IOE entrance English · Chapter 3
Phonetics
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37 questions in 2 syllabus topics · 10 are 2-mark questions.
3.2 Phonemes: vowels and consonants
16 questions
1. Which of the following pairs have the same initial vowel sound?
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Look for the unstressed schwa.
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Answer: A. ago, alone
Both ago /əˈɡəʊ/ and alone /əˈləʊn/ begin with the schwa /ə/. inn /ɪ/ vs eel /iː/, owl /aʊ/ vs all /ɔː/, up /ʌ/ vs on /ɒ/ differ.
2. Which of the following words begins with the voiceless dental fricative /θ/?
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Put your hand on your throat: does the 'th' vibrate?
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Answer: C. think
'think' is /θɪŋk/ with voiceless /θ/. 'this', 'then' and 'though' all begin with the voiced /ð/.
3. Which word does NOT have the same vowel sound as the other three in RP?
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Compare the length of the vowel; spelling 'oo' is not a reliable guide.
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Answer: C. good
'good' has the short vowel /ʊ/ (/ɡʊd/), while food /fuːd/, mood /muːd/ and rude /ruːd/ all have long /uː/.
4. In which word is the letter 'b' silent?
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Think of words where 'b' comes before 't' or after 'm' at the end.
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Answer: B. debt
'debt' is /det/; the 'b' is not pronounced. In rubber, number and label the 'b' is sounded.
5. Which pair is a minimal pair contrasting the vowels /ɪ/ and /iː/?
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Transcribe both words and check exactly which vowels differ.
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Answer: D. ship – sheep
A minimal pair differs in only one sound. ship /ʃɪp/ and sheep /ʃiːp/ differ only in /ɪ/ vs /iː/. The others contrast /ɪ/ with /eɪ/ or /e/.
6. The sound /ʒ/ is found in which of the following words?
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/ʒ/ is the voiced partner of /ʃ/.
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Answer: C. measure
measure is /ˈmeʒə/. mission /ˈmɪʃn/, machine /məˈʃiːn/ and pressure /ˈpreʃə/ have voiceless /ʃ/.
7. According to the standard RP description (Daniel Jones / Gimson), how many vowel phonemes (monophthongs and diphthongs together) does English have?
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Add the pure vowels and the diphthongs.
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Answer: B. 20
RP has 12 pure vowels and 8 diphthongs, i.e. 20 vowel phonemes. There are 24 consonants, giving 44 phonemes in all.
8. Which word begins with a vowel sound?
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Ignore the spelling; think of the first sound you actually say.
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Answer: B. hour
hour is /ˈaʊə/ (silent h), so it begins with a vowel sound. university and European begin with /j/, and one begins with /w/.
9. In which word is 'ch' pronounced /k/?
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Words of Greek origin often keep a /k/ for 'ch'.
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Answer: D. chemistry
chemistry is /ˈkemɪstri/. chair and cheap have /tʃ/; machine has /ʃ/.
10. In which word is the past-tense ending '-ed' pronounced /ɪd/?
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Look at the last sound of the base verb.
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Answer: D. wanted
-ed is /ɪd/ after /t/ or /d/: wanted /ˈwɒntɪd/. walked and laughed end in /t/, played in /d/.
11. Which word contains a diphthong?
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A diphthong glides from one vowel quality to another.
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Answer: C. boat
boat is /bəʊt/ with the diphthong /əʊ/. bought /bɔːt/, but /bʌt/ and boot /buːt/ have pure vowels.
12. In which word is the letter 'l' silent?
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Think of 'al' before 'm', as in palm and half.
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Answer: C. calm
calm is /kɑːm/; the 'l' is not pronounced. film, cold and milk all have a pronounced /l/.
13. Which word has the same vowel sound as 'bird' /bɜːd/?
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Say each word aloud and match only the vowel, not the spelling.
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Answer: A. word
word is /wɜːd/, with /ɜː/ as in bird. ward is /wɔːd/, weird /wɪəd/ and wired /ˈwaɪəd/.
14. The final consonant sounds of 'bath' and 'bathe' are, respectively:
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The noun and the verb differ in voicing of the final sound.
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Answer: C. /θ/ and /ð/
bath is /bɑːθ/ (voiceless /θ/) and the verb bathe is /beɪð/ (voiced /ð/).
15. In which word is the letter 's' pronounced /z/?
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Check whether the final sound is voiced.
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Answer: A. rose
rose is /rəʊz/. dose /dəʊs/, case /keɪs/ and the noun house /haʊs/ all end in voiceless /s/.
16. Which word does NOT have the same vowel sound as the other three?
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Do not trust the spelling 'ai'.
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Answer: B. paid
said /sed/, bed /bed/ and head /hed/ share /e/; paid is /peɪd/ with the diphthong /eɪ/. 'said' is the trap, since its spelling suggests /eɪ/.
3.3 Syllables and stress
21 questions
17. The word ‘procrastination’ has its stress on the ………… syllable.
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-tion words stress the syllable before -tion.
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Answer: C. 4th
pro-cras-ti-NA-tion /prəˌkræstɪˈneɪʃn/: words ending in -tion are stressed on the syllable just before the ending, which is the 4th here.
18. How many syllables are there in the word 'examination'?
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Count the vowel sounds, not the vowel letters.
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Answer: A. 5
ex-am-i-na-tion: /ɪɡˌzæmɪˈneɪʃn/ has 5 syllables.
19. On which syllable does the primary stress fall in 'electricity'?
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Recall the rule for the suffix '-ity'.
