This exercise is meant to develop your ability to hear and reproduce intonation in different speech situations.
a) listen to the story "Helen's eyes were not very good..."[82] carefully, sentence by sentence. Mark the stresses and tunes. (The teacher will help you to correct your variant.) Practise reading your corrected variant
b) Listen carefully to the narration of the story. Observe the peculiarities in intonation-group division, pitch, stress and tempo. Note the use of temporizers. Reproduce the model narration of the story.
This exercise is meant to test your ability to read and reproduce a story with correct intonation.
Read the jokes silently to make sure you understand each sentence. Find the sentence expressing the essence of the joke. Split up each sentence into intonation-groups if necessary. Mark the stresses and tunes. Underline the communicative centre and the nuclear word of each intonation-group. It is not expected that each student will intone the text in the same way. The teacher will help you to correct your variant
Practise reading the joke several times.
Reproduce the model narration of the joke:
Young Peter came in one day bursting with excitement. Walking down the main street he had suddenly discovered he was side-by-side with movie actor Clark Gable.
— Did you talk to him? we asked.
— Well, it was like this, he said slowly. I knew who he was and he knew who he was — and it just didn't make sense us discussing it.
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Some people were gathered on the verandah after dinner.
A young lady asked: "Can you name five days of the week without mentioning Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday?" Nobody could guess. At last the young lady said: "It is very easy. Here are the five days: today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow".
SECTION TWO. Intonation Pattern IX. High fall
(LOW PRE-HEAD + ) HIGH FALL (+ TAIL)
Model: Why didn't you buy the picture?
— Much too ex,pensive. 
Stress-and-tone marks in the text: High Fall. | ` |
The High Fall in the nucleus starts very high and usually reaches the lowest pitch. The syllables of the tail are pronounced on the low level.
The High Fall provides a greater degree of prominence for the word, making it more emphatic. The degree of prominence depends on the height of the fall.
This intonation pattern is used:
1. In statements, conveying personal concern or involvement, sounding lively, interested, airy; very common in conversation.
е.g. Do you know the man? — `No. (I `don't.) `Yes.| (I `do.) Where's my copy? — `Peter ,took it ,for you.
2. In questions:
a) In special questions, sounding lively, interested, е.g. I shall be late, I'm afraid. — `How ,late?
b) In general questions, conveying mildly surprised acceptance of the listener's premises. е.g. I like it here. Do you? (I thought you'd hate it.)
3. In imperatives, sounding warm.
е.g. What's the matter? — Look. (It's raining.)
4. In exclamations, very emotional. е.g. It's eight o'clock. — Heavens! (I'm late.)
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, sounding interested, lively, airy) | |
| Now what have you done to Mary? | Nothing. |
| Who's been eating my grapes? | No one. No one has. No one's been eating your wretched grapes. |
| Which will you take, Henry? | This one. That one. |
| How many of his books have you read? | All of them. None of them. |
| When did you see him? | On Thursday. (I thought you knew.) |
| Would you like to join us? | I'd love to. |
| Come on. Let's get going. | We can't. It's raining. |
| It was all your fault. | But it wasn't. And I can prove it. |
| Special questions (lively, interested) | |
| I shall have to give it to him. | Why? |
| I'm going to Switzerland. | When? |
| You'll never guess who's here. | Who? |
| You can win easily. | How? How so? |
| He's coming to stay with us. | When, may I ask? |
| I mustn't take them. | Why mustn't you take them? |
| Sorry to be so late. | What's happened? |
| I ought to write to him. | Why bother? |
| (Hullo, Dennis.) | How are you? |
| I said no such thing. | What did you say, then? |
| Today's out of the question, too. | When can you come, may I ask? |
| General questions (conveying mildly surprised acceptance of the listener's premises) | |
| I like it here. | Do you? |
| She is thirty-five. | Is she? |
| They won't help us. | Won't they? |
| I can't bear cats. | Can't you? |
| I must be home by six. | Must you? |
| I ought to go to the lecture. | But will you go, do you think? |
| Imperatives (expressing warmth) | |
| Do you think this hat will fit me? | Try it. |
| He'll be terribly angry. | Let him. |
| A letter won't reach Ann in time. | Phone her, then. |
| He doesn't want to play. | Then make him. |
| I'm awfully sorry. | Forget it. |
| He can't afford to pay. | Well, give it to him, then. |
| Exclamations (very emotional) | |
| He's over seventy. | Well! |
| Alice is coming as well. | Really! Splendid! |
| Will you have a drink? | Thank you! |
| (That you Mr. Archar?) | Good morning! Good morning to you. |
| I'll give it to you. | How lovely! |
| I'm most grateful to you. | Don't mention it, my dear chap. |
| She says you're to blame. | What nonsense! |
| Isn't it a lovely view! | Enchanting! |