美式英语正音训练第14期:自我练习

 　　Exercise 1-10; Individual Practice

　　Now, let's see what you can do with the same sentence, just by changing the stress around to 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'm stressing.

　　The answers are given in parentheses³, 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 are denying 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 jewelry⁴.

　　4. Indicate that you were 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 else took it.

　　6. Indicate that you didn't say it outright⁵, but did suggest it in some way.

　　I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.

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

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

　　Overdo⁶ It

　　Practice these sentences on your own, really exaggerating the word that you think should be stressed.

　　In the beginning, you're 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're probably only going to be stressing about half as much as you should.

　　Pause the CD and practice the sentences in random order ten times.

　　Another reason you must overexaggerate is because when you get tired, emotional, or relaxed, you will stop paying attention.

　　When this happens, like a rubber band, you're going to snap⁷ back to the way you originally were sounding (10 percent).

　　So, if you just stretch yourself to the exact position where you ideally 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 intonation⁸ (150 percent),

　　so when you relax, you relax back to a standard American sound (100 percent).

　　We All Do It

　　Possibly about this time you're thinking, Well, maybe you do this in English, but in my language, I just really don't think that 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 parentheses   

n.圆括号，插入语，插曲（ parenthesis的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Irregular forms are given in parentheses . 不规则形式标注在括号内。
• Answer these questions, using the words in parentheses. Put the apostrophe in the right place. 用句后括号中的词或词组来回答问题，注意撇号的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

5 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。