English Phonetics
A Theoretical Course
Competence-Assessment Test
1. The functional component of sound phenomena (speech sounds and
prosodic features) is concerned with
1 thе articulatory aspect.
2 the acoustic aspect.
3 thе auditory aspect.
4 the linguistic aspect.
2. The phonetic system of a language contains
1 elementary sounds.
2 grammatical forms.
3 segmental units.
4 lexical units.
3. Segmental units constitute
1 syllables and rhythmic units.
2 different positions and movements of speech organs.
3 the vocalic and the consonantal subsystems.
4 intensity and duration of speech sounds.
4. Segmental units serve to form
1 morphemes, words, word-forms, utterances.
2 pitch, stress, rhythm.
3 quality, loudness, the length of speech sounds.
4 vibrations of the vocal cords, the amplitude of vibrations,
the acoustic effect of vibrations.
5. Segmental sounds perform constitutive, distinctive and
identificatory functions which are realized in
1 dreamer – dreamy, pen – ten, ask – asks. He was heard badly. –
He was hurt badly.
2 [b – p], [d – t], [g – k], [v – f].
3 [: – ı], [u: – u], [: – ], [e –æ].
4 tie – die, seat – seed, said – says, sleeper – sleepy.
6. Suprasegmental (prosodic) units comprise
1 vowels, consonants, syllables, morphemes, words.
2 the subsystems of pitch, stress, rhythm, tempo, pauses.
3 segmental sounds, prosodic phenomena, intonation patterns,
pitch changes, utterances.
4 the vocalic subsystem, the consonantal subsystem, intonation groups,
pitch levels and ranges.
7. Suprasegmental units in which prosodic features are actualized
include
1 tone-groups, tempo, pauses, speech timbre.
2 syntagms, directions and rate of pitch movement, loudness, tempo.
3 sentences, lexical units, intonation contours, accentual units.
4 utterances, intonation groups, rhythmic units, syllables.
8. An intonation pattern (on the perceptive level) is the basic unit of
intonation consisting of three prosodic components:
1 pitch movement, loudness, duration.
2 pitch variations, speech melody, the fundamental frequency
of vibrations of the vocal cords.
3 pitch with the nucleus (a pitch-and-stress complex), loudness, tempo.
4 stressed syllables, unstressed syllables, rhythm.
9. Phonetics as a linguistic science is concerned with
1 the study of the phonetic system of a concrete language.
2 a sound-production phenomenon.
3 a sound-perception process.
4 the functional aspect of segmental sounds and prosodic phenomena.
10. An adequate prosodic structure of the utterance “Well done”
expressing the speaker's evaluation is generated by
1 “ `Well ′done?”
2 “ 'Well `done!”
3 “ 'Well ^done.”
4 – It was 'well done.
– 'Well 'done?
11. A linguistic branch of phonetics dealing with functional distinctions
of sound phenomena is
1 theoretical phonetics.
2 applied phonetics.
3 phonology.
4 general phonetics.
12. Phonology establishes
1 the types of vowels and consonants that exist in various languages,
2 the systems of phonemes and prosodemes (intonemes).
3 rhythmic units and utterances.
4 speech sounds and their modifications in connected speech.
13. The definition of the phoneme embraces three aspects:
1 the acoustic aspect, the auditory aspect, the articulatory aspect.
2 the material aspect, the abstract aspect, the functional aspect.
3 the linguistic aspect, the physiological aspect, the
psychologicalaspect.
4 the functional aspect, the phonetic aspect, the physical aspect.
14. The phonetic contexts in which subsidiary allophones of a phoneme
(as opposed to principal ones) occur are represented by
1 light, like, take it, tape it.
2 breed, breeze, port, court.
3 let them, not quite, nightmare, twice.
4 door, daughter, darn, dark.
15. The meaningful function of the English phonemes is realized
through their distinctive articulatory features, such as
1 lip position, tenseness, the character of the vowel end (relating to
vowel qualities).
2 the dark [ ł ] as in ‘pill’ the clear [ 1 ] as in ‘lip’, the post-alveolar
[t] as in ‘try’.
3 occlusive, forelingual, lenis characteristics of [d].
4 aspiration, labialization, vowel length (relating to consonant and
vowel qualities).
16. The conditions for a variety of English pronunciation to be
accepted as the orthoepic norm are
1 acknowledgement of a single variety of pronunciation
(RP);recognition of the fact that RP has the “prestige accent”;
the presence of factors that encourage standardization
of pronunciation.
