标准美语发音的13个秘诀 CD 3 Track 14（在线收听）

Exercise 4-2: Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter    CD 3 Track 14 

In the sentence Betty bought a bit of better butter, all of the Ts are in weak positions, so they all sound like soft Ds. Repeat the sentence slowly, word by word: [Beddy ... badə... bidə... bedder ...  budder]. Feel the tip of your tongueflick across that area behind your top teeth. Think of the music ofa cello again when you say, Bettybought a bit ofbetter butter.

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If you speak any language—such as Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, or Dutch, among others— where your R touches behind the teeth, you are inluck with the American T. Just fix the association in your mind so that when you see a middle position T, you automatically give it your native R sound. Say, Beri bara bira ... with your native accent. (Not if you are French, German, or Chinese!)

Along with liaisons, the American T contributes a great deal to the smooth, relaxed sound of English. When you say a word like atom, imagine that you've been tothe dentist and you're a little numb, or that you'vehad a couple of drinks, or maybe that you're very sleepy. You won't be wanting to use a lot of energy saying [æ•tom], so justrelax everything and say [adəm], like the masculine name, Adam. It's a very smooth, fluid sound. Rather than saying, BeTTy boughT a biT of beTTer buTTer, which is physically more demanding, try, Beddy bada bidda bedder budder. It's easy because you really don't need much muscle tension to say it this way.

The staircase concept will helpclarify the various T sounds. The American T can be a little tricky if you base your pronunciation on spelling. Here are five rules to guide you.

1.  T is Tat the beginning of a word or in a stressed syllable.

2.  T is D in the middle of a word.

3.  T is Held at the end of a word.

4.  T is Held before N in -tain and -ten endings.

5.  T is Silent after Nwith lax vowels.