Ex. 2 Ask a Yes/No question, follow the model. Sound warm, interested (LWF):

Model: A: I went home early yesterday. (feel sick) – B: Did you feel sick?

1 A: Mary bought a new house. (big) – B: ….   2 A: We’re leaving on Monday. (holiday) – B: …. 3 A: Joe’s finished reading “Gone with the Wind”. (like) – B: ….  4 A: Sue and Mike are a beautiful couple. (marry) – B: …. 5 A: My cat is three years old. (catch mice) – B: …. 6 А: My mother has never left Belarus. (travel) – B: …. 7 A: We study a lot. – (have a rest) – B: …. 8 A: He’s going to see his parents in Vladivostok. (fly) – B: …. 9 A: Neil’s planning to go to the university. (pass his exam) – B:.... 10 A: We went to the circus yesterday. (enjoy) – B: ….

 

Ex. 3 Read Wh-questions with LWR. Make sure you sound interested, friendly.

1 A: Let’s meet next week. – B: When exactly do you suggest we meet?  2 A: I have to write a course paper. – B: What are you going to work at?  3 A: My sister has three children. – B: How old are they? 4 A: I need a new skirt. – B: What’s your size? 5 A: Let’s go to the cinema. – B: Nice idea. What film would you prefer? 6 A: Here’s my wife Joan. – B: Oh, when did you get married? 7 A: I had to borrow money from Mike. – B: Why didn’t you say that earlier? 8 A: I feel unwell. – B: Why aren’t you in bed? 9 A: I’d like something typically English. – B: What about roastbeef and Yorkshire pudding?

 

Ex. 4 Read the dialogues below and respond with surprise (HNR) using the question words below as prompts.

Who? How many? How far? How? What? What? What? Who?

Example: A: Nick Updike lives in a caravan on a river bank. – B: ΄Where … (does he live)?

1 A: He lives there with his elderly aunt. – B: Who …. 2 A: He’s also got four dogs there with him. – B: How many …. 3 A: He lives ten miles away from the nearest village. – B: How far away …. 4 A: He travels everywhere in a vintage Rolls Royce. – B: …. 5 A: He always wears shorts and sandals, and a hat. – B: …. 6 A: In his spare time he plays the trumpet. – B: …. 7 A: And as a hobby, he collects animals’ teeth. B: …. 8 A: He will never agree to move to a different place. – B: …. 

 

Ex. 5 Use Low Rise in non-final parts of utterances.

Model: ‘When he’s seven,teen he’s  ‘going to ‘leave his town.

1 Before she retires she would like to buy a house. 2 Keep trying and you will succeed. 3 There’s something wrong with you if you don’t have dreams. 4 In case she’s away give me a call. 5 Having spent years in Japan he wrote a fine book. 6 When I last met him he was going to start a business. 7 He went to Yale Law School and graduated in the top third of his class. 8 In case you don’t recognize the story, it is the story of Gerald Ford. 9 That was the time when dreams got turned into reality. 10 His beginning was humble but eventually he succeeded. 11 Roger managed to earn money, but lost a lot of health. 12 We telephoned to Jerry, but he refused to talk. 13 I asked him to help me but he wouldn’t. 14 They expected the results to be good, but these were false hopes. 

Ex. 6 Learn to say large numbers.

999 – nine hundred and ninety-nine; 9, 999 – nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine;

99, 999 – ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine; 999, 999 – nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine; 9, 999, 999 – nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine.

Say the numbers: 3, 888, 222; 535, 583; 34, 567; 1, 335; 985; 10, 852; 1, 132, 356; 94, 236; 518, 599; 967; 9, 966; 74, 735; 636, 706.

Ex. 7 Show the movement of the voice graphically:

Low Rise (LR) only: Yes.

LR +tail: Isn’t it?

(Low prehead+)high head+LR(+tail): I’ll 'try to be ‚quicker.

(low prehead+) stepping head+LR(+tail): I’ve 'only 'got to 'buy something for ‚dinner.

(low prehead+) High Rise (+tail): 'Don’t you your’self ˙want to go?

Ex. 8 a) match the right verbal context with the answer; b) pronounce the drills with the tone variety proposed in the left column; c) choose the right epithet describing the way you sound.

Table 7

Scale + tone	How you sound	Statement	Special Question	General Question	Imperative	Exclamation
Verbal context: Have you heard about Max? You must do it this way. What shall I do to improve my English? Shall I ring the bell? Do you do your morning exercises? Richard’s due at eleven o’clock. I thought she was pretty. (Father to small son who is riding his bicycle too fast. I’ve passed my exam. I hate climbing ladders. Alice is on the phone. I just can’t quite manage it. Have a good holiday. Shall I buy the TV set? Benny is eager to have a rabbit. Hanry Sandford is my brother-in-law. Shall I read the words? I’ve arranged your lecture for tomorrow. Everybody thinks it’s magnificent.
Low Rise only	Not categoric, calmly warning, encouraging further conversation, wondering, non-final, soothing, disapproving, interested, reserving judgement, mildly puzzled, airy, soothing, expressing calm and casual acknowledgement, echoing, calling for repetition	No.	How?		Read.		Please!
Low Rise +Tail		Sometimes.	When is he due?	Did you?	Slowly.		Wonderful!
(Low prH+)high head+LR(+tail)		It’s all right. You won’t fall.	Who does she want to speak to?		Well, keep trying.		And you.
(low prH+) st.head+LR(+tail)		If you don’t find it too expensive.	Where do you intend to keep the animal?	Is your brother-in-law a doctor?	Be careful to pronounce distinctly the word “thirteen”		Terribly sorry for giving you all that trouble.
(low prH+) High Rise (+tail)				Everybody?

 

The Falling Tone Pattern

The Falling tone contours all sound definite and complete, yet each of them has a clearly distinct range of meanings.

1 High (Stepping) Head + Mid Wider (or Low Narrow) Fall Contour

The meaning of the contour:

In statements: neutral, weighty, serious. 

E.g.: He ‘promised to be ‘back by Monday.

In Wh-questions: neutral, weighty, serious.

E.g.: What would you like to drink?

In Yes/No and tag questions: seeking or expecting confirmation.

E.g.: Did you ‘see the van?

   You ‵like it, don’t you?                           

In imperatives, exclamations: serious, weighty, strong.

E.g.: ‘How beautiful. ‘Take it back.

  You shouldn’t tell her.

2 High (Stepping) Head + High Wide Fall Contour

The meaning of the contour:

In statements: assertive, insistent, expressing personal concern, surprise, excitement, irritation, protest.

E.g.: I didn’t ‵hear that. He couldn’t have ‵told her!

In Wh-questions: businesslike, insistent, concerned, brisk.

E.g.: ’Why do you ‘keep in‵sisting? Who on ‘earth was `that?

In Yes/No questions: the same as said for Contour 1, but in a more insistent way.

In imperatives: brisk, businesslike, insistent, urgent.

E.g.: ‘Come as ‘soon as you ‵can!

In exclamations: light, airy. 

E.g.: How ‘wonderful your `voice is!

3 Low Head + Low Narrow Fall Contour

 

The contour sounds calm, reserved, phlegmatic.

E.g.: I’d rather you stayed where you are.

 

Speech Exercises