Paragraphs

When we write, we use sentences to separate ideas. If we use a lot of sentences, we need to use paragraphs to put similar ideas together. For example, look at the information below about a person. It has four paragraphs, and each one is about a different part of Martin's life:

1 Martin's early life and education

2 His university years

3 His job at Oxford and life in England

4 His wife and family

Martin Robertson was born in 1974 in Washington. He lived with his family - his parents and two sisters - in a large town house near the centre of the city. He went to the local elementary school and junior high school.

I 2 j When Martin was 19, lie went to Yale University. He studied American and British

literature, and he got a very good degree. He stayed at the university to do some research, and he left in 1998.

After a few months, Martin left rhe USA and took a job at Oxford University, England, as a lecturer in American literature. He has written three books and he is now ver)' well- known. He is still at Oxford University and he plans to stay there.

During Martins years at Yale, he met Annabel. Annabel decided to come to England with Martin and they got married in 2000. They had their first child, a daughter, in 2003 and their second, a son. in 2005.


Pronunciation bank


 

 


Part 1 IEnglish phonemes

Part 2 ISound-spelling correspondences


 

 


Consonants

Symbol Key word Symbol Key word
P park s sell
b bath z
t tie J fresh
d die measure
к cat h hot
give m mine
tJ church n not
d3 judge П sing
f few lot
V visit r road
throw j yellow
d they w warm
Vowels    
Symbol Key word Symbol Key word
i: feet au gold
i Rt ai by
e bed au brown
X bad Э1 boy
a: bath id here
D bottle еэ hair
y. bought оэ sure
и book eia player
u: boot эиэ lower
л but aia tired
з: bird аоэ flower
э brother Día employer
ei grey i happy

 

^JP

In English, we can spell the same sound in different ways, for example, the sound /i:/ can be 'ее', as in green, *ea' as in read or 'ey' as in key. Students of English sometimes find English spelling difficult, but there are rules and knowing the rules can help you. The chart below gives you the more common spellings of the English sounds you have studied in this book.

Sound Spelling Examples
  i this listen
hi У gym typical
! 4 ui build guitar
  е pretty
  ее green sleep
  ie niece believe
  ea read teacher
/i:/ е these complete
  еу key money
  ei receipt receive
  i police
/ае/ a can man pasta land
  a can't dance*
  ar scarf bargain
/а:/ al half
  au aunt laugh
  ea heart
  u fun sunny husband
/л/ some mother month
  ou cousin double young
/о/ hot pocket top
  a watch what want
  or short sport store
  ou your course bought
  au daughter taught
м al bald small always
  aw draw jigsaw
  ar warden warm
  floor indoor
  i like time island
  У dry shy cycle
  ie fries die tie
/ai/ igh light high right
  ei height
  ey eyes
  uy buy
  a lake hate shave
  ai wait train straight
/ei/ ay play say stay
  ey they grey obey
  ei eight weight
  ea break
  home phone open
К.,/ ow show throw own
/эи/ oa coat road coast
  ol cold told
• In American English the sound in words like can't and dance is the shorter /ае/ sound, like can and man.

 

Part 3 IWeak forms


In English some words have two pronunciations - the strong form and the weak form, for example, Can (/kan/) you dance? Yes, I can (/kaen/). We usually use the weak form when the word is not stressed. Most of these words are 'grammar' words e.g. a, an.