Владимир Аракин - Практический курс английского языка 1 курс

14. "* This exercise is meant to develop your ability to hear and reproduce intonation in

reading, a) Listen to the text "At the Seaside" sentence by sentence. Mark the stresses and

tunes. Practise the text, b) Record your reading. Play the recording back immediately for your

teacher and fellow-students to detect the possible errors. Practise the text for test reading, c)

Pick out sentences with subordinate clauses at the beginning. Observe the intonation they are

pronounced with:

At the Seaside

If you're going to stay in England for some time, you ought to spend at least a

week at the seaside. If you can stay longer, so much the better. You ought to have

no difficulty in finding a suitable hotel or boarding-house.

When we were children, we used to enjoy playing on the beach, making

castles and forts and channels in the sands. I expect you did the same when you

were young, because it's really one of the most delightful holidays for children.

We used to love

playing about on the sand and paddling in the water and getting splashed by

the waves. Sometimes we'd get our clothes wet, and Nurse would get very cross

and tell us we oughtn't to have gone so far into the water.

When you're tired of London, go down to the sea for a week or a fortnight.

You can walk up and down the front, listen to the band on the pier and do more

or less anything you please. If you wish to bathe, you can hire a hut or a tent. A

swim now and then, or better still, everyday, will do you a lot of good. Take your

car with you, if you've got one, choose a good hotel, and you're sure to spend a

thoroughly enjoyable time.

15.*" Read the text silently to make sure you understand each sentence. Split up each

sentence into intonation-groups if necessary. Mark the stresses and tunes. Find the

communicative centre of each sentence. Practise reading the text:

We had a grand holiday last year. My husband and I took the children to the

seaside for a month. We have five children. John, the eldest, is 12 years old, and

little Mary, the baby, is only two and a half.

John has been to the seaside several times before, but this was the first time

the other children had been. Naturally, it was a great event for them. For weeks

before we were to go they talked of nothing else and were very busy getting their

things ready. Finally, the day came when our holiday was to begin. John was a

great help in looking after the other children and so was Betty, who is nearly

eleven. It was a fine morning. We were up very early as we wanted to leave

home soon after breakfast. We made the journey by car, and we took some

refreshments with us so that we could stop for lunch when we found a pleasant

place in the country. We reached the seaside town, where we intended to stay in

the early afternoon, and as soon as we arrived the children were asking if they

could go down to the beach and see the sea. After that we spent many hours of

each day on the beach. The children made sandcastles and bathed. John and

Betty, who are quite good swimmers, had a swim every morning with their father

while I sat with the others. Several

times my husband and I went to the theatre in the evening and once or twice

we went dancing.

16.

This exercise is meant to develop your ability to read and narrate a story with

proper intonation, a) Listen to the joke. Write it down. Mark the stresses and tunes. Practise

reading the joke, b) Listen carefully to the narration of the joke. Observe the peculiarity in

intonation-group division, pitch, stress and tempo. Note the use of temporizers. Retell the

joke according to the model you have listened to.

16.

Read and retell the jokes:

Doctor's Orders

S e r v a n t : Sir, wake up, wake up!

M a s t e r : What is the matter?

S e r v a n t : It's time to take your sleeping tablets.

Politeness

M o t h e r : Which apple do you want, Tom? T o m :

The biggest one.

M o t h e r : Why, Tom, you should be polite and take the little one. ' T o m :

Well, Mamma, should I lie just to be polite?

His Pipe

L i t t l e g i r l : Grandpa, would you like me to give you a new pipe for your

birthday?

G r a n d p a : That's very nice of you, Mary, but I have got a pipe.

L i t t l e g i r l : Don't think you have, Grandpa, I've just broken it.

A Good Student

P r o f e s s o r : Can you tell me anything about the дтеМ chemists of the

17th century?

S t u d e n t : Yes, sir, they are all dead, sir.

Section Ten

Intonation Pattern VII

(LOW PRE-HEAD + ) FALLING HEAD + FALL-RISE

M o d e l : Type out this letter at once.

