II. Act out the following conversations using prosodic patterns appropriate to the speech situation.

1. – Please, remind the members of the board about tomorrow’s meeting.

– Shall I tell Mr. White as well?

– Well, I don’t think he has come back yet.

2. – Excuse me, do you know where a tobacconist’s is?

– Do you smoke a pipe?

– Yes.

– Well, then you can buy some tobacco at this chemist’s.

3. – I’d like to book two seats for tomorrow.

– Would you like something in the front stalls?

– I suppose there is nothing further back, is there?

– Not unless you come to the matinee.

4. – I say, John, if you want to go to the post-office, turn right, perhaps it’s the shortest way.

– Are you sure? I’m in a hurry, you know.

– Course, I’m sure.

5. – Give me a hand with this sideboard, Charles. I want it over there by the settee.

– Don’t you think it would be better under that picture by the armchair?

– No, the picture isn’t staying there anyway. I only hung it on the wall because it was in the way on the floor. We can arrange the pictures when all the furniture is in place.

6. – I’m just going to the shops to buy some cigarettes, Bertie. Do you want anything while I’m there?

– Yes, what a good idea. There are a lot of things I need, as a matter of fact.

7. – Can I get tickets for the night’s show?

– The front row of the dress circle is fairly free.

– Are there any boxes?

– No, I’m afraid that’s all there is.

III. Go over the following situations. Identify the social relations between the speakers, the subject-matter and the sphere of communication. Enact the situations using an appropriate stylistic variety of speech.

1. A friend tells you that she is lagging behind the other students of the group. She admits that she has missed quite a lot of lectures, seminars and tutorials, partly because she was ill for some time but mostly because of her carelessness and laziness. Her group-mates advise her to start working hard or she may fail her exams. They offer her their assistance in case she needs it.

2. You ask a friend if she/ he would like to go out for a pizza this evening. You say there’s a new pizzeria that’s just opened near your house. Your friend says she/ he would love to go. She/ he hasn’t had pizza for ages.

3. You invite a friend to come with you to your cousin’s house-warming party on Saturday. Your friend can’t accept the invitation. She has already promised her parents to come for dinner on Saturday.

4. Mr. Higgins asks his secretary if she has informed the members of the staff about the day of the meeting. She says she has already done it. She adds that two members of the staff will be missing because they are on a business trip.

Practice in Reading and Memory Work

Formal Official

Conversation ♫

Interviewer: Aˈmong the ‘speakers at toˈday’s ^↘National ^↘Transport ‚Conference will be ˈMr. ˈTom _\Williams. ˈMr. ‘Williams, ^↘I under_\stand that, ˈhaving been a ‘keen "not to ˙say fa“natical ˌmotorist for ‘most of your ‚life you’re now ‚having ˌsecond ˆthoughts?

Mr. Williams: ˈThat’s ˈquite cor_\rect, ‘yes.

Interviewer: And ˈwhat e˙xactly _\is it that you’ll be _\\saying to the _\conference?

Mr. Williams: It’s a ˈvery ˈsimple ‘message, ‚really. ˈI’m ‚saying we ˙should re‘strict the ˇmanufacture and ‘use ¦ of ‘private ˌmotor ‚cars and er … ˈconcentrate in‚stead on de^↘veloping ¦ ef‚ficient and ˈcheap ‘public ˌtransport.

Interviewer: ˈCan you ex‘plain to us ˈwhy you ˈfeel ˙so ‘strongly aˌbout this?

Mr. Williams: ‚Well, I ˈthink ˈfirst and ˇforemost there’s … ¦ there’s what I ˈcall the enˈviron‘mental ˌcase. Er … we ˌall ˈknow that >cars conˈsume ˈvaluable ‘energy ‚sources … re_\sources. They proˈduce ˈcarbon ˇdioxide in ‘great ‚quantities and they’re ‘major con‚tributors to ˈenviron‘mental ˌproblems. Er … for ˌinstance, their ˌmanu“facture ˌuses up ˈother ˇscarce, often ˈirreˇplaceable, ˈnatural re“sources, and erm … they’re es>sentially … they’re esˈsentially ˈshort-_\lived ˌarticles. They creˈate con>tinuing and ˈever-inˈcreasing ‚problems of dis‘posal ˈwhen they’re ˙no ˈlonger _\wanted.

