大家再来做一个小练习：

I said she might consider a new haircut.

Say the sentence aloud using the stressed word marked in bold. Once you have spoken the sentence a few times, match the sentence version to the meaning below.

1. I said she might consider a new haircut.

2. I said she might consider a new haircut.

3. I said she might consider a new haircut.

4. I said she might consider a new haircut.

5. I said she might consider a new haircut.

6. I said she might consider a new haircut.

7. I said she might consider a new haircut.

Not just a haircut.

It’s a possibility.

It was my idea.

Not something else.

Don’t you understand me?

Not another person.

She should think about it, it’s a good idea.

大家做完了吗？对一下答案吧！

然后再读一遍，看看 有没有语感。 

1. I said she might consider a new haircut.

It was my idea.

2. I said she might consider a new haircut.

Don’t you understand me?

3. I said she might consider a new haircut.

Not another person.

4. I said she might consider a new haircut.

It’s a possibility.

5. I said she might consider a new haircut.

She should think about it. It’s a good idea.

6. I said she might consider a new haircut.

Not just a haircut.

7. I said she might consider a new haircut.

Not something else.

第二个方面就是句子语调。句子语调是口音好坏的非常重要的一个方面。句子语调其实和单词重音是相结合的。大家来看看美国教授的一段文字：

Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes.

The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.

Time required? Probably about 5 seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud.

He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn’t have to do any homework in the evening.

Time required? Probably about 5 seconds.

Wait a minute. The first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence!

The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.

He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn’t have to do any homework in the evening.

You are only partially right!

This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered as a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length). Many speakers of syllabic languages don’t understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words.