I Vcan't 'possibly x finish it ,now

This intonation pattern is used in statements, commands and other

communicative types of sentences to express the same attitudes as Intonation

Pattern VI. Stressed syllables of the head sometimes glide down.

e. g. I didn't know you drank coffee. I -* do

—

xsome, times.

EXERCISES

1. a)* Listen carefully to the following conversational situations. Concentrate your

attention on the intonation of the replies:

Verbal Context Drill

S t a t e m e n t s

[expressing concern, hart feelings, reproach, contradiction,

correction, uncertainty, contrast, grumbling)

Do you smoke?

I do sometimes.

Can we smoke here?

It's not forbidden.

She is a pretty girl, isn't she? She has a lovely face.

Are you using the ruler?

Not at the moment.

We got here about midnight. It was earlier than that. The clock's twelve

minutes fast. I'm quite sure it's not thft

much out.

Are you coming for a swim?

Not I. Not likely.

May I come to your lecture?

There'll be nothing new in it

for you.

What about this green dress?

The recipe says a pound of dried fruit.

I'd like to go, but it's such an expensive journey.

She's an absolute failure. You're a clumsy oaf. We'll leave before dawn.

Look, Mummy, I'm right at the top.

b| Listen to the replies and re voice fall as low as possible. Start not go up too high.

I shouldn't buy that one if I were you.

I doubt whether a pound will be enough.

You shouldn't let the cost of it deter you from going.

C o m m a n d s (urgent, warning)

Now be fair. Steady on. Have a heart. Have a bit of sense. Mind you don't

fall.

them in the intervals. Make yourrise from the lowest pitch and do

c) Listen to the verbal context and reply in the intervals.

2. In order to fix Intonation Pattern VII in your mind, ear and speech habits repeat the

replies yonrself until they sonnd perfectly natural to yon.

3. Listen to your fellow-student reading the replies. Tell him what his errors in intonation

are.

4. Listen to the verbal context suggested by your teacher. Reply by using one of the drill

sentences below. Pronounce it with Intonation Pattern VII. Say what attitude you mean to

render:

Verbal Context

Are you coming to dinner tonight?

Everyone's at home.

What a nice house!

He won't come, I tell you.

I came at a quarter past two.

Here I am.

Do you like my hat?

Drill I will if I can.

Not everyone. It isn't a large one. He hasn't definitely refused. , Half past

three it was. You're rather late. If you don't mind my saying so, it's terrible.

}don't know what to do about it.

it's not easy, you know.

Јhe speaks English quite fluently.

Sfou look cold.

pit last she has passed her exam. fcVill you be staying in London till autumn?

|>hall we meet next Sunday?

think if's going to rain. He is certain to win the game. Be careful. It's loo dark

here. I'll like to ask some friends to dinner.

It's time to go. So long!

If I were you, I'd wait and see

what happens.

But not impossible.

But with a shocking Russian

accent, doesn't she?

I'm not exactly cold.

She failed again.

I'm not quite sure.

I'm afraid I can't make it next Sunday.

Oh, don't say that. Don't be too sure. Don't be nervous. But not too many,

please.

So long! Be careful to cross the road.

5. Read the same replies with Intonation Patterns II or IV. Observe the difference in

attitude.

6. Give a conversational context with the following sentences pronounced with

Intonation Patterns VI and VII. Your fellow-student will suggest a verbal context. You

respond to it using one of the sentences below. Keep the exercises moving on rapidly until

every student has participated:

1. On Saturday. 2. It's mine. 3. The style is good. 4. He's coming m a week. 5.

I saw him today. 6. It's not bad. 7. You needn't do it now. 8. You'll fall. 9. Your

chair's slipping. 10. You'll miss your train. 11. Try to be there by six. 12. Careful

with that glass. You'll drop it. 13. Mind. There's a step here. 14. Be quick. We are

going to be late. 15. You must call at Helen's.

7. Your teacher will suggest a verbal context. You in turn reply by using statements,