Text 14 How to be an alien

I believe, without undue modesty, that I have certain qualifications to write on “how to be an alien.” I am an alien myself. What is more, I have been an alien all my life. Only during the first twenty-six years of my life I was not aware of this plain fact. I was living in my own country, a country full of aliens, and I noticed nothing particular or irregular about myself; then I came to England, and you can imagine my painful surprise. Like all great and important discoveries it was a matter of a few seconds. It was like this. Some years ago I spent a lot of time with a young lady who was very proud and conscious of being English. Once she asked me – to my great surprise – whether I would marry her. “No,” I replied, “I will not. My mother would never agree to my marrying a foreigner.” She looked at me a little surprised and irritated, and retorted: “I, a foreigner? What a silly thing to say! I am English. You are the foreigner. And your mother, too.” I did not give in. “In Budapest, too? I asked her. “Everywhere,” she declared with determination. “Truth does not depend on geography. What is true in England is also true in Hungary and in North Borneo and Venezuela and everywhere.” I saw that this theory was as irrefutable as it was simple. I was startled and upset. Mainly because of my mother whom I loved and respect. Now, I suddenly learned what she really was. It was a shame and bad taste to be an alien, and it is no use pretending otherwise. There is no way out of it. A criminal may improve and became a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him. He may become British; he can never become English.

I, a foreigner? (this question is very emotional, that’s why the most typical tone to be used here is the high emphatic falling tone to express speaker’s emotional attitude.)

What a silly thing to say! (this utterance is emotionally colored and the speaker’s attitude is rather energetic and enthusiastic, that’s why the High emphatic falling tone together with the scandent head is suitable in this case to show this expressiveness.)

Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. (this utterance represents a combined tune consisting of 2 adjacent intonation groupswhich are in relations of mutual dependence, which means that both the groups are independent. The most typical tone sequence is the opposite direction of tones. First part is usually mid wide rise, the second one – high fall, because such phrases usually express contrast.)

Qualifications - a compound word, which in English is usually pronounced with 2 stresses, secondary and primary, so the main stress is put to the 2 syllable from the end. Because words ending in –ation, -ic, -ive, usually have such stress pattern.

Twenty six - a composite word, a numeral, which in English usually have 2 primary stresses. But in speech one of the stresses may be lost due to the rhythmic structure of the phrase.

Give in - it’s so called ‘false’ composite word, because it’s actually a phrasal verb. In English such examples are pronounced with two primary stresses. Besides, in speech one of the stresses may be lost due to the rhythmic structure of the phrase. So here the first word, the verb takes the full stress as it’s the first notional word in the utterance.

Text 15 From “a woman of substance”

Satisfied that the papers were in order, Emma put the folder and her glasses in her briefcase, settled back in her seat, and sipped the cup of coffee. After a few seconds she addressed to Paula. “Now that you have been to several Sitex meetings, do you think you can cope alone soon?” Paula glanced up from the balance sheets, a look of astonishment crossing her face. “You wouldn’t send me in there alone!” she exclaimed. “It would be like sending a lamb to the slaughter. You wouldn’t do that to me yet.” As she regarded her grandmother she recognized that familiar inscrutable expression for what it truly was, a mask to hide Emma’s ruthless determination. My God, she does mean it, Paula thought with a sinking feeling, but nevertheless she asked somewhat tremulously, “You’re not really serious, are you, Grandmother?” “Of course I’m serious!” A flicker of annoyance crossed Emma’s face. She was surprised at the girl’s unexpected but unequivocal nervousness, for Paula was accustomed to high-powered negotiations and has always displayed nerve and shrewdness. “Do I ever say anything I don’t mean? You know better than that, Paula,” she said sternly. Paula was silent and, in that split second of silence, Emma became conscious of her tenseness, the startled expression that lingered on her face. Is she afraid? Emma wondered. Surely not. She was had never displayed fear before. Or was she? This chilling possibility penetrated Emma’s cold and brilliant mind like a steel blade and it was so unacceptable she refused to contemplate it. She decided that Paula had simply been disturbed by meeting, perhaps more so than she had shown.

You wouldn’t send me in there alone! ( this utterance is emotionally colored and the speaker’s attitude is quite negative, that’s why the scandent head is suitable in this case to show this expressiveness .)

Of course I’m serious! ( this utterance is emotionally colored and the speaker’s attitude is rather energetic and enthusiastic, that’s why the High emphatic falling tone together with the scandent head is suitable in this case to show this expressiveness .)

She decided that Paula had simply been disturbed by meeting, perhaps more than she had shown. ( this utterance represents a combined tune consisting of 2 adjacent intonation groups which are in coordinative relations which means their equal semantic importance. The most typical tone sequence of coordination is reduplication of tones. In this case we’ve used 2 High Falling Tones as it’s a straight-forward statement and the speakers attitude is neutral. )