Владимир Аракин - Практический курс английского языка 1 курс

Parentheses at the End or in the Middle of the Sentence.

M o d e l : I'm Vnot 'good at v languages, you know.

You 7know, of course, | he's my ^brother.

In the middle or at the end of the sentence parenthetical words and phrases

are generally pronounced as the unstressed of half stressed tail of the preceding

intonation-group.

EXERCISES

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

attention on the intonation of the parentheses at the end of an intonation-group;

Verbal Context

Drill

I wish I had your gift for languages.

Well, I don't think I should call it a gift. Where there's a will there's a way,

you know.

How are you two getting on?

Not very well. I think I'm going to leave it to Robert, after

all.

By the way, did you hear "Carmen" the other night?

We shall go to the sea, I expect. What about horse-racing?

What are you doing?

Yes, I did, fortunately for me, it was a translated version. I'm not good at

languages, you know.

Leaving the rest of the family behind, I suppose? I should say that is one of

the most popular sports in Great Britain. Then there are, of course, walking

races, running, swimming and boxing.

We shall go to the sea, I expect.

b) Listen to the replies and repeat them in the intervals. Have no pause before the

parentheses. Pronounce them as unstressed or partially stressed tails of the preceding

intonation-groups, c) Listen to the verbal context and reply in the interval, d) In order

to fix the intonation of the parentheses at the end of an intonation-group in your mind,

ear and speech habits repeat the replies yourself until they sound perfectly natural to

you. e) Listen to your fellow-student reading the replies. Tell him what his errors in

intonation are.

9. Read the following sentences according to the model given above. Use

them in conversational situations:

1. A walking holiday depends upon the weather, of course. 2. You were badly

ill then, as far as I remember. 3. A cowardly thing to do, I call it. 4. Tastes differ,

you know. 5. They are geologists, as you know. 6. So you didn't have any rest, in

fact. 7. Had a nice rest in the South, too, I guess? 8. Our time is up, I'm afraid. 9.

Jane doesn't make up, I am sure. 10. Just the same, so far. 11,1 feel bad, indeed.

10.

Make up sentences using the following parenthetical words and phrases at the

end of them. Use them in conversational situations:

1...., of course. 2..................anyhow. 3...., at least. 4....................I'm sure.

5...., I hope. 6. ..., I believe. 7.as far as I know. 8............................I think.

9. ... , I presume. 10.................. you know. 11. ... , I suppose.

12.I'm afraid. 13....(I guess. 14.so far. 15............................in fact.

11. Give your own examples with parentheses at the end of the sentences.

12. *** This exercise is meant to develop your ability to hear intonation

and reproduce it in proper conversational situations, a) Listen to the

dialogue "Planning a Holiday" sentence by sentence. Write it down. Mark

the stresses and tunes. Practise the dialogue, b) Record your reading. Play

the recording back immediately for your teacher and fellow-students to

detect the possible errors. Practise the dialogue for test reading. Memorize

the dialogue, c) Pick out sentences and intonation-groups containing

parentheses, d) Give conversational situations with the phrases below:

1. I say, ... . 2. Well, I don't know. 3............... I expect. 4. Oh( yes.

5. anyhow. 6. .... I suppose. 7............. as a rule. 8. On the whole,

... . 9. However, ... . 10. For my own part, .... 11. Right, I will.

e) Make up a conversation with the phrases from the dialogue "Planning a Holiday".

13. Translate the following sentences into English; read them following the intonation

patterns of the dialogue:

1. Что ты собираешься делать в каникулы в этом году? —- Мы поедем на юг, я

думаю. 2. Что ты читаешь, как правило? 3. Что касается меня, то мне это нравится. 4. В

це ом, я согласен с вами 5. Я люблю шить, однако на это уходит много времени. 6.

Послушай, что ты делаешь сегодня вечером? 7. Во всяком случае, я предпочитаю

остаться дома.

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