A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English (36 page)

1.7. Nucleus and tone units

Sections 36–37

Task **

1.
| My only sister is married to an ac
count
ant. |

2.
| Would you give me the
bott
le opener, please. |

3.
| Shirley was watching a film by Alfred
Hitch
cock, | the master of sus
pense
. |

4.
| Hurricane Freddy swept across Indo
ne
sia last night | and is now heading for Ja
pan
. |

5.
| Although the war has been over for
years
, | there are still occasional clashes along the
bor
der. |

6.
| The new car model comes in four
co
lours: |
red
, | dark
blue
, |
grey
| and
white
. |

7.
| Driving on the
left
-hand side | is something most people get used to in no time at
all
. |

8.
| I haven’t got the faintest
idea
| if the evidence given by
Ka
ren | will prove her
in
nocence. |

9.
| Either your informant is completely ignorant of the
facts
| or he is deliberately de
cei
ving us, | which is even
worse
. |

10.
| In contrast with conventional
wis
dom, | forests in northern countries are ex
pan
ding | rather than
shrin
king. |

11.
| The politician said he wasn’t involved in the
co
ver-up | but he
was
, | as appeared from an incriminating
do
cument | found in the flat of his former
mis
tress. |

12.
| For Christ’s
sake
, | why couldn’t you behave
pro
perly | in the company of such distinguished
guests
, | whose only
fault
was | that their English sounded slightly
pom
pous? |

1.8. Tones

Sections 38–42

Task one **

1.
rise: | Are any of these titles still a
vail
able? |

2.
fall: | Don’t lean too far out of the
win
dow. |

3.
fall-rise: | I don’t want to spend
ALL
my dollars. |

4.
fall: | How many passengers survived the
plane
crash? |

5.
rise: | You’ve seen some of these films be
fore
? |

6.
fall: | George Stephenson was the inventor of the
steam
engine. |

7.
fall-rise: | In terms of profita
bi
lity |

fall: | the current year has been quite ex
cep
tional. |

8.
fall: | Why didn’t you turn up at the
mee
ting |

rise: | because you had over
slept
again? |

9.
fall-rise: |
Tech
nically speaking |

fall: | these devices are extremely so
phis
ticated. |

10.
(fall-)rise: | If you haven’t got enough time
now
|

fall: | you can write those letters to
mor
row. |

11.
fall-rise: | Edith may not be a very good
cook
|

fall: | she knows at least how to appreciate good
food
. |

12.
fall: | There’s a wide choice of
cheese
here |

rise: |
Ched
dar |

rise: |
Stil
ton |

rise: |
Cam
embert |

rise: | Gorgon
zol
a |

fall: | and Danish
blue
. |

Task two (suggested answers) ***

1.
fall: | Members of the
ju
ry |

fall: | I thank you for your attention during this
tri
al. |

rise: | Please pay at
ten
tion |

fall: | to the instructions I am about to
give
you. |

(fall-)rise: | Henry
John
son |

rise: | the defendant in this
case
|

rise: | has been accused of the crimes of First Degree Murder with a
Fire
arm |

fall: | and Aggravated As
sault
with a Firearm. |

rise: | In this
case
|

fall: | Henry Johnson is accused of First Degree Murder with a
Fire
arm. |

rise: | Murder in the
First
Degree |

rise: | includes the lesser crimes of Murder in the
Se
cond Degree |

rise: | Murder in the
Third
Degree |

fall: | and
Man
slaughter, |

fall: | all of which are un
law
ful. |

rise: | If you find Mr. Peter Smith was killed by Henry
John
son |

rise: | you will then consider the circumstances sur
roun
ding the killing |

rise: | in deciding if the killing was
First
Degree Murder |

rise: |
Se
cond Degree Murder |

rise: |
Third
Degree Murder |

fall: | or
Man
slaughter. |

UNIT TWO

Emotion

2.1. Emotive emphasis in speech 1

Sections 298–301; 528

Task one *

Interjections: 1.
well
;
why

2.
Christ
;
oh

Exclamations: 1.
How brave … at home!

Emphatic so/such: 1.
such

Other emotive elements: 2.
goddamned
;
the hell

Repetition: 1.
Down, down, down
.

2.
fought
(= echo);

We were … we were … and we …
(= structural parallelism for rhetorical effect);

wider and wider
;

a fight, an actual fight
;

You were great. You were fantastic. You really were ……. You were great
!

Nuclear stress on certain words: 1.
nothing
(?);
anything
(?);
never

2.
really
;
she

(Note exclamation marks)

Task two (suggested answers) *

1.
John Thaw was SUCH a brilliant actor.

2.
WHAT A beautiful tie you’re wearing!

3.
That was an awful thing to say…… AN AWFUL THING …… REALLY AWFUL.

4.
HOW stupid of you to insult the ambassador like that!

5.
I’m really disappointed ………. DISAPPOINTED ………… REALLY DISAPPOINTED now.

6.
The lounge is SO elegantly decorated.

7.
It would be far better ……… FAR, FAR BETTER to ignore that man altogether ……….. IGNORE HIM.

8.
When I came back, I felt SO exhausted.

9.
HOW SUDDENLY Joan’s mood changed again!

10.
The Wilsons are SUCH nice people.

11.
WHAT a charming hostess Olive can be!

12.
A bedbug ………… A BEDBUG ……….. is a tiny ……….. TINY ………. TINY creature.

Task three **

Task four **

1. utterly; 2. tremendous/great; 3. absolute; 4. definitely; 5. gorgeous; 6. literally; 7. horrendous; 8. raving; 9. terribly; 10. really; 11. great/tremendous; 12. indeed

2.2. Emotive emphasis in speech 2

Sections 302–305; 417

Task one **

1. at all; 2. on earth/in heaven’s name; 3. a bit; 4. a wink; 5. ever; 6. in heaven’s name/on earth; 7. whatever; 8. a thing; 9. by any means; 10. a fig

Task two *

1.
NEVER HAD I met the Sultan of Brunei before.

2.
BY NO MEANS IS IT clear that the United States will sign the agreement.

3.
NOWHERE ELSE ARE these magnificent flowers to be found.

4.
NOT A SINGLE INSURGENT’S LIFE WILL the harsh ruler spare.

5.
IN NO WAY SHOULD WE lend credibility to the witness’s account of the facts.

6.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER WILL I support Mr Barlow.

7.
NOT UNTIL AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR DID British women get the vote.

8.
NOT ONLY DID this evil man murder his wife, he also mutilated her body.

Task three ***