Advanced_English_Pronunciation_in_Use

The headteacher, Mr m lee, will be talking to parents

Step-downs - add i ng i nformation and end i ng topics

' :<ml D62 Adding information

When we use a noun phrase to add information about the previous noun phrase (and both refer to the same person or thing), we often step down and say the second noun phrase with a relatively low pitch in its own speech unit. The step-down is in the first prominent word of this speech unit. In these examples, step-downs are marked with m:

The headTEAcher &I!!Mr mLEE &111 will be talking to parents.

The report is published 11 by the WHO &111 the mWORLD HEALTH organisation &111.

The reSEARCH team &:2111 IJ)SCIentists from the university of LEEDS fi2!l11 will be spending six months in the Arctic.

We can also add information in a whole clause beginning with a step-down:

A mySTErious arc of LIGHT &Ill IJ)KNOWN as the LYNX Arc &Ill has been found to be the biggest star-forming region ever seen in space.

&.Note: The noun phrases (the main information and the added information) have a falling tone if they are 'news' and a rising or fall-rising tone if they are 'not news'; that is, the speaker assumes the hearer already knows the information (see Unit 39).

llloti Ya l i ng studcnts

EXAMPLE The city of Krakow ei:J, the +former capital of Poland Ci:J , has some of the best art collections in Europe.

1 Michael Watson Cl, the reigning champion Cl, has been knocked out of the French Open. 2 Whitedown Hill Cl, above the Trant Valley Cl, is to be the location of a new wind farm.

3Two sisters from France Cl , both in their seventies Cl , have become the oldest people to

swim the English Channel. c:J , a rare visitor to Britain Cl , has been spotted on the east coast.4 A black woodpecker

S The head of NATO in Europe c : J ,Major Peter Alvin G.:J, has warned that its military equipment is becoming seriously outdated.

)8 . 2 Choose a noun phrase from the box to add to each of these news extracts and indicate its appropriate position with a line (f).

3 A statue of Sir Frank Whittle has been unveiled in his home town.

4 Over fifty thousand people are now thought to have been infected with influenza.

S The city of St Petersburg is encouraging people to use public transport.

065Now listen and check your answers. Then say the sentences aloud. Make sure you use a step-down at the beginning of the added information and the same tone (either falling or fall-rising) in the added information and the previous noun phrase.

i8.3 A tour guide in Prague is explaining to tourists what they can see on their trip down the Vltava

066River. Here is part of what she says. Listen and put a t before a word with a step-up marking a new topic and a before a word with a step-down ending a topic.

On your t right we're passing the beautiful National Theatre, built in the mid 1 800s and one of the most important Czech cultural institutions. If you want to see opera or ballet in Prague, that's the place to go. We're now passing under one ofthe best-known bridges in the world, the Charles Bridge. It was built in the 1 3th century, and has 75 statues along its sides. Over on the left, up on the hill, is Prague Castle, the home of Czech kings throughout the ages and now the seat of the President of the Czech Republic. You can also see the spires of Saint Vitus Cathedral, where most of the Czech kings are buried. To your right now is the Rudolfinum, a concert hall. . .

Now check your answers in the Key.

Smal l. medium. and large

Tones in a series of similar items

067In prepared speech, when we give a series of three or more similar items, each item is typically said in a separate speech unit. Very often, all the items have a rising tone (or they all have a fall­ rising tone) except the last, which has a falling tone. Using the same tone for each item, except the last, indicates that they are in some way equivalent. A falling tone on the last item signals the end of the series:

Many governments fail to focus on policies which require sustained effort over years or decades - II to imPROVE eduCAtional standards Q!JI eRADicate diSEASE mll MODernise the TRANSport system mll and reDUCE levels of polLUtion fill

The only seats left are priced atll TWENty euros /I THIRty euros /I and FIFty euros SII

Note: In spontaneous conversation there is more variability. For example, a speech unit may include more than one item, or a series may be incomplete:

068Words within items in a series are usually non-prominent if they are repeated or don't provide new information:

The meeting includesll NATional politicians /I LOcal politicians /I and EuroPEan politicians SII

069In lists that are often repeated or are part of a routine, each item is often said with a level tone (although a rising tone may also be used), except the last, which has a falling tone:

There are three sizes available, II SMALL 811 MEdium 811 and LARGE FiJI

When I raise my hand like this [ want you II to STOP TALKing 811 STAND up STRAIGHT 81I!1 CONcentrate on ME 811 and get READy to SING SII

070 Less commonly, all items may have a falling tone, particularly if we want to emphasise each item as separate and important:

Please write the following dates down in your notebooks. The first

examination II will be on MONday the SIXTH tjJI the SECond on WEDnesday the EIGHTH tjJI and the LAST on TUESday the fourTEENTH tjJ//

Section 0 Pronunciation in formal settings

Exercises

9 . 1 The last item in the series of similar items in each of these sentences has a falling tone. Listen and

071decide whether the other items have a falling tone (put .....in the box), rising tone ( ), fall-rising tone ( .....), or level tone ( -+).

