English Pronunciation Worksheet Page 17
ADVERTISEMENT
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28[r] The respective merits of
[
] I'd rather be a mother than a
frogs and rabbits
father
Father:
My rabbit can roar like a rhinoceros.
Roger:
Where are the others?
Rubbish! Rabbits don't roar, Roger.
Mother:
Barry:
They've gone bathing. Heather and
You're wrong, Barry. My rabbit's an
Roger:
her brother called for them.
Arabian rabbit. They're very rare.
Father:
Heather Feather?
When he's angry he races round and
Mother:
No, the other Heather - Heather
round his rabbit run. And if he's in a
Mather. I told them to stay together,
real rage he rushes on to the roof and
and not to go further than Northern
roars.
Cove.
How horrid! Really, I prefer my frog.
Barry:
Father:
Why didn't you go with them?
I've christened him Fred.
Mother:
Freddie Frog! How ridiculous!
I'd rather get on with the ironing
Roger:
An abbreviation for Frederick. Well,
Barry:
without them.
Father:
you remember when I rescued him
In this weather? There's a southerly
from the river last February? He was
breeze. One can hardly breathe
crying like a canary. He was
indoors.
drowning.
Roger:
Mother:
Go and have a bathe then.
Really, Barry! Frogs don't drown.
Father:
Another bathe? I can't be bothered.
I'll go with you, though.
Mother:
But all these clothes..... who'd be a
mother!
Father:
I'd rather be a mother than a father!
All those hungry mouths!
The Tonic
[r] A dreadful train crash
Prue:
Weren't you in that train crash on
The main stress usually comes on the last
stressed word of a sentence. Now we shall see
Friday, Fred?
Fred:
Oh, Prue, it's like a dreadful dream.
how you can alter the whole meaning of a
Prue:
A tractor - isn't that right? - crossing
sentence simply by shifting the point of main
a bridge with a trailer of fresh fruit
stress - the TONIC, as it is called. In the
crashed through the brick wall in
sentence "John didn't speak to Mavis", the
front of the train?
main stress will normally be on "Mavis",
Fred:
Yes. The train driver's a friend of my
holding the listener's attention right to the end
brother's. I was travelling up front
of the sentence. But if you alter the stress you
with him. I was thrown through the
can imply all sorts of different meanings:
windscreen on to the grass, but he
John didn't speak to Mavis. (Peter did) John
was trapped under a huge great crate.
didn't speak to Mavis. ( you've got it all
I could hear him groaning.
wrong)
Prue:
Fred! How grim!
John didn't speak to Mavis, (he wrote to her)
Fred:
I was pretty frightened, Prue, I can
John didn't speak to Mavis, (he spoke to
promise you! I crawled through the
Anna) Notice how after the Tonic, what's left
broken crates and tried to drag him
of the sentence stays at the same pitch, with
free. His throat was crushed. He
very little stress even on normally stressed
couldn't breathe properly, but he
syllables.
managed a grin.
Practice shifting the Tonic yourself:
Prue:
How incredibly brave!
Are you coming to Majorca with us this
summer?
Can you add something to each sentence to
explain the implication of the change of stress
in the sentence?
17
ADVERTISEMENT
0 votes
Related Articles
Related forms
Related Categories
Parent category: Education