2 registering/recording the well-established variants of
pronunciation by the pronouncing dictionaries; the use of
the standard pronunciation adopted by the educated
people; deviations from the norm viewed as unacceptable in
any circumstances.
3 wide currency, conformity to the main phonetic tendencies, social
acceptability.
4 intolerance of dialectal pronunciation and variants of non-standard
pronunciation; a non-regional character of pronunciation.
17. The most striking of the changes which have affected the
pronunciation of British English (RP) in recent times is
1 the assimilation of the following sounds: [ sj ] > [  ], [ zj ] > [  ],
[ tj ] > [  ], [ dj ] > [ ] (e.g. ‘issue’, . ‘crozier’,
‘situation’, ‘education’.
2 the centering of former [ou] to [зu] (e.g. ‘home’ [houm] > [hзum]).
3 monophthongization of [aı] and [аu] when followed by [ә] (e.g.
‘tower’ ['tauә] > ['taә], ‘fire’ [faıә] > ['faә].
4 diphthongization of RP [i:] and [u:] which in a final position are
often pronounced with a glide (e.g. ‘see’ [sıj], ‘who’ [huu].
18. Reduction dealing with stylistic sound modifications in informal
speech is found in
1 this year ['ðıjıә], second term [ sekәntз:m].
2 great burden [ greıp bз:dn], that man [ ðæp mæn].
3 next to Liverpool ['neksttlvәpu:l]; it's paid well [ts ' pad wel].
4 it seems to be [ t simz tә b], a new aspect [ә 'nju spekt].
19. The variants of pronunciation [ kәz] for ‘because’ [k  wz]
for
‘I think he was’ are common in
1a public speech .
2 familiar conversational style.
3 official style.
4 rapid familiar conversation.
20. A phone as an individual sound realization (as opposed to a
phoneme and its allophone and variant) involves
1 distinctive features.
2 distinctive and contextual features.
3 distinctive, contextual and stylistic features.
4 distinctive, contextual, stylistic and personal features.
21. Regional varieties of British English (with the status of a dialect
and a national pronunciation variant) are
1 Cockney, Scouse (the Liverpool dialect).
2 the Northern type of English pronunciation, Southern
English accents.
3 Scottish standard English, non-standard territorial varieties
(spoken in Scotland).
4 American English, Canadian English.
22. Many educated people in Britain (though their pronunciation is
not based on RP) speak
1 American English.
2 Welsh English.
3 Northern Ireland English.
4 Standard English with a regional type of pronunciation.
23. The Northern regional type of English pronunciation (as
opposed to RP) is characterized by the following features:
1 [] is more open and more retracted back, as in [a]
(e.g. ‘back’,‘bad’; [a:] is fronted as compared to RP [a:] and
it approximates to [] e.g. ‘glass’, ‘laugh’, ‘after’.
2 the final [b, d, g] are partially devoiced (e.g. ‘cab’, ‘had’, ‘bag’;
3 [p, t, k] are heavily aspirated; the final [  ] sounds like [n]
(e.g.‘something’, ‘evening’.
4 [1] is always dark; [  ] is voiced in words like ‘excursion’
[n],‘version’ [n], ‘Asia’ [ә].
24. The Scottish regional type of English pronunciation is based on
the following features:
1 all vowels are short (e.g. there is no distinction in the length of the
vowels in words like ‘pull’ and ‘pool’, ‘cot’ and ‘caught’, with
the exception that the vowel in inflected words is not as short as
the vowel in non-inflected words: ‘road’ - ‘rowed’, ‘greed’
-‘agreed’; [r] is an alveolar flap not only between and
before vowels, as in ‘hurry’ and ‘brown’, but also after vowels,
as in ‘word’, ‘born’.
2 [ ] is widely used, so words like pore and paw are distinguished;
[e] or [ : ] are pronounced instead of [e] (e.g. ‘may’, ‘say’, ‘take’).
3 [j] is omitted before [u:] (e.g. ‘assume’ [ә'su:m], ‘duty’
['du:t],‘new’[nu:] );[k] is omitted before [t] (e.g. ‘asked’- [st ].
4 [d] is dropped after [1] and [n] (e.g. ‘cold’, ‘old’, ‘individual’;
the glottal stop  is used instead of [t] before [m, n, 1, r, j, w]
(e.g.‘certainly’ [s:nl],‘that one’ [ wn].