5I want you to paint the squares the colours of the rainbow - red ItflYi, orange ! I : J ) , yellow [.;;•..j and so on 51.

Now check your answers in the Key. Then say the sentences aloud using the same tones.

9 . 2 The series of similar items in each of these sentences is highlighted. Listen as many times as you need D72 and in each part in green :

(i)mark the speech unit boundaries with /I

(ii)underline the word in each speech unit where the main tone starts

(iii)put ....., ....., , or -+ above this word to show the tone used.

EXAMPLE The book is set in three different periods and locations - II New Orleans in the

5 To get to the bookshop go down this street, turn left at the traffic lights and then cross the square.

Now check your answers in the Key. Then say the sentences aloud using the same tones.

Fol low up: Go to the website http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/previous.htm and find US President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address from January 20th 1 961 . Listen to the following extract from the speech and decide what tones he used in the speech units marked:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, 1/ that we shall pay any pricel/, bear any burdenl/, meet any hardshipl/, support any friendl/, oppose any foel/, to assure the survival and the success of libertyl/.

Now do the same for the speech units marked in this extract from US President Richard M. Nixon's 'resigning the presidency' speech from August 8th 1 974:

In passing this office to the Vice President, I also do so with the profound sense of the weight of responsibility that will fall on his shoulders tomorrow and, therefore, 1/ of the understandingl/, the patiencel/, the cooperationl/ he will need from all Americansl/.

·Politicians are the same all over...'

Level tone in q uoting and building suspense

=. : . ] D73 Quotation

60.2 Listen to these extracts from a news broadcast. In which do you think the highlighted part is a D77 quotation, and in which do you think it is a paraphrase of what the original speaker said?

Underline 'Quotation' or 'Paraphrase'.

EXAMPLE The Foreign Office has been accused of breaking its promises on support for refugees by a senior United Nations official. Quotation / Paraphrase

1After a fifth shooting in the city in a week, the people of Dublin have been urged to remain alert but stay calm. Quotation / Paraphrase

2 In a speech yesterday, Professor Ken Sun of the Climate Research Institute claimed that there is now no doubt that global warming is producing climate change. Quotation / Paraphrase

3Hurricane Katrina has been described as the worst natural disaster to hit the United States in living memory by a US government spokesperson. Quotation / Paraphrase

4The Prime Minister has said that universities must train more scientists in order to meet the country's needs over the next few decades. Quotation / Paraphrase

60.3 Think of a possible ending for each of these sentences from talks by scientists, and write it in the

D78 space. Then read the sentences aloud, using pause and intonation as described in C in order to build suspense. (Examples are given on the recording.)

EXAMPLE On the photos from Mars, much to our surprise we found . . . lake.s o ice..

1 We've developed a computer programme that can actually . . .

2 The number of overweight people in the country has risen to an incredible . . .

3 Using the new treatment, the number of people missing work due to backaches . . .

Fol low up: Record yourself reading the extracts i n 60.2, first as if each highlighted part is a quotation, and then as if it is a paraphrase. Listen to the recording. Can you hear the difference between the two?

The phonemic alphabet: Practice

]Phonemic symbols for vowels

See page 1 92 for a list of phonemic and other symbols used in this book.

Underline all the vowel sounds that can be put into the gaps to make correct words.

Section E. Reference

Check your answers.

Do you know what word the other phonemic spelling represents in each case?

EXAMPLE Idlpl = dip

Short and long vowels

Underline the word represented by the phonemic spelling.

Check your answers.

Can you write out the phonemic spelling of the other word in each case?

EXAMPLE star = Ista:1

t'ttf, , row (= move through water), pie, bow (= weapon), may, hoe, boy, day, hair, rare, pier,

foe, hay, die, bear, tie, sow (= female pig), how, dear, tour, tear (= water from the eye), pear, mere, bow bend), pay, my, poor, gear, beer, say, buy, fair, rear, toy, high, tear pull apart), go, dare, bay, guy, soy, dough, sow (= to plant seeds), here, gay, mare, toe, row (= argument), rye, mow

e I aI el :>1 u au u

b d

f+e-ar

9 h m p

Section f Reference

Phonemic symbols for consonants

Write one of the two phonemic symbols in the space to complete the word.

Underline the correct phonemic spelling to complete the sentence. EXAMPLE I don't like it mAt [ 1 mAf.

10After a while I got 3U:st 1 ju:st to it.

11I can't ri:tf 1 ri:d3 it.

12It's a small town in the ,sau8'i:st 1 ,sautf'i:st.

13What's o n 'tehvld3 n 1 'tehvI3 n?

14Have you met my 'brA8;:) 1 'brAo;:)?

English Pronunciation in Use (Advanced)

Section E Reference

Vowels a nd consonants

Find phonemic spellings for seventeen different animals in the wordsearch. The words are horizontal -+ or vertical ! . Use all the letters.

Match each country with its capital city.