WORD STRESS
1. Read the words below paying attention to the position of the secondary stress:
centralization, modification, composition, nationalization, administration,
organization, anticipation, intersession, overbalance, justification, hospitality,
satisfactory, sentimentality, impossibility, artificial, uncountable, qualification,
consideration, examination, temperamental, pronunciation, ornamentation,
fundamental, distribution, representation, characteristic, interrogation.
2. Put down stress marks in the words below:
ascertain, acquiesce, grotesque, cigarette, antique, saloon, employee, career,
lemonade, atomic, phonetic, phonological, familiarity, beneficial, efficient,
aqueous, residual, impetuous, propriety, active, relative, gratitude, attitudinal.
3. Provide these words with necessary stress marks:
birdcage, coalmine, teapot, daybreak, birthday, pillowcase, housewife, schoolboy,
timetable, hairdo, sheepdog, fireplace, washstand, mailbag, dance music,
grandfather, handwriting, shopkeeper, ladybird, office-boy, waiting room, dinner
jacket, tape recorder, ground floor, knee-deep, cross-question, flat-footed, shop
window, hot-water-bottle, waste-paper-basket, postgraduate, secondhand.
4. Transcribe the words and put down stress marks in these verbs and nouns.
Translate them into Russian.
absent n – absent v; compress n – compress v; consort n – consort v; combine n –
combine v; concert n – concert v; desert n – desert v; outlay n – outlay v.
5. Read the sentences below to prove the distinctive function of the stress.
Translate them into Russian.
1. The abstract is short. Abstract this theory. 2. This accent is on the first syllable.
Mark it with a weak accent. He accents the word. It’s the word “son” you are to
accent. 3. A conflict took place. They conflict with this theory. It’s finished in a
conflict. Still, they conflict. 4. The contest was friendly. They contest this
statement. It’s a contest. They contest it. 5. Export is forbidden. These islands
export sugar and fruit. 6. He is a suspect. He is the man we suspect. I began to
suspect they were trying to get rid of me. He is the prime suspect in the case. 7.
The riot began as a peaceful protest. Students took the streets to protest against the
decision. This protest was wrong. They decided to protest. 8. The work you did
today is quite a contrast to what you did last week. Contrast Tom with his sister.
These two colours contrast very well. In contrast to their neighbours, they live
modestly.
6. Mark stresses in the following words and explain the location of the stress.
mother, ready, misbehave, sub-librarian, put on, take off, watchdog, bedroom,
fifteen, seventeen.