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Answer: C. third
/ɪˌlekˈtrɪsəti/: e-lec-TRI-ci-ty. Words ending in '-ity' are stressed on the syllable just before the suffix.
20. How many syllables does the word 'laughed' have?
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-ed adds a syllable only after /t/ or /d/.
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Answer: A. 1
laughed is /lɑːft/: one vowel sound, so one syllable. The -ed adds only /t/.
21. Which of these past-tense forms has TWO syllables?
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When does -ed form a separate syllable?
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Answer: C. needed
needed /ˈniːdɪd/ has two syllables because -ed after /d/ is /ɪd/. walked /wɔːkt/, played /pleɪd/ and jumped /dʒʌmpt/ are one syllable.
22. In the word 'photographer', the primary stress falls on the:
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Compare it with 'photograph', where the stress is on the first syllable.
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Answer: C. second syllable
photographer is /fəˈtɒɡrəfə/: pho-TO-gra-pher, stress on the second syllable.
23. In the word 'photographic', the primary stress falls on the:
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Use the '-ic' rule.
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Answer: A. third syllable
photographic is /ˌfəʊtəˈɡræfɪk/: pho-to-GRA-phic. Words ending in '-ic' are stressed on the syllable before the suffix.
24. Which word is stressed on the FIRST syllable?
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Say each word and listen for the louder, longer syllable.
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Answer: A. happen
happen is /ˈhæpən/. begin /bɪˈɡɪn/, forget /fəˈɡet/ and hotel /həʊˈtel/ are stressed on the second syllable.
25. Which word is stressed on the SECOND syllable?
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In three of the words the first syllable is the strong one.
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Answer: D. determine
determine is /dɪˈtɜːmɪn/. difficult /ˈdɪfɪkəlt/, character /ˈkærəktə/ and cinema /ˈsɪnəmə/ are stressed on the first syllable.
26. In which sentence is 'record' stressed on the SECOND syllable?
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Decide whether 'record' is a noun or a verb in each sentence.
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Answer: C. Please record the lecture for me.
As a verb, record is /rɪˈkɔːd/ (second-syllable stress); as a noun it is /ˈrekɔːd/. Only in 'Please record the lecture' is it a verb.
27. On which syllable is the word 'information' stressed?
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Use the '-tion' rule.
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Answer: D. third
in-for-MA-tion /ˌɪnfəˈmeɪʃn/. Words ending in '-tion' are stressed on the syllable just before it.
28. The primary stress in 'economy' and in 'economic' falls, respectively, on the:
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Adding '-ic' moves the stress to the syllable before the suffix.
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Answer: C. second and third syllables
economy /ɪˈkɒnəmi/ is stressed on the 2nd syllable; economic /ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk/ shifts the stress to the 3rd syllable, before '-ic'.
29. Which word has a different stress pattern from the other three?
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Mark the stressed syllable in each word.
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Answer: B. product
product /ˈprɒdʌkt/ is stressed on the first syllable; hotel, police and machine are stressed on the second.
30. In normal (unemphatic) English sentence stress, which kind of word is usually UNSTRESSED?
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Think of content words versus function words.
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Answer: B. articles such as 'a' and 'the'
Content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs) usually carry stress; function words such as articles, prepositions and auxiliaries are normally unstressed and often take weak forms.
31. A speaker says: "I didn't take your PEN," with strong stress on 'PEN'. What does this stress most likely suggest?
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The stressed word is the one being contrasted.
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Answer: B. I took something else of yours, not your pen.
Contrastive stress on 'PEN' contrasts the pen with some other object, implying that a different thing of yours was taken.
32. A speaker says: "I didn't take YOUR pen," with strong stress on 'YOUR'. What does this stress most likely suggest?
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Ask what 'your' is being contrasted with.
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Answer: D. I took someone else's pen.
Stress on 'YOUR' contrasts the owner: the pen taken belonged to someone other than you.
33. In ordinary connected speech, 'and' in the phrase 'bread and butter' is most commonly pronounced as:
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Unstressed function words usually reduce to a weak form with /ə/.
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Answer: B. /ən/
As an unstressed function word, 'and' takes its weak form /ən/ (or even /n/) in connected speech; /ænd/ is the strong form used only for emphasis.
34. The word 'university' has how many syllables, and which syllable carries the primary stress?
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Count the vowel sounds, then apply the '-ity' rule.
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Answer: D. 5 syllables; third
u-ni-VER-si-ty /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəti/: 5 syllables, stress on the third (the syllable before '-ity').
35. Which word is stressed on the first syllable as a noun but on the second syllable as a verb?
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Say each word in 'a ___' and 'to ___'.
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Answer: A. increase
increase: noun /ˈɪŋkriːs/, verb /ɪnˈkriːs/. promise, answer and visit are stressed on the first syllable both as nouns and as verbs.
36. In the compound noun 'blackbird' (the name of a type of bird), the main stress falls on:
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Compare 'a BLACKbird' with 'a black BIRD'.
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Answer: C. the first element, 'black'
Compound nouns are normally stressed on the first element: /ˈblækbɜːd/. In the phrase 'a black bird' (any bird that is black) the stress falls on 'bird'.
37. Which word is stressed on the THIRD syllable?
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Words ending in '-eer' take stress on that suffix.
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Answer: B. engineer
engineer /ˌendʒɪˈnɪə/ is stressed on the final '-eer' syllable (the third). beautiful is stressed on the first; computer and important on the second.