PRACTICE MATERIAL FOR BREATHING AND PHRASING

Read the following passages and mark in where you intend to breathe. Test your practical accomplishment in breathing by varying the length of phrase. Whisper them through first, then speak them with appropriate variations of pitch, pace and volume.

The wind stung them as they walked out of the hotel into the biting air. This was not a day for dallying and they set off, at a brisk pace, crunching their heels into the packed snow. The park was only a few hundred yards away, and as they passed through the huge iron gates they saw children of all sorts of shapes and sizes skating on the pond. With their scarves wrapped round them they looked like a vast gathering of mobile barrels with legs. There was a lot of noise and it cut through the wintry air with a keenness like the frost. James began to hurry, clinging to the hand of his little girl, and they whooped, whistled and laughed as they half ran, half slid towards the pond. At the edge the pair of them stopped with that instinctive caution reserved for first steps on to ice. Tentatively each put a foot forward and, in spite of the fact that there were hundreds on there skating and sliding already, they pressed on to the ice and established its security, before totally committing themselves to the frozen water. Once that ritual was over they parted hands and began to walk round the pond with heavy feet, almost as if they were trying to burn their footprints into it. Ice is not to be walked on, and before long, the two of them were in the middle sliding and slipping and, needless to say, falling on the vast wet, shiny January miracle.

The firm, slow beat of the drums, the creaking of the soaking planks of the ship and the steady rhythmic lap of the sea against the vessel, were the only things to be heard.

The Captain listened to the silence and clenched his telescope in his hands with a firmness that expressed his anxiety, but also the thrill that he felt as he saw the enemy sailing towards them. The gunners were all loyal, and well trained men. They had been with him before when, with his usual combination of impudence and cunning, he had scuttled other wayward galleons unfortunate enough to come within firing range. The gulls circled above, reminding him of the nearness of the enemy coastline and he knew he was taking a great risk. From somewhere below he heard the buzz of conversation as everything was set ready for his command to fire.

The pace of the game was fierce. Every spectator in the stands knew that these were the last few minutes and the players sensed it. They were all making a determined effort to win the day. The ball was passed down the right wing and O'Keefe took it deftly; he turned and began to run down towards the enemy's net. He neatly ducked and avoided the desperate tackle of his red-shirted opponent and started to veer in towards the centre. In front of him he saw a cluster of three men converging on him and he realised he would lose the ball. He clung to it for a fraction of a second and then kicked, lobbing the ball over the heads of the three. It bounced where he had hoped and Marsh ran in to settle it with his body. It bounced again and then Marsh smashed it with his right foot and the crowd roared and screamed and sang. Their hero had done it again and they yelled their passionate anthem to him with all the fervour of a nation victorious in war. The turf seemed greener, the weather seemed finer, the players were giants, not men!

'It's about time we were moving,' she said, leaning over and picking her shopping bag up from the floor. Some of the crumpled magazines fell from the bag, but she just cursed and gave the dog a push with her foot. Slowly she hauled herself to her feet, feeling a little better for the rest, and ambled off in the direction of the church. The sad, wiry animal yawned and heaved itself off in the direction of his slowly disappearing mistress. She turned and shouted, 'Rusty!' and the dog moved a little faster. The leaves were blowing down the gutters and the air was fresh. It stung her face. She gazed into theshops and caught the whiff of bread, freshly brought from the oven, in the baker's across the road. Her hands involuntarily rummaged in her pockets for money but there was nothing except a foreign coin which she'd found some three months before.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 726