25.Cockney viewed as a local or social one has certain striking
peculiarities among which are the following:
1 [u] is used instead of [] (e.g. ‘cup’, ‘love’, ‘much’, so there is
no distinction between words like ‘could’ and ‘cud’); [ou]
is pronounced as a monophthongal [:] (e.g. ‘go’, ‘home’).
2 a nasalized [] is used for [a] (e.g. ‘Buy potatoes and
cabbages’['b pәtatuz nkbәiz]; [] and [] do not occur,
[f],[v] or [d] are used instead (e.g. ‘thin’ [fn], ‘father’ ['fa:vә ],
‘this’[ds].
3 Special Questions may end with a high level tone after a fall on
the interrogative word, e.g.Who’s having the 'grape fruit? A final
vocative does not necessarily continue the tune of the
General Questions, e.g. Will you be in to lunch, Mr. Brown?
4 all diphthongs and long vowels are treated as complex nuclei or
as single-unit phonemes; much greater use of secondary stress
is made in polysyllabic words, compared to RP, e.g.
communicative, 'ceremony,'territory (in words which end in
-ary, - ory, -ery, -mony, -ative).
26. American English embraces a wide range of pronunciation
varieties. The standard pronunciation of American English is referred
to as
1 AE pronunciation.
2 the GA pronunciation.
3 the Southern regional type of pronunciation.
4 the Eastern regional type of pronunciation.
27. The peculiarities of AE lie in the pronunciation of the sounds (as
opposed to those of RP) which are described as follows:
1 [r] is retroflexive, i.e. the tip of the tongue is curled back; vowels
are not differentiated by their lengththey are long.
2 instead of RP [:] the sequences [r], [er] or [r] are used (e.g.
‘bird’ [bird], ‘heard’ [herd], ‘word’ [wrd]; similarly
monophthongs are used instead of diphthongs in ‘beard’,
‘here’, ‘pure’, ‘poor’, ‘sure’.
3 the nucleus of the diphthong [e] is an almost open vowel, so that
it reminds of [a] (e.g. ‘take’, ‘late’); [ou] is [u] (e.g. ‘potatoes’
[pә'tatuz].
4 a greater weakening of vowels in weakly stressed syllables the
use of the neutral [ә] instead of the stronger [] (e.g.
[bә'li:v], ['ntrәst];the use of the intrusive [r].
28. BE and AE pronunciation varieties differ in their vowel
systems, and the samples of AE vowels are
1 [u:],[:],[](as in [].
2 [u], [ ] (as in [ u ], [a] (as in [аu], [a].
3 [u],[ ],[ ].
4 [],[e], [:].
29. In AE pronunciation certain consonants are dropped in definite
phonetic contexts, and the sample of such a consonant is in
1 Give me that one.
2 History repeats itself.
3 It’s an historical novel.
4 Something has gone wrong with the computer.
30. A frequent intonation pattern used in AE (it sounds dispassionate
and disrespectful to RP speakers) is
1 You’d  better  do  it?
.
.
2 Did he ask you to  do  it?
3 Will you be ready at seven?
4 Whyhaven’t you told me about it?
31. The definition of intonation which embraces relevant prosodic
characteristics is
1 a complex unity of speech melody, sentence stress, rhythm,
tempo and voice timbre.
2 a complex combination of the fundamental frequency of vibrations of
the vocal cords (correlating with pitch) and the amplitude of vibrations
related to loudness, intensit duration and stress.
3 variations in the pitch of the voice, utterance stress, rhythm,tempo and
pauses.
4 modifications of pitch and loudness, intensity and tempo, rhythmicality.
32. A taxonomically related prosodic unit (hierarchically higher than
the smallest prosodic unit) is presented in
1 head [ hed ], lighten [ 'la-tn ], positive [ 'pz--tv ].
2 Great! He loves her. It is clear.
3 Yesterday they passed their exams. Count on Jane’s ability.
Comprehensibility.
4  And what’s the matter with Mary?
 If only you'd asked me before!
 But shall we discuss it again?
33. The structural components of a prosodic unit, not related
taxonomically, are represented by
1 the prehead, the head, the nucleus with the terminal tone, the tail of
the intonation group.
2 the syllable, the rhythmic unit, the intonation group, the utterance.
3 a rhythmic unit, obligatory and non-obligatory structural
characteristics of an intonation group, an utterance.
4 an utterance, a hyperutterance, a phonetic paragraph, a text.
