Make an accentual-tonetic analysis of the following extract. Practise its expressive reading.
Reading Passage: AIDS
1 A communicable disease spreads when pathogens go from a person who is ill to one who is not. 2 There are hundreds of serious communicable diseases.
3 Some communicable diseases are transmitted, or passed, by intimate sexual contact, they are called sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). 4 Most STDs are caused by specific viruses and bacteria. 5 STDs are a serious health problem, because they can cause pain, suffering, or even death. 6 AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 7 It is a fatal STD caused by a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can damage the brain and destroy the body’s ability to fight off other diseases. 8 HIV does not kill by itself, it weakens the body’s immune system. 9 Then when the other pathogens infect the body, the diseases they cause are not resisted. 10 The result is AIDS. 11 People with AIDS often die of infections the healthy people do not get.
Pronunciation Points to be Checked
#
Features of pronunciation
Examples
Pronunciation of words and word stress
1 disease
2 hundreds
3 serious
4 transmit
5 immunodeficiency
6 specific
7 bacteria
8 syndrome
9 destroy
10 resist
Articulation of difficult sounds
/aI/: fight, die, virus
/T/: healthy, death, pathogens
/eI/: fatal, AIDS, brain, intimate, pain
/l/: kill, sexual, call, ability, result
/u:/: immune, human, communicable
Checked vocalism
infect
get
death
suffer
health
Accentual-tonetic analysis of a sentence
A comÊmunicable dis "ease spreads | when "pathogens go from a "person who is °ill | to "one who is °not Ç
3.2.
Intonation of Exclamations
Exclamations are commonly pronounced with the High Fall (either with no head or with some commonly used heads), e.g.:
Mag ènificient. (No Head)
What an ex>traodinary piece of èluck . (H.L.H.)
For exclamations which refer to something not very exciting or unexpected the low falling tone is used (either with now head or with the heads of common usage), e.g.:
>That’s °nice. (M.L.H.)
°Wonderful. (No Head)
They are also used with the Low Fall or the High Fall preceded by the High Pre-Nucleus. With all these patterns they are very emphatic and emotional, e.g.:
çWhat °nonsense.
çOh, èthere you are.
Practise the following exclamations and imitate their intonation patterns.
1. How èlate he is!
2. "What are they èdoing!
3. "What a °pity!
4. "Isn’t it °interesting!
5. èSplendid! èExcellent!
6. "Wonderful ènews!
7. "Looking for æme, Terry? – çOh èthere you are, %Peter!
8. èLook. It èworks. – "So it èdoes! How "very èodd!