Владимира Дмитриевича Аракина одного из замечательных лингвистов России предисловие настоящая книга
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SECTION THREE. Intonation Pattern X |
| Model: I wonder when Alice's train is due. |  |
| — Look it 'up in the `time-,table. |
The syllables of the Rising Head preceding the High Fall gradually carry the pitch up.
Stress-and-tone mark in the text:
The first stressed syllable: ││
This intonation pattern is used:
1. In statements, conveying personal concern, involvement, disgruntled protest.
е.g. Haven't you brought the carp? — You didn't ask me ,to.
2. In questions:
a) In special questions sounding unpleasantly surprised or displeased, protesting.
е.g. Send them at once. — Where to?
b) In general questions, protesting, sometimes impatient.
е.g. Thursday's a hopeless day for me. — Can't we 'make it a `Friday, ,then?
3. In imperatives, lively, with a note of critical surprise.
е.g. What shall I do? — Try it a`gain.
4. In exclamations, conveying affronted surprise, protesting.
е.g. John's coming. — What an extraordinary `thing.
EXERCISES
1. Listen carefully to the following conversational situations. Concentrate your attention on the intonation of the replies:
| Verbal Context | Drill |
| | Statements (conveying personal concern or involvement, disgruntled protest) |
| I must see Mr. Roberts. | I'm afraid you can't. He's just gone out. |
| What did you think of the house? | I was rather taken with it. It seems quite nice. |
| He says he knows nothing about it. | I just can't understand it. I distinctly remember telling him. |
| Haven't you finished that book yet? | I've only just begun it. |
| I'm afraid I failed my exam. | I'm not at all surprised. You must try working a bit harder. |
| You ought to have informed me at once. | I didn't realize, it was so important. |
| | Special questions (sounding displeased, unpleasantly surprised, protesting) |
| What's that you say? | Why don't you listen? |
| I can't find the file anywhere. | What have you done with it? |
| You can't easily mend it. | What do you mean, easily? |
| I gave it to her personally. | But when did you see her? |
| Which one shall I have? | Which would you prefer? |
| I shall write to him again. | Whatever do you hope to gain by that? |
| I was too late. They'd sold out. | Whyever didn't you buy it when you had the chance? |
| | General questions (protesting, impatient) |
| I'm terribly hard up! | Aren't we all? |
| It's always possible. | But do you think it's likely? |
| I'm quite booked up next week. | Will the week after suit you better? |
| In my view he's a culprit. | Could you be mistaken? |
| I can't meet you this Tuesday, | Shall we leave it till next week? |
| 1 can't say I do like this coat. | Would you have preferred the plum coloured one? |
| | Imperatives (lively, with a note of critical surprise) |
| What on earth shall I do? | Try it again. You've no alternative. |
| What should I tell him? | Tell him exactly what you think. |
| How many sandwiches shall I make? | Make as many as you think we'll eat. |
| I don't want to go alone. | Come along with us, then. |
| I've lost my invitation. | Well write and ask them to send you another one. |
| | Exclamations (conveying affronted surprise, protesting) |
| I told him what I thought of him. | Good for you! |
| She says she's twenty-nine. | Absolute nonsense! |
| But I can't take you out tonight. I'm working late. | What a pity you didn't say so sooner. |
| Look. It works. | So it does. How very odd! |
| You're a bit grumpy today. | Not in the least! |
2. Listen to the replies and repeat them in the intervals. Pronounce the first stressed syllable as low as possible; the following stressed syllables of the head gradually rise to the high level. Start the fall on the nucleus high enough.
3, Listen to the Verbal Context and reply in the intervals.
4. In order to fix Intonation Pattern X in your mind, ear and speech habits, pronounce each reply several times until it sounds perfectly natural to you.
5. listen to your fellow-student reading the replies, tell him (her) what his (her) errors in intonation are.
6. Listen to the Verbal Context suggested by the teacher. Reply by using one of the sentences below. Pronounce it with Intonation Pattern X. Say what attitude you mean to render:
| Verbal Context | Drill |
| Why don't you stay longer? | I've no time. I'm so busy now. |
| When do we go there? | I've just told you. At seven. |
| Do you really want to see her? | I haven't seen her for ages. |
| What made you go there? | I went there because I wanted to. |
| Why didn't you come there in time? | You know how far it is. |
| What do you think of this picture? | It's nothing less than a masterpiece. |
| I've no time now. I'm leaving. | Where to? |
| You must look through it again. | What's wrong about it? |
| He'll be here by six. | What makes you so sure? |
| You must phone her at once. | Why not you? |
| I missed some words. | Why don't you listen? |
| You'd better take a taxi. | What for? |
| Monday is a very busy day for me. | Can't we meet on Friday then? |
| You are not a good swimmer, are you? | Have I ever pretended tc be? |
| Mary's not here yet. | Go alone, then. |
| It's too late to walk. | Take a bus, then. |
| I doubt if I can do it better. | Try again. |
| He's given up this idea. | Sensible chap! |
| He's won. | Would you believe it! |
7. Give your own replies to the Verbal Context of Ex. 1 and 6. Use Intonation Pattern X.
8. The teacher or one of the students suggests a Verbal Context The students reply to it in turn using:
a) statements conveying personal concern, involvement or protest;
b) special questions sounding unpleasantly surprised, displeased or protesting;
c) general questions sounding impatient, protesting;
d) imperatives sounding lively, with a note of critical surprise;
e) exclamations conveying affronted surprise, protesting. Continue the exercise until everyone has participated. Work in pairs.