34. Obligatory structural components of an intonation group are
expressed in the following dialogue by
1 I’d like to invite Nancy and Tim.
2 Fine.
3 Will you get things ready in the house?
4 Certainly.
35. The communicative function of intonation is concerned with the
realization of the structuring functions of intonation in combination
with
1 delimitating and integrating functions.
2 the functions serving the purpose of structuring the information
content of a textual unit and determining its syntactic parameter.
3 the distinctive (phonological) function of intonation conveying the
meanings of textual units, their attitudinal connotations and
phonostylistic characteristics in speech.
4 functions connected with semantic and stylistic modifications of
textual units in various contexts.
36. Speech rhythm in English has been defined as
1 regularity (periodicity) in the occurrence of particular phenomena
(stresses and/or syllables) in an utterance .
2 stress-timed rhythm.
3 syllable-timed rhythm.
4 perceptible isochrony of rhythmic units within an intonation group.
37. The division of an utterance into rhythmic units is based in
English mostly on
1 isochronous intervals between stressed syllables.
2 the boundaries between rhythmic units determined by the
semantic and grammatical relations between the words in an utterance.
3 objective isochrony of English rhythmic units.
4 prosodic characteristics of proclitics and enclitics belonging to the
nuclei of rhythmic units.
38. The most prominent and functionally important components in an
utterance are
1 complex rhythmic units.
2 the nuclear rhythmic units.
3 rhythmic units formed by post-nuclear stress.
4 rhythmic units with a number of proclitics and enclitics in them.
39. The poetic rhythm in the following examples
The chief defect of Henry King
was chewing little bits of string.
……………………………………….
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free.
(S. Coleridge.The Ancient Mariner)
is created by
1 the prosodic contrasts between stressed and unstressed syllables.
2 the rhythmic beat consisting of stressed syllables.
3 the stressed syllables separated by an equal number of unstressed
syllables.
4 a tendency to establish a regular rhythm with the overall effect of a
monotone.
40. The prosodic organization of prosaic rhythm in the following
fragment
ythmic rea ding of a fairy-tale.
3 the rhythmic tendency of accentuation.
4 properly o
Once upon a time a Sheep and a Goat set out on a journey together. 
Me-e, said the Sheep, two heads are better than one.The Goat looked at
the Sheep and said: I’m not so sure about that! However, they went on
walking side by side and at last... they came to a wood.
(Two Heads Are Better than One)
is characterized by
1 rhythmicality with the effect of euphony, sound harmony,
melodiousness.
2 relatively equal syllable duration, the stylistic effect of rhythm,
the use of lexical and structural means of expressiveness.
3 simple intonation contours, often with the stepping head and the
falling nuclear tone.
4 the stressed syllables marked out by their intensity and duration, the
tempo being comparatively slow,
41. The falling-rising tone in the situation
Careful, Jack! There’s a bend over there.
conveys the meanings of
1 surprise, astonishment, concern, a demand for information.
2 definiteness, completeness, finality, certainty.
3 indefiniteness, incompleteness, non-finality, tentativeness.
4 reservation, implication, intensely protesting and
suggesting attitudes.
42. Three common types of heads (scales) are
1 the Scandent head, the Sliding head, the Broken Descending head.
2 the Low Level head, the High Level head, the Falling head. .
3 a descending head, an ascending head, a level head.
4 the Stepping head, the Sliding head, the Rising head,
43. The example implying the realization of a high pitch level with an
appropriate pitch range, if spoken, is presented in
1It Here he comes, she murmured, and they could hear that her lips
were dry with emotion.
2 Really, Mr. Collins, cried Elizabeth with some warmth,
you puzzle me exceedingly.
(Brown 1984,130)
3 Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there lived an Emperor who
loved to wear new clothes.
4 The prime minister has had to cancel his visit to Plymouth today but
hopes to go tomorrow.
44. Non-nuclear full stresses and a nuclear stress are pitch prominent
and initiate a tone in
1 Let me hear how you get оn.
2  It is 'not at 'all interesting.
3 But it is interesting.
4 John went out.
45. Fast tempo of speech marked for the significance of what is being
said is implied in
1  I’ve been finding things in the Forest, said Tigger importantly.
2 I said slowly: I think that we must part.
3 Miss Spenlow, if you please, said her father majestically.
4 She went on breathlessly: Then they are going to ran off together!
What did you say?  gasped Morris.
(Brown 1984,138)
46. Phonostylistics, an essential branch of phonetics, is concerned with
the study of
1 lexical and grammatical differences in definite varieties of language
in use.
