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Question

Difficulty: MediumEmphatic Stress

Read the statement below in which one word is printed in CAPITAL letters to show emphatic stress. Complete the contrastive question that elicits this specific stress pattern by filling in the blank with an appropriate contrasting verb.

Answer:Statement: The principal botanist CATALOGUED the rare orchid specimens in the greenhouse.
Contrastive Question: Did the principal botanist 【destroy】 the rare orchid specimens in the greenhouse?

Answer

Any contrasting verb (such as 'destroy', 'ignore', 'discard', or 'neglect') that questions the action 'CATALOGUED' while keeping the subject, object, and adverbial phrase unchanged.
Emphatic stress on the capitalized verb 'CATALOGUED' signifies that the speaker is emphasizing the specific action carried out. An appropriate contrastive question must test or contradict this specific action using an alternative verb (such as 'destroy' or 'ignore') while holding all other sentence elements (subject, object, and prepositional adjunct) constant.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the word receiving emphatic stress in the given statement.
The verb 'CATALOGUED' is written in capital letters, indicating that emphatic stress is placed on the action performed.
Emphatic stress serves to highlight contrastive focus on a specific component of the sentence.
2
Determine which element of the sentence must be questioned in the contrastive query.
The contrastive question must challenge the verb (the action), leaving the subject ('The principal botanist'), the direct object ('the rare orchid specimens'), and the location ('in the greenhouse') unchanged.
A contrastive question eliciting emphatic stress on a word must contradict only the stressed word while keeping all unaccented contextual elements identical.
3
Select an appropriate word to complete the blank in the contrastive question.
Inserting a contrasting verb such as 'destroy', 'ignore', or 'discard' completes the contrastive question correctly.
Answering 'No, the principal botanist CATALOGUED them' directly corrects the false verb proposition posed by the question.

Key Concept

Emphatic Stress and Contrastive Focus
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Emphatic Stress

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