9. Read the following extracts. Observe the position of the logical stress:
"Tell her that you intend to marry her, but after you return from this outing, not before." (Гл. Dreiser. "An American Tragedy")
"You don't live here?" — "No," I said, "I don't. You wouldn't if I did." [J. K. Jerome. "Three Men in a Boat")
"She was so pretty and cute. Yet she was a working girl, as he remembered now, too — a factory girl, as Gilbert would say, and he was her superior. But she was so pretty and cute." (Th. Dreiser. "An American Tragedy")
"In the taxi, returning at last to Chesborough Terrace he proclaimed happily: "First rate chaps these, Chris! Has been a wonderful evening, hasn't it?" She answered in a thin steady voice: "It's been a hateful evening!" (Cronin. "The Citadel")
10. Look for similar situations in the books you are reading at the moment
11. This exercise is meant to practise the intonation patterns you already know.
a) Listen to the dialogue "Guessing Game", sentence by sentence. Write it down. Define the intonation pattern of each sentence and the attitude expressed by it
b) Record your reading. Play the recording back for your teacher aad fellow-students to detect the possible errors:
A.: And the next object is vegetable.
В.: Does one eat it?
A: Yes.
В.: Do you eat it?
A: Yes.
В.: Do you eat it at breakfast?
A: No.
В.: Do you eat it at dinner time?
A: No.
В.: Well then at tea time.
A: Yes.
В.: Is it a raw vegetable?
A: Yes.
В.: Is it nice?
A: Very nice.
В.: Did we have some for tea today?
A: Yes.
Practise the dialogue for test reading. Memorize and dramatize it.
12. This exercise is meant to develop your ability to bear and reproduce intonation in different speech situations.
a) listen to the dialogue "Sightseeing" carefully, sentence by sentence. Write it down. Mark the stresses and tunes. The teacher will help you to correct your variant Practise reading each sentence of your corrected variant after the cassette-recorder.
b) Record your reading of the text Play the recording back immediately for the teacher and your fellow-students to detect your errors. Practise the dialogue for test reading. Memorize and play it
c) Make up conversational situations with the following phrases:
Is it possible ...? That's not a bad idea.
What do you think ...? I suppose it is.
Rather. What about...?
Well, you might... . Let me see ... .
Is it much of a walk? Do you think I shall have time for...?
d) Make up a talk about your recent trip. Use the phrases from the dialogue above. Work in pairs.
e) Imagine you are telling the class about your recent trip to London.
13. This exercise is meant to revise Intonation Pattern IX. Read the following dialogue. Use the High Fall to express personal concern, involvement:
— What are you going to do this week?
— Well, we don't really know.
— Why not visit Kew Gardens?
— Well, we've been there.
— You've seen much, haven't you?
— Yes, we've seen all the usual things. The Tower of London, and the Zoo, and the Houses of Parliament.
— Have you visited Westminster Abbey?
— Yes, we went there a fortnight ago. But I haven't seen St. Paul's Cathedral since I was here in 1991.
— I have! I've been there two or three times.
— But I really ought to think about the business side of my visit.
— Yes. You must visit a motor-car factory. After all, that is your main interest.
— That's true. I haven't been to one yet. I expect things have changed since 1991.
— I'm sure they have. Yes, there have been some very big developments since you were here last.
14. This exercise is meant to develop your ability to hear intonation and reproduce it in different speech situations.
a) Listen to the Joke "A pretty well-dressed young lady..." sentence by sentence. Write it down. Mark the stresses and tunes. Practise the joke for test reading.
b) Listen to the narration of the joke. Observe the peculiarities in intonation-group division, pitch, stress and tempo. Note the use of temporizers. Reproduce the model narration you have listened to. Tell the joke in your own words.
15. This exercise is meant to test your ability to analyze material for reading.
a) Read the joke silently to make sure you understand each sentence. Find the sentence expressing the essence of the joke. Split up each phrase into intonation-groups if necessary. Locate the communicative centre of each sentence. Mark the stresses and tunes, concentrating your attention on the attitude expressed. It is not expected that each student will mark the story in exactly the same way. Discuss your variants in class. Your teacher will help you to choose the best variant. Practise your corrected variant for test reading.
b) Tell the joke in your own words.
Wrong Pronunciation
A Frenchman who had learned English at school, but had half forgotten it, was staying in London on business. It was in the month of November, and the weather was most unpleasant, disagreeable, damp and foggy.
The Parisian, not being accustomed to the English climate, had caught a severe cold, and was coughing day and night. At last he decided on getting a remedy for his cough but as he did not remember this English word, he looked it up in his French-English dictionary. There he found that the English for it was cough. Unfortunately his dictionary did not tell him how to pronounce it. Remembering, however, the pronunciation of the word plough, he naturally concluded that cough must be pronounced [kav].
So he entered a chemist's shop and said: "Will you, please, give me something for my cow!" The chemist, thinking he had misunderstood him asked politely: "I beg your pardon, sir?"
The Frenchman repeated his request for some remedy for his cow.
"For your cow, sir?" replied the chemist. "Are you a farmer then?"
"A farmer?" answered the Frenchman rather indignantly. "What in the world makes you think so? Oh, no, I came from Paris, from beautiful Paris," he added proudly.
The chemist now almost began to think that he was dealing with a madman. In great bewilderment he asked again: "But your cow, sir? Where is your cow?"
"Here!" cried the Frenchman, coughing very loud and pointing to his chest. "Here it is! I have a very big cow in my chest!"
Luckily, the chemist understood him and gave him the remedy he wanted.