2 extralinguistic factors and circumstances of reality involved in the
process of oral and written communication.
3 style-forming means characterized by definite phonetic features.
4 functional styles of the written language.
47. The main extralinguistic contexts that cause modifications in both
segmental and prosodic phenomena are
1 social situations, the rate of speech, the extent of its formality,
degree of its preparedness.
2 teaching, learning, conducting a meeting, chatting.
3 a monologue, a dialogue, spontaneous speech, formal conversation.
4 the aim (purpose) of speech and the extent of its spontaneity,
the nature of communication, its social and psychological factors.
48. The phonetic style-forming means ( style-differentiating
characteristics) are
1 the degree of assimilation and reduction, elision.
2 phonetic modifications of segmental and prosodic features
of speech.
3 the degree of carefulness of articulation, the degree of preparedness
of speech.
4 the extent of formality of speech, the social acceptability of a
phonetic style.
49. Informal conversational English as opposed to written English
read aloud is characterized by
3 the use of RP or Standard English with a regional type of
pronunciation, an individual manner of speaking.
4 great amount of non-obligatory assimilation, a high proportion of
hesitation features, a frequent use of pauses which occur in places
where they are not regular in formal conversation.
50. The following phrases
It wasn’t your turn. Did you get it? [tw zntә t:n // әgett]
sound in
1 official style.
2 a broadcast talk.
3 the style of everyday-life discourse.
4 informal (familiar) conversation.
51. The components of extralinguistic situations relevant to
phonostylistic differentiation of speech are
l publicprivate, impersonalpersonal dimensions.
2 individual and social characteristics of speakers, their age and sex
differences.
3 a formal context, an informal context.
4 purpose, participants, setting .
52. The bipolar dimension related to the extent of formality, a stylemodifying factor, involves the dichotomy, such as
1 oralwritten texts.
2 formalinformal (official-unofficial) speech styles.
3 a monologuea dialogue.
4 publicnonpublic communication.
53. The degree of informality presented in a familiar spontaneous
conversation is identified with
1 even melodic, temporal and rhythmic organization of speech.
2 simplification of sound sequences, uneven rhythm, abundance of
pauses, varying loudness and tempo.
3 a fully prepared type of text presentation which sounds loud
and distinct.
4 the occurrence of pauses at the syntactic junctures.
54. The classification of phonetic styles based on the principle of the
extent of formality includes
1 belles-lettres style, publicistic style, the style of scientific prose, the
style of official documents, colloquial style.
2 the full style and the colloquial style of pronunciation, the neutral
style.
3 the rapid familiar style, the slower colloquial style, the natural style
used in addressing an audience, the acquired style of the stage .
4 familiar colloquial and formal colloquial styles, public-speaking
style, public-reading style.
55. The classification of phonostyles according to the purpose of
communication and the correlation between phonostyles and functional
styles is represented by
1solemn, scientific business, official business, everyday,
familiar styles.
2 informal ordinary, formal neutral, formal official, informal familiar,
declamatory styles.
3 a formal speech style, an informal speech style
4 the informational style, the academic style, the publicistic style, the
declamatory style, the conversational style.
56. Problems of phonostylistic are of considerable importance for
teaching and learning purposes because
1learners should explain why certain phonetic features are acceptable
for definite phonetic styles and unacceptable for others.
2 learners need to develop awareness of different phonetic styles
of the language to master the art of communication which
is part of a modern man’s culture.
3 learners should be able to analyse and describe the speaking
habits of the British people.
4 learners have to make use of phonostylistic data for developing their
perceiving abilities.
57. The teacher has to provide the learner with necessary clues
relating to stylistic differentiation of speech caused by
1 the type of a speech activity, the nature of communication, the extent of
formality and spontaneity of speech, the aim of a speech situation.
2 the function of communication, the function of informing, the expressive
function .
3 a dialoguemonologue opposition.
4 speaking and reading activities.
58. From the viewpoint of phonostylistics it is relevant for teaching
and learning purposes to differentiate between
1 phonetic styles of spontaneous speech and phonetic styles of prepared
speech, including phonetic styles of reading aloud.
2 the following types of texts: conversation and drama.
3 prose and verse.
4 scientific prose read aloud and belles-lettres style read aloud.
59. The characteristic markers of informality in a classroom ordinary
conversation are expressed in the 
situation and is revealed by subjective coloring of his/her speech
and timbre, by the use of paralinguistic features and hesitant drawls.
