Goldilocks

Once upon a time in a far off distant land there was a little girl called Goldilocks who lived near a wood. She was called Goldilocks because she had beautiful long golden hair.

One day Goldilocks went into the woods to gather flowers. As she wondered among the trees she came upon a little house standing in a clearing. The door of the house was open. So Goldilocks peeped inside. No one seemed to be at home.

“I wonder who lives here”, she thought.

Inside the house she saw three bowls of porridge on a table. There was a great big bowl, a medium sized bowl and a tiny little bowl. Goldilocks was feeling quite hungry. And the porridge did smell good. So she tried the porridge in the great big bowl. But it was too hot. She tried the porridge in the medium sized bowl but it was too cold. Then she tried the porridge in the tiny bowl and it was just right. So she ate it all up.

Goldilocks then looked around the room and noticed three chairs. There was a great big chair, a medium sized chair and a small chair. Goldilocks tried a great big chair but it was too hard. She then tried the middle sized chair but it was too soft. So she tried the small chair which was just right. But when she sat down in it, it broke and Goldilocks landed on the floor with a crash.

Goldilocks was by now very tired and she went into another room where she saw three beds. One was a great big bed, another was a middle sized bed, and the third was a tiny little bed. She tried the biggest bed but it was too hard. And the middle sized bed was too soft. But the tiny little bed was just right. It was so comfortable that she fell fast asleep.

While Goldilocks was sleeping the owners of the little house came home. They were three bears: a Daddy Bear, a Mummy Bear, and a Little Baby Bear. They had been out for a walk and now looked forward to eating their porridge. Daddy Bear looked at his bowl and said, “Who’s been eating my porridge?”. Mummy Bear said, “Who’s been eating my porridge?”. And Baby Bear said, “Who’s been eating my porridge?”.

Then they looked at their chairs. “Who’s been sitting in my chair?”, said Daddy Bear. “And who’s been sitting in my chair?” said Mummy Bear. And Baby Bear said, “Who’s been sitting in my chair? It’s all broken”.

The three bears went into their bedroom. “Who’s been lying on my bed?”, said Daddy Bear. “And who’s been lying on my bed?” said Mummy Bear. “And who’s been lying on my bed?”, said Baby Bear. “Look, she’s still there. It’s a little girl”. At that moment Goldilocks woke up. It gave her such a fright to see three bears looking at her that she jumped out of the nearest window and ran back home as fast as she could go. And Goldilocks never again went to the little house where the three bears lived.

Task 8. Exercises based on the text of the fairy tale.

Sound Practice

A. Phonetic dictation. Listen to the following words and word combinations. Write them in transcription. Lay stresses and tone marks.

a) Deep,

forest,

through,

animals,

gather,

drink,

tortoise,

because,

hare,

walk,

challenge,

anything,

heard,

beating,

chuckling,

watch,

sunrise,

clearing,

agreed,

steady,

jumped,

sight,

chat,

nap,

hurray,

suddenly,

rustle,

victory

b)

plodded slowly,

fell over with laughter,

ambled towards the stream,

lame the distance,

started boasting,

settled down,

by the edge of the stream,

kept lumbering along,

nibble the sweet grass,

feel a little sleepy,

complete the course,

fell asleep,

reached the point,

didn’t waist his breath,

crossed the finishing line,

slow coach,

at great speed,

longer than intended

B. Listen to the word-combinations in Task A. Define and explain the phonetic process occurring at the juncture of consonants.

C. Listen to the following words. Write them down in transcription, mark the placement of stress. Divide them into syllables.

Slow – ly /sl/

Clea – ring /kl/

Eve – ning /vn/

Fast – est /f/

Star – ted /st/

Tor – toise

Ne – ver /n/

For – est

Win – ner

Lum – be – ring

Nibb – le

Ea – ting //

Gent – ly

Am – ble //

A – ni – mals //

Wa – king //

Sudd – en – ly /s/

A – greed or ag – reed