Monologue

1. ♫

Er … good evening. Er … good evening to one and all. Welcome to our February meeting. Erm … and welcome of course to our… to our regular members and attenders and several faces er … I can see out there not too familiar to me and if you’re new and here for the first time a great welcome, and I hope you may consider joining us on a … on a more permanent basis.

Erm … before I introduce tonight’s speaker there’s er … one important reminder. Erm … next month’s meeting at the same time will be our annual general meeting and er … on that occasion we’re hoping for a good and spirited attendance and there are some urgent pieces of business to attend to on that occasion. Er … first and foremost and probably the most important is to elect a new secretary. Er … Jane Parks has served us marvelously for I think it’s about three years now – er … our present secretary – she’s leaving to take up a post in Glasgow. We wish her well, er … and any suggestions for replacing Jane before that meeting would be most welcome.

Erm … several committee members have also expressed a wish to stand down, for one reason or another pressure of business and so on, and will need to be replaced so there’ll be elections for them. Erm … also, and this is rather a sad note the treasurer tells me that me must seriously consider increasing subscriptions – not a … not a happy thing to suggest at this time of the year – but we erm … we are in fact, er … going into red in a rather serious way. So erm … that’s something to bear in mind for next month’s meeting.

2. ♫

Good morning, everyone and and … as the Head Teacher of Cranley Hill Primary School I’m very happy to welcome you to our Open Day. Today the school is open not just to parents of our pupils, but also anyone else interested in seeing the school. I’ll start by telling you about the school, and after that you can walk round and see it for yourselves.

We take most of our pupils from the two nearby villages of Seaborne and Milthorpe. These were once coal mining villages – there have been coal mines here since the eighteenth thirties. When the school was originally established, way back in 1899, almost every child’s father worked in the mines. However, the coal mines were closed in nineteen eighty-three and many people left the area as a result. Nowadays most of the remaining inhabitants tend to commute to work in the city rather than working locally. At present, the number of students on our rolls is just ninety, compared to almost two hundred in nineteen eighty-five, due to the decline in the population of the mining villages, and the staff see this as a big bonus because we know each student personally.

The school is very involved in the local community and we are especially proud of our status as Great Britain’s first school to be entirely powered by wind energy. This project began…

Formal Neutral

Conversation ♫

Bookseller: ‘Good ‚morning. ˈCan I ‚help you?

Customer: I’m ˈlooking for a ‘book by ‘Sutcliffe. It’s A ˈLife of _\Arnold.

Bookseller: A "Life of _\Arnold. ˈLet me ‘see, ˌnow. Is ˌthat the ˆtitle?

Customer: I ‘think ˌso.

Bookseller: It ^↘isn’t the ^↘title of a ˆnovel?

Customer: _\Well, I ˈdon’t ‘think it ˌis. But the ‘problem is I’m ^↘not ^↘quite ˇsure.

Bookseller: _\I see. You’ve ^↘looked in the bi‘ography ‚section?

Customer: Is ˈthat near the ‘maps and ˌthings? ˈOver _\there?

Bookseller: ˈThat’s _\right.

Customer: ‘Yes, I’ve ‘looked ˌthere. But I ˈcan’t _\see it.

Bookseller: You ^↘don’t ˈknow who the ˆpublisher is?

Customer: _\Sorry, ‘no.

Bookseller: Would you ˙mind ‘waiting a ˌmoment, while I ^↘serve this _\lady, and ˈthen I’ll ˈsee what I can _\do ˌfor you.

Customer: _\Thank you.