2 The speaker is inclined to speak slowly and with deliberation.
3 Conversational English sounds rather stiff and stilted.
4 The speaker makes his/her speech comprehensive and
easily articulated to keep the listeners’ interest.
60. The phonostylistic features relevant to teaching styledifferentiating characteristics on the perceptive level are
1 the contrast between accented and unaccented segments of oral
speech, the use of short intonation groups in it.
2 the phonetic delimitation of an oral text, the accentuation of its
semantic centres, phonetic variations in speech timbre.
3 the choice of verbal means in the realization of the aim of speech.
4 specific linguistic markers of speech styles.
61. At the level of suprasegmental phonetics, phonostylistic variations
give good grounds for
1 establishing intonation styles.
2 conveying the stylistic value of intonation according to
the purpose of communication.
3 singling out a number of extralinguistic and social factors.
4 forming intonation patterns in accordance with the types of
information being present in certain situational contexts.
62. The prosodic parameters of discourse (read aloud or spoken) with
a style-differentiating value are
1 terminal tones, pre-nuclear patterns, the contrast between accented
and unaccented segments of speech.
2 loudness, pitch directions, levels and ranges, rate, pauses, rhythm.
3 variations in style-forming intonation patterns determined by
intellectual, attitudinal, volitional purposes of communication.
4 timbre, delimitation, style-marking prosodic features, the
accentuation of semantic centers.
63. Two common informational style registers (spheres of discourse)
are
1 educational information and press reporting/broadcasting .
2 a monologue and a dialogue.
3 reading and speaking activities.
4 prepared and spontaneous presentations of speech/talk.
64. The most characteristic prosodic features of the news item read on
the radio
In the west of England this evening hundreds of policemen are looking
for a man who escaped from Princefield prison early this morning. The
man’s name is Edward Coke....The police do not think he can stay free
very long... .
(The Man Who Escaped. Longman Group UK Limited 1987)
are
1 varied prosodic characteristics and stylistic qualities.
2 the effect of ‘chilly distant sounding’, the effect of neutral
reporting without the newsreader’s concern.
3 short intonation groups, rather long pauses, the alternation
of descending and ascending heads; the contrast between accented
and unaccented text segments is great.
4 final categoric falling terminal tones, a frequent use of falls on
the communicative centres, stable rhythm, allegro tempo.
65. The informational educational descriptive narrative (prepared in
advance and spoken in class)
A young detective, Richard Backster, arrested Coke four years ago.
Coke escaped from prison because he wanted to find two men: Erick
Masters and someone called Hugo. That was all Coke knew about the
second man. He knew Masters when they were officers in the army.
Backster, the detective, left London on the same day Coke escaped. His
job was to catch Coke again.
(The Man Who Escaped. Longman Group UK Limited 1987)
manifests its main intonation style markers in
1 a formal manner of presentation with occasionally interested
оvertones and a number of hesitation and breath-taking pauses.
2 normal or increased loudness, moderate or rather slow rate (tempo of
speech), varied pitch levels, ranges and intonation patterns.
3 businesslike, rather reserved voice timbre, systematic rhythm,
the accentuation of the semantic centres through the use
of expressive high falls and falling-rising tones, the use of
several low falls within an intonation group and a phrase.
4 centralized accentuation, subjective isochrony contrasting with
the rhythmicality achieved by the use of final categoric falls.
66. The academic-style spheres of communication are outlined in
1 round-table talks, commenting on the events and discussing them.
2 reading news coverage on the radio and TV, press reporting and
broadcasting.
3 reading lectures, reports in public; talkjng, giving explanations at
seminars and presenting answers at examinations;
4 public and non-public monologues and dialogues, prepared
aspontaneous presentations, the use of the written and spoken
varieties of the language.
67. The stylistically distinctive status of the academic style determined
by the aim of communication is conveyed by
1a close correlation between the academic style and
the informational intonation style.
2 a scientific text as a written variety of the language prepared
in advance and read aloud in public.
3 a proper balance between formality and informality in a
scientific-style presentation.
4 intellectual and volitional information of an academic text.
68. The piece of scientific prose read aloud in public
…It would be as inappropriate to introduce formality into an informal,
chatty conversation, as it would be to introduce informality on an
official occasion… .
suggests the realization of
l the lecturer’s timbreauthoritative, imposing, edifying, instructive,
self-assured.
