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Pronunciation
Minimal Pairs: /t/ & /z/
4
Intermediate
Exercise 1
Pronunciation Practice
Practice pronunciation with your tutor by reading the following words.
/t/ & /z/
acute
Adjective
əˈkjuːt
(of an illness) severe but lasting for a short time
He's suffering from
acute
pain in his life.
accuse
Verb
əˈkjuːz
to say that someone has done something wrong, illegal, etc.
My boss
accused
me of not taking my job seriously enough.
He
accused
me of causing the accident.
My boss was
accused
of receiving free airplane tickets from the client.
If you ask her too many questions, she will think you are
accusing
her.
boot
Noun
but
a strong and tough item of footwear, often worn during winter
I bought these
boots
yesterday.
I left my
boots
at the door.
booze
Noun
buz
informal term for alcoholic drinks
Who's in charge of buying
booze
for the party?
brute
Noun
brut
a very unpleasant and violent person
I hope someone tells that
brute
that his behavior is unacceptable.
bruise
Noun
bruz
an area of discolored skin on the body caused by an impact
I have a
bruise
on my knee.
How did you get those
bruises
?
She has a
bruise
under her eye.
I still have a
bruise
on my arm where the ball hit me.
butter
Noun
ˈbətər
a fatty, yellow dairy product used for cooking, often spread on bread
We need a lot of
butter
to make the cake.
buzzer
Noun
ˈbʌzər
a doorbell; a device that makes a buzzing sound
Can you please listen for the
buzzer
? A guest could come any minute.
cheat
Verb
tʃiːt
to break a rule in order to win or get something
She was caught
cheating
on her exam.
She was
cheating
on him the whole time.
His teacher was deeply disappointed when she caught him
cheating
.
Many companies have learned how to
cheat
the tax system.
cheese
Noun
ʧiːz
a solid dairy product that is often yellow or orange
Swiss
cheese
is full of holes.
You can't make a pizza without
cheese
.
crate
Noun
kreɪt
a wooden box used for transporting goods
The bottles are packed into a
crate
for shipping.
He ripped apart the packing
crate
and gazed in wonder at the beautiful machine.
It took three strong men to lift the
crate
from the floor to the top shelf of the locker.
craze
Noun
kreɪz
something that suddenly becomes popular, often for a short time
The Christmas shopping
craze
will begin soon.
I don't think that the whole exotic animal pet
craze
is good.
eat
Verb
it
to place food in the mouth, then chew and swallow it
I like to
eat
a big breakfast.
She can't decide what to
eat
.
I love
eating
sweet foods.
ease
Noun
iz
lack of difficulty, problems, worries, etc.
Ease
of access is an important consideration for buildings.
Ease
of use made the iPod extremely popular.
Exercise 2
Sentence Practice
Practice pronunciation with your tutor by reading the following sentences.
How dare you
accuse
me of lying about my
acute
illness!
They drank
booze
out of a glass
boot
.
The criminal has been
caught
, but the
cause
of his injury is still unknown.
I was attacked by some drunk
brute
at the game, and that's when I got this
bruise
.
I was so surprised by the sound of the
buzzer
that I dropped the block of
butter
.
My friend promised to make his own
cheese
, but he
cheated
and bought some from the store.
The action figure was the latest
craze
, and the store received a whole
crate
full of them.
I'm so hungry. I could
eat
a whole pizza with
ease
.
Exercise 3
Find the Sounds
Select the word that contains the sound listed below. There can be more than one correct answer.
Find: /t/
1.
Do you want to go to a Christmas party with us?
2.
Listen to me very carefully. I will only say this once.
3.
This is of political matter, so please stay out of it.
4.
Please fasten your seat-belt.
Find: /z/
5.
He was an executive at the company.
6.
You need to lose your bad attitude.
7.
I can never remember what's the right spelling; dessert or desert.
8.
I love watching the lions at the zoo.
Exercise 4
Tongue Twister
Practice pronunciation with your tutor by reading the following tongue twister(s). Read each tongue twister slowly at first, then try reading it faster.
He says that a two twice-twisted twine twisted twice twists
twice as tight as a one once-twisted twine twisted twice.
But I say that a two twice-twisted twine twisted twice does
not twist as tight as a one once-twisted twine twisted twice.
Zealously zany zapping zebras zigzag zested zoology zone.
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