你有沒有仔細想過英式英語和美式英語在單詞的發音上有哪些區別？如果單詞的拼寫相同，而在英式英語和美式英語中的重音卻不同，那么這還是同一個詞嗎？本期《英語小測驗》從單詞發音的角度幫你分辨英式英語和美式英語的區別。

1. ‘Thank you for being so hospitable!’
A British English speaker would say this with the word stress ‘hosPITable’. How would an American English speaker pronounce it?

a) HOSpitable

b) hosPITable

c) hospitAble

d) hospitABLE

2. The word 'versatile' is pronounced differently in British and American English. Which option below is correct?

a) British: /'v?:s?ta?l/
American: /'v?rs?tl/

b) British: /'v?:s?te?l/
American: /'v?rs?tl/

c) British: /'v?:s?ta?l/
American: /'v?rst?l/

d) British: /'v?:s?te?l/
American: /'v?rst?l/

3. ‘Better’, ‘water’, ‘writing’, ‘native’, ‘bottom’ and other words with a middle ‘t’ are pronounced differently in British English and American English. What is the difference?

a) British English pronounces the ‘t’ but American English does not.

b) British English pronounces the ‘t’ fully, whereas American English pronounces the ‘t’ closer to a ‘d’.

c) British English does not pronounce the ‘t’ at all, but American English does.

d) British English pronounces the t like a double /tt/ but American English only pronounces one /t/.

4. ‘Adult’, ‘ballet’, ‘brochure’, ‘garage’ – what difference in word stress, if any, exists for two syllable nouns in British and American English?

a) British English and American English stress the first syllable.

b) British English stresses the first syllable, American English stresses the second.

c) British English stresses the second syllable, American English stresses the first.

d) British English and American English stress the last syllable.

5. Globalization comes from the verb globalize (Br: /'gl??b?la?z/ Am: /'glo?b?la?z/). How does adding the suffix ‘ization’ change the vowel sounds in British and American English?

a) The vowel sounds stay the same in both British and American English.
British: /gl??b?la?'ze???n/
American: /glo?b?la?'ze???n/

b) The vowel sounds in British English change, but they do not change in American English.
British: /gl??b?l?'ze???n/
American: /glo?b?la?'ze???n/

c) The vowel sounds in American English change, but they do not change in British English.
British: /gl??b?la?'ze???n/
American: /gl??b?l?'ze???n/

d) The vowel sounds change in both British and American English.
British: /gl??b?l?'ze???n/
American: /glo?b?l?'ze???n/

6. 'Advertisement' in American English is stressed in this way: Advertisement. How is it stressed in British English?

a) advertiseMENT

b) adverTISEment

c) adVERtisement

d) ADvertisement

答案

1) a, 2) a, 3) b, 4) b, 5) c, 6) c.