2 the lecturer’s aim which is to deliver his/her message clearly and to
establish a contact with the audience.
3 the formal relationship between the lecturer and the audience.
4 the delimitation characteristic of any monological presentation.
69. The striking prosodic characteristics of the academic-style reading
are displayed in the folloving statement:
l The academic style represents the language of factual information,
thus attitudinal and emphatic functions of intonation are of secondary
importance here.
2 High falling and falling-rising terminal tones are widely used for
logical and contrastive emphasis; the rhythmic organization of a
scientific text is properly balanced by the alternation of all prosodic
features.
3 The prosodic features of the academic-style reading are not greatly
varied.
4 The phonostylistic characteristics of scientific discourse reading a
overloaded with variations in tempo, loudness, pauses, pitch levels and
ranges.
70. The heads (рге-nuclear patterns) frequently used in the academicstyle reading are
1 level heads of all ranges (low, mid, high).
2 broken descending heads.
3 different types of heads which are alternated to break the
monotony of a scientific-style talk and to attract listeners’ attention.
4 stepping and falling heads; the alternation of descending
and ascending heads (in enumerations).
71. The attitudinal function of intonation comes to the fore in
1 the publicistic style.
2 the academic style.
3 the declamatory style.
4 the conversational style.
72. Informal spontaneous conversation is characterized by a high
proportion of hesitation phenomena of all kinds because
1 conversational-style talks are often unpredictable; they display
the lack of their planning and the randomness of their topics.
2 speakers use paralinguistic features to support their
conversational interaction.
3 speakers rely very much on extralinguistic factors in
everyday communication.
4 speakers are too relaxed in informal situations to monitor
their linguistic behavior.
73. The characteristic prosodic features of informal conversational
English at the levels of terminal tones and pre-nuclear patterns are
1 a frequent use of descending and ascending heads, a great amount
of compound tones.
2 a high frequency of simple falling and rising tones, the use
of emphatic tones; a tendency to use level heads.
3 significant variations in loudness, uneven speech tempo.
4 a tendency to use short intonation groups, sudden jumps down
on communicative centers.
74. The hesitation features of conversational style in the informal
dialogue
I think I’d much prefer to go in for teaching.
Jolly good!
Because ... er ... well, you get long holidays.
are expressed by
1slips of the tongue .
2 breath-taking pauses.
3 significant variations in loudness.
4 voiced and silent pauses.
7erm
 That’s going .../to -make you very unfit, you know.
Oh,|…look, / you don't seem to/ realize >that.../ Ilike it.
reveals the occurrence of pauses in particular places characteristic of
the conversational style as described in
1 Some pauses in the given context are used in places related closely
to the grammatical structures.
2 The distribution of the pauses is correlated with falling
terminal tones, the main factor of rhythmicality in informal English.
3 The pauses are made in between the words that mark the
boundaries of phonetic wholes.
4 A number of pauses occur in appropriate places where they
break the syntactic junctures in the given context.
76. The communicative function of the publicistic style is conveyed by
1intellectual and volitional information.
2 volitional and desiderative information .
3 attitudinal and emphatic meanings of intonation.
4 a combination of appropriate prosodic features which are realized in
other phonostyles.
77. One of the characteristic properties of oratorial performances is
1 the use of various prosodic contrasts to achieve excessive emotional
colouring.
2 a proper balance between formality and informality in oratorial
activities.
3 the spontaneity of public speeches.
4 an exercise in oratorial skills and rhetorical tricks.
78. The distinctive style-marking prosodic features of the publicistic
style are
1 properly organized rhythmic groups.
2 careful articulation, normal or slow speech tempo.
3 timbre variations determined by the speakers concern and personal
involvement.
4 increased loudness, wide pitch ranges, voiceless hesitation
pauses (the rhetorical silence).
79. The phrase from M. L. King's public political speech
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down
together at the table of brotherhood
brings out the oratorial markers at the levels of terminal tones and
pre-nuclear patterns, such as
1 paralinguistic features.
2 dignified slowness in the voice, impressive resonance on important
communicative centers.
3 the emphatic use of the high level head, the accentuation of the
semantic centres by emphatic terminal tones (e.g. high fall) and their
contrastive occurrence.
4 a great number of breath - taking pauses.
80. The phrase from M. L. King's public political speech
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state
sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
conveys the striking prosodic features of the publicistic style which
are
1 instances of increased and diminished loudness.
2 contrastive variations in pitch ranges and levels.
