英语听力精选进阶版 7943

Programme Summary 节目梗概

This week's question comes from Andy in Haikou, who asks why the word 'have' in the phrase 'I have' often sounds like a whisper, or is said very fast.

Often in English two words get run together.

We call this contraction¹.

It happens a lot with words like am, have, would and will. For example:

I have         I've

I would        I'd

You will       You'll

The reason we do this is because it sounds more natural.

Sometimes we even put three words together, like this:

Would not have     Wouldn’t’ve

I would have       I’d’ve

Contraction happens very often in spoken English, but there are two kinds of situations in which you don't contract:

1) When you want to emphasise² something, for example:

Waiter: You haven't paid yet, have you?

Customer: Excuse me, I have paid.

In this example, the waiter thinks that a customer has not paid their bill yet. The customer replies, emphasising the word 'have' to make it clear that they 'have' already paid.

2) When you are writing formally.

For example, in a business letter you would write:

I would like to order 1,000 diamond rings.

NOT

I'd like to order 1,000 diamond rings.

Glossary 词汇

whisper

悄悄话

run together

把（两个词）连在一起；混合

contraction

缩写

emphasise

强调

writing formally

正式书写

business letter

商务函件

diamond rings

1 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

2 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。