美语口音训练第一册17

Exercise 1-10 individual practice.

Now let’s see what you can do with the same sentence just by changing the stress around different words. I’ll tell you which meaning to express. When you hear the tone¹, say the sentence as quickly as you can. Then I’ll say the sentence for you. To test your ear, I’m going to repeat the sentences in random² order. Try to determine which word I am stressing. The answers are given in the printed sheet but don’t look unless you really have to. Here we go.

1.Indicate that he borrowed the money and didn’t steal it.

I didn’t say he stole the money, maybe he just borrowed it.

2.Indicate that you deny having said that he stole it.

I didn’t say he stole the money. That’s not true at all.

3. Indicate that you think he stole something besides money.

I didn’t say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry

4. Indicate that you are not the person to say it.

I didn’t say he stole the money. Someone else said it.

5. Indicate that you don’t think that he was the person who stole it.

I didn’t say he stole the money. I think someone els took it.

6. Indicate that you didn’t say it out right, but did suggest it in some way.

I didn’t say he stole the money. I only suggest the possibility.

7. Indicate that he may have stolen a different amount of money.

I didn’t say he stole the money. But rather some other money.

Overdo³ it. Practise these sentences on your own. Really exagerate the words you think should be stressed. In the beginning, you are going to feel that this is ridiculous. Nobody stresses this hard. Nobody talks like this. People are going to laugh at me. Yet as much as you may stress, you are probably only going to stress about half as much as you should. Pause the CD and practise the sentences ten times. Another reason you must over-exagerate is because when you get tired, emotional⁴, or relaxed, you’ll stop paying attention. When this happens, like a rubber band, you’ll snap⁵ back to the way you originally were sounding 10%. So if you just stretch yourself to the exact position where you ideally⁶ want to be, you’ll go back almost completely to the old way when you relax. For practice then, stretch yourself far beyond the normal range of intonation⁷, 150% or so. So when you relax, you’ll relax back to a standard American sound 100%. We all do it. Possibly about this time you are thinking, “well, maybe you do this in English, but in my language, I just really don’t think we do this!” I’d like you to try a little exercise.

1 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

2 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

3 overdo   

vt.把...做得过头，演得过火

参考例句：

• Do not overdo your privilege of reproving me.不要过分使用责备我的特权。
• The taxi drivers' association is urging its members,who can work as many hours as they want,not to overdo it.出租车司机协会劝告那些工作时长不受限制的会员不要疲劳驾驶。

4 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

5 snap   

n.啪地移动，突然断掉；v.猛咬，咬断，谩骂，砰然关上

参考例句：

• He broke off the twig with a snap.他啪地一声把那根树枝折断了。
• These earrings snap on with special fasteners.这副耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。

6 ideally   

adv.理想地，圆满地；理论上地

参考例句：

• She was ideally suited to the job.她是这项工作的理想人选。
• Ideally,we would like to start at the beginning.要是有可能，我们真想从头开始。

7 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。