3 stops in the phonation before the semantic centres,
prosodic parallelism and contrasts.
4 contrastive variations in terminal tones.
81. The declamatory style is called an artistic intonation style, the
acquired style of the stage because
l this style manifests itself in a written form of the language read
aloud or recited.
2 attitudinal, volitional and intellectual functions of intonation come
to the fore in this style, having the status of a style-differentiating value.
3 this style is performed on the stage, on the screen, on the radio,
in a classroom.
4 this style is realized through all sorts of emotional and
expressive devices requiring professional skills.
82. Literary prose reading (descriptive and narrative types of
discourse) as opposed to the reading of informational and scientific
texts is characterized at the prosodic level by
1 the predominance of the emotional function (in the artistic
reading) which manifests itself in the reader’s timbre concerned,
personally involved, emotionally rich.
2 dispassionate and reserved, resolute and assured expressions in
the reader’s voice.
3 considerable variations in the length of intonation groups.
4 the use of descending, broken descending, stepping and level heads.
83. It is necessary for a successful declamatory-reading performance
to fulfil the preliminary procedure at the phonostylistic level dealing
with
1 appreciating the literary text (chosen for reading aloud), its
lexical and stylistic means of verbal expression.
2 understanding the meaning of the literary text, the write’s intentions.
3 delimiting the literary text and singling out
its communicative/semantic centres for their emphatic accentuation.
4 rehearsing the declamatory reading of the literary text.
84. The literary prose passage
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. I came upon it
suddenly, and I stood, my heart thumping in my breast and a strange prick
of tears behind my eyes. There was Manderley, our Manderley, secret and
silent as it had always been, the grey stone shining in the moonlight of my
dream.
(D. du Maurier. Rebecca)
provides the declamatory-style reader with the clues related to the use
of the most typical style-marking prosodic features, including the
intonation patterns, which are
1 stable, properly organized rhythm, varied loudness.
2 variable pitch levels and ranges.
3 the normal rate of the reading, deliberately slow on the
semantic centers.
4 low falling and mid-level terminal tones in non-final
intonation groups and prolonged emphatic pauses.
85. The expressive reading of the literary prose passage
In reality, I lay many hundred miles away, in an alien land, in a bare little
hotel bedroom comforting in its very lack of atmosphere. The day would
lie before us both, long, no doubt, and uneventful, but full of a certain
stillness, a dear tranquility, we had not known before. We would not talk
of Manderley. I would not tell my dream for Manderley was ours no
longer. Manderley was no more.
(D. du Maurier. Rebecca)
is achieved through the emphatic usage of the intonation patterns, such
as
1 falling-rising and high falling terminal tones on the semantic
centres,the stepping head + the low rise, falling and level tones
in initial/non-final intonation groups.
2 categoric low falls in final intonation groups, contrastive
terminal tones (emphatic and non-emphatic), the alternation
of descending and level heads in non-final intonation groups.
3 low head + low fall, high head + low fall, high head + high fall.
4 falling and stepping heads broken by accidental rises.
86. Verse recitations in English produce the effect of
1 the most striking rhythmicality strengthened by metric versification.
2 the rh rganized rhythmic units.
87. The poetic rhythm in reading the comic verse
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
is ensured by
1 beating the rhythm.
2 falling into a sing-song pattern.
3 strict alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line
of the verse.
4 the musical quality of the verse determined by the use of certain
phonetic stylistic devices in it.
88. A stable tendency towards a monotone, a characteristic prosodic
feature in verse recitations, is created by
l the use of a low-level tone.
2 a combination of prosodic components (pitch, loudness, tempo).
3 the use of a mid-level tone.
4 the prosodic aspect of rhythm.
89. The rhythmic organization of verse recitations at the prosodic level
(as opposed to that of prose reading) is characterized by
1simple intonation contours, often with the stepping head and
the falling nuclear tone.
2 comparatively slow tempo.
3 decentralized stress organization.
4 the isochronic recurrence of stressed syllables (rhythmic units).
90. The reading of the poetic lines
0, my love is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
0, my love is like the melodie,
That's sweetly play’d in tune.
(R. Burns. A Red, Red Rose)
reveals the prosodic aspect of their stable rhythmicality achieved by
1 the use of lexical and syntactic stylistic devices.
2 the organization of strict rhythmic patterns and their strict recurrence.
3 the use of a descending bow-shaped melody contour with a gently
sloping falling nuclear tone .
4 the effect of stable rhythmic units represented by the lines.