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Difficulty: Very hardEmphatic Stress

Examine the statement provided below, paying close attention to the word written in CAPITAL LETTERS which carries emphatic stress. Fill in the blank to complete the contrastive question that specifically targets and elicits the emphasized word.

Answer:Statement: The software architect VOLUNTARILY overhauled the legacy database system.

Contrastive question: Did the software architect 【compulsorily】 overhaul the legacy database system?

Answer

The contrastive question requires an adverb contrasting directly with 'VOLUNTARILY' (such as 'compulsorily', 'involuntarily', or 'reluctantly'), while retaining every other syntactic and lexical element of the original statement.
In Oral English emphatic stress rules, the correct contrastive question must leave all non-emphasized elements of the statement identical while substituting only the emphasized word ('VOLUNTARILY') with an opposing or contradictory term (such as 'compulsorily' or 'involuntarily'). This forces the speaker to re-assert the emphasized word in response.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the capitalized word carrying emphatic stress in the statement.
The word carrying emphatic stress is the adverb of manner 'VOLUNTARILY'.
Emphatic stress indicates contrastive emphasis specifically on the stressed item.
2
Determine the element that must be questioned or contradicted in the contrastive query.
Only the manner of action ('VOLUNTARILY') must be contradicted/questioned.
All un-emphasized elements (subject: 'software architect', action: 'overhaul the legacy database system') must remain strictly unchanged.
3
Formulate the missing contrastive modifier to complete the question.
Inserting an opposing manner adverb such as 'involuntarily' or 'compulsorily' correctly sets up the contrastive focus required to elicit 'VOLUNTARILY'.
A contrastive question directly challenges the stressed word by offering an opposing or contradictory alternative.

Key Concept

Emphatic Stress and Contrastive Question Formulation
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Topics

Emphatic Stress

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