REVIEW FOR MIDTERM

The midterm has 3 parts:

Part 1: Minimal pairs
Part 2: Short phrases and sentences
Part 3: Short paragraphs
An additional part of open-ended questions such as What kind of music do you like? is to help the
judges decide your final score (i.e. round up or round down), so make sure you control your speech in
this part.

The words tested will be from the following list:

1/ Difficult words from the listening practices.
2/ Minimal pairs in the book
3/ Words ending in tion, -sion, and ssion

4/ Learn the pronunciation of the following words

/e/ said as in bed
said, says, ate, any, head, lead (noun), read (past tense verb),thread, (in)stead, dread, bread,
breadth, meadow, measure, jealous, cleanse, weapon, breath, leaven, heaven, heather, leather, feather,
weather, realm, meant, bury, lieutenant (= lef-), leopard, jeopardy, Geoffrey, leisure, heifer, friend.
// said as in sit
village (and, in general, most words ending -age, e.g. advantage, average, cabbage, damage, garage [British
English], message, passage), knowledge, women (both vowels), minute (noun), busy, business, captain, forfeit,
biscuit, circuit, sovereign, challenge, purchase, solace, determine, urine, doctrine,
intestine, discipline, hypocrite, promise, abyss, analytic, pyramid, sieve, anemone, breeches.
// said as in cup
The letter o so frequently has this sound that it is almost an ambiguous vowel rather than an illogical one.
Examples are ton, won, son, front, stomach, other, oven, cover, monk, monkey (but not donkey!), money,
monetary, month, mother, among, (ac)company (but not companion!), accomplish, accomplice, covenant, come,
some, comfort(able), compass, London, onion, worry, wonder(ful), constable, sponge, love, dove, done, does.
Other notable words are southern, flourish, touch, double, trouble, cucumber, rough, tough, slough, enough,
hiccough, blood, flood.
// said as in boss
because, gone, scone, trough, cough, shoulder, mould, knowledge, yacht, blancmange, exalt, halt, halter,
salt(y), what, was, wallet, wand, wander, want, wanton, warrior, wash, watch, warrant, swan, swap, swat,
quaff, quality, quantity, qualify, quantify, quagmire, quandary, quash, quarrel, squander, squash, squat,
squalid, fianc.
.

/e/ said as in care or hair

pear, bear, tear, wear, vary, variable, parents, area, malaria, scarce, their, there, where, heir (silent h),
mayor, prayer.
/:/ said as in born or lawn or roar or taut
August, automatic, all (and most other -all words like ball, call, small but not shall), alter, altar, alternative,
almighty, almost, almanac, although, walk, stalk, talk, war, ward, warm, warn, wart, towards, warble,
swarm, water, wharf, quart, quarter, four, pour, your, court, mourn, tournament, door, poor, floor, boor,
caught, taught, naught(y), haughty, daughter, distraught, ought, thought, fought.
/a:/ said as in harm
are, ask, cask, grasp, clasp, mask, clerk, heart, aunt, cant, chant, slant, grant, father, lather, rather, example,
half, alms, balm(y), calm, palm, qualm, psalm, laugh(ter), castle, glass, massage, sabotage, garage (American
English), mirage, moustache.
.
/u:/ said as in tooth or blue or blew
do, to, who, shoe, tomb, move, prove, lose, wound (= injure), lieu , fruit, suit(able), juice, sluice, bruise, cruise.
/e/ said as in hate or rain or may
alien, ache, they, whey, vein, great, break, steak, eight, weigh, neigh, deign, feign, reign, fete, bidet, cachet,
ricochet, ballet, bouquet, chalet, tourniquet, gauge, bass, plague, vague.
(j) Other Illogical Spellings
(/i:/ normal spellings = sees ease these piece) thesis, bidet, criteria, bacteria, stereo, people, quay, key,
simile, receipt, police; marine (// as in boat low hoe go) sloth, solar, sew, beau, mauve, brooch,
soul; (/ju:/ as in due few too) beauty, feud, queue; (// as in hat) plait; (// as in book put) woman,
should, could, would, bosom; (/a/ as in bite light my dye die) buy, aye, diet, lichen, either, guide,
height, island, viscount, indict; (//as in here pier fear beer) idea, weir, weird, query; (//as in fir fur
her) word, world, worm, worse, worth(y), heard, pearl, earn, learn, rehearse, gourd, scourge; (/au/ as
in now foul) plough.