1. In connected speech, when does 'assimilation′ typically occur?
A. When speaking slowly and deliberately.
B. When a sound changes to become more similar to a nearby sound.
C. When words are spoken in isolation.
D. When emphasizing specific words in a sentence.
2. Identify the word where the underlined letters are pronounced as a silent 'b′.
A. bomb<∕u>er
B. numb<∕u>er
C. climb<∕u>
D. bamboo
3. What is the primary difference between a phoneme and an allophone?
A. A phoneme is a unit of meaning, while an allophone is a unit of sound.
B. A phoneme is a basic sound unit that distinguishes meaning, and allophones are variations of a phoneme.
C. A phoneme is used in writing, while an allophone is used in speech.
D. There is no difference; they are interchangeable terms.
4. What is the function of the 'schwa′ sound ∕ə∕ in English?
A. It is always stressed and clear.
B. It is the strongest vowel sound.
C. It is a weak, unstressed vowel sound.
D. It only appears at the end of words.
5. Which of these words has a different ending sound from the others?
A. dogs
B. cats
C. books
D. birds
6. Which of these words demonstrates 'consonant cluster reduction′ in rapid speech?
A. strength (pronounced fully)
B. texts (pronounced as 'tex′)
C. please (pronounced fully)
D. dream (pronounced fully)
7. What is the phonetic symbol for the vowel sound in 'bird′?
A. ∕ɜː∕
B. ∕ɪ∕
C. ∕ə∕
D. ∕e∕
8. Which of the following sentences demonstrates correct sentence stress?
A. I WANT to go HOME.
B. I want TO go home.
C. I want to GO home.
D. I want to go HOME.
9. Identify the word that does NOT contain the vowel sound ∕ʊ∕ (as in 'book′).
A. put
B. food
C. wood
D. could
10. Which of the following is an example of a weak form in English?
A. 'CAN you help me?' (stressed 'can′)
B. Can you help ME? (stressed 'me′)
C. Can you help me? (unstressed 'can′)
D. 'CANNOT help me.' (stressed 'cannot′)
11. Identify the word that has a different vowel sound in the underlined part compared to the others.
A. bea<∕u>t
B. see<∕u>
C. fee<∕u>t
D. brea<∕u>d
12. Identify the word where the 'ea′ is pronounced as ∕e∕ (as in 'bed′).
A. sea
B. meat
C. bread
D. tea
13. What is the phonetic transcription for the word 'thought′?
A. ∕θɔːt∕
B. ∕θʌt∕
C. ∕tɔːt∕
D. ∕tʌt∕
14. Which of the following words contains a diphthong?
A. ship
B. train
C. bed
D. cup
15. Identify the sentence with a rising intonation at the end.
A. What time is it?
B. I am going to the store.
C. Are you coming with me?
D. That′s a nice car.
16. What is 'elision′ in phonetics?
A. The addition of extra sounds to words.
B. The omission of sounds in words.
C. The change in vowel sounds.
D. The movement of stress in a word.
17. Which of these words contains a silent letter?
A. strong
B. knife
C. plant
D. drink
18. Which of these consonant sounds is voiced?
A. ∕p∕
B. ∕t∕
C. ∕k∕
D. ∕b∕
19. Which of the following words is an example of a 'content word′ that typically receives stress in a sentence?
A. the
B. and
C. happy
D. is
20. Select the pair of words that are minimal pairs.
A. ship and sheep
B. tree and three
C. pen and pan
D. late and lake
21. Which of these describes 'stress-timed rhythm′ in English?
A. Each syllable takes roughly the same amount of time.
B. Stressed syllables occur at roughly equal intervals of time, regardless of the number of unstressed syllables.
C. Rhythm is determined by the number of words in a sentence.
D. Only stressed syllables are pronounced.
22. Identify the word where the underlined part is pronounced as ∕θ∕ (as in 'thin′).
A. fath<∕u>er
B. th<∕u>ese
C. th<∕u>rough
D. smooth<∕u>
23. Select the word with the strongest stress on the first syllable.
A. permit (verb)
B. record (noun)
C. protest (verb)
D. object (verb)
24. In which word is the stress placed on the second syllable?
A. 'photograph
B. e′vent
C. 'garden
D. 'window
25. In which word does the 'ch′ sound like ∕ʃ∕ (as in 'ship′)?
A. chair
B. school
C. machine
D. church
26. What is the function of intonation in spoken English?
A. To indicate word stress.
B. To show grammatical structure only.
C. To convey emotions and attitudes.
D. To separate words from each other.
27. Which of the following words has the ∕ʒ∕ sound (as in 'measure′)?
A. vision
B. music
C. castle
D. chair
28. In which of these words is the 'g′ pronounced as ∕dʒ∕ (like in 'judge′)?
A. give
B. ghost
C. giant
D. glass
29. What is 'linking′ in connected speech?
A. Speaking each word very clearly and separately.
B. Joining words together smoothly without pauses.
C. Omitting sounds at the end of words.
D. Adding extra sounds between words.
30. Which of the following is an example of 'vowel reduction′ in unstressed syllables?
A. photo (pronounced with full vowels)
B. photography (second 'o′ reduced to schwa)
C. photograph (pronounced with full vowels)
D. photos (pronounced with full vowels)
