question
marks and exclamation marks together (?!?!) at the end of a question to express surprise
or some other strong feeling. Speckter believed that such questions would look better

(10) with a single punctuation mark that combined the two. He designed such a symbol (?!)

and invited readers of his magazine to propose a name for it. The one he chose was
"interrobang" – a combination of the word "interrogative", meaning question, and
"bang", a name used by printers for an exclamation mark.

New and offbeat enough to suit the unconventional 1960s, the interrobang became
(15) somewhat popular. The symbol was used for a time in magazines and newspapers, and

the word was even included in English dictionaries. During the 1970s, however, the
interrobang was nearly forgotten. Nonetheless, the punctuation mark still has some old
fans and even some new ones, who have discovered it in recent years. "Interrobang" is
also the name of several businesses, a few websites, and even a rock band.

Questions

18. The main purpose of the text is to -

(1) show how punctuation marks have changed over the centuries
(2) explain the importance of punctuation marks
(3) discuss a punctuation mark invented in the twentieth century
(4) compare different punctuation marks

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬

.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