标准美语发音的13个秘诀 CD 4 Track 11

 

Exercise 7-1 : The Throng¹ of Thermometers    CD 4 Track 11

I'm going to read the following paragraph once straight through, so you can hear that no matter how fast I read it, all the THs are still there. It is a distinctive² sound, but, when you repeat it, don't put too much effort into it. Listen to my reading.

The throng of thermometers from the Thuringian Thermometer Folks arrived on Thursday. There were a thousand thirty-three thick thermometers, though, instead of a thousand thirty-six thin thermometers, which was three thermometers fewer than the thousand thirty-six we were expecting, not to mention that they were thick ones rather than thin ones. We thoroughly thought that we had ordered a thousand thirty-six, not a thousand thirty-three, thermometers, and asked the Thuringian Thermometer Folks to reship the thermometers; thin, not thick. They apologized for sending only a thousand thirty-three thermometers rather than a thousand thirtysix and promised to replace the thick thermometers withthin thermometers. th= voiced (17) th= unvoiced (44)

Run Them All Together [runnemälld'gether] 

As I was reading, I hope youheard that in a lot of places, the words ran together, such as in rather than. You don't have to go way out of your way to make a huge new sound, but rather create a smooth flowing from oneTH to the next by leaving your tongue in an anticipatory position.

As mentioned before (see Liaisons³, page 63), whena word ends in TH and the next word starts with a sound from behind the teeth, a combination or composite sound isformed, because you are anticipating the combination. For example: with-lemon; not with lemon.

Anticipating the Next Word 

The anticipation⁴ of each following sound brings meto the subject that most students raise at some point—one that explains their resistance to whollyembracingliaisons and general fluency⁵. People feel that because English is not their native tongue, they can't anticipate the next sound because they never know what the next word is going to be.

Accurate or not, for the sake of argument, let's say that you do construct sentences entirely⁶ word by word. This is where those pauses that we studied come in handy. During your pause, line up in your head all the words you want to use in order to communicate your thought, and then push them out in groups. If you find yourself slowing down and talking...word...by...word, back up and take a running leap at a whole string of words.

Now, take out your little mirror again. You need it for the last exercise in this chapter, which follows.

1 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

2 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

3 liaisons   

n.联络( liaison的名词复数 )；联络人；（尤指一方或双方已婚的）私通；组织单位间的交流与合作

参考例句：

• She embarked on a series of sexual liaisons with society figures. 她开始接二连三地与社会名流有染。 来自辞典例句
• One of Wentworth's favorite movies is Dangerous Liaisons. went最喜欢的电影之一是《危险关系》。 来自互联网

4 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

5 fluency   

n.流畅，雄辩，善辩

参考例句：

• More practice will make you speak with greater fluency.多练习就可以使你的口语更流利。
• Some young children achieve great fluency in their reading.一些孩子小小年纪阅读已经非常流畅。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。