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Question

Difficulty: HardEmphatic Stress

In the sentence below, one word is written in CAPITAL LETTERS to indicate emphatic stress:

The senior prosecutor RELUCTANTLY presented the key evidence during the preliminary hearing.

Which of the following questions is the statement above a direct answer to?

  1. A
    Did the defense attorney reluctantly present the key evidence during the preliminary hearing?
  2. Did the senior prosecutor eagerly present the key evidence during the preliminary hearing?Answer
  3. C
    Did the senior prosecutor reluctantly suppress the key evidence during the preliminary hearing?
  4. D
    Did the senior prosecutor reluctantly present the final verdict during the preliminary hearing?

Answer

The question 'Did the senior prosecutor eagerly present the key evidence during the preliminary hearing?' is the correct query.
In Oral English, emphatic stress indicates contrastive focus. When stress is placed on the word 'RELUCTANTLY', the sentence serves as a corrective answer to a question that assumes a different manner of action (e.g., 'eagerly'). The question asking whether the prosecutor eagerly presented the evidence matches the statement precisely because only the manner word is questioned and contradicted, while the subject, verb, object, and adverbial phrase remain completely unchanged.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the word receiving emphatic stress in the given statement.
The word printed in full capital letters is 'RELUCTANTLY', which functions as an adverb of manner.
Emphatic stress highlights the specific information being asserted against a contrastive assumption.
2
Determine the contrastive focus required for the corresponding question.
The target question must disagree with or query only the word 'RELUCTANTLY' (manner of action), replacing it with an opposing or alternative word while retaining the exact subject, verb, object, and adjuncts.
In Oral English emphatic stress rules, placing stress on a word provides a direct contrast only to that specific item in the utterance.
3
Evaluate the options to find the question that contradicts only the stressed element.
The question substituting 'eagerly' for 'RELUCTANTLY' preserves all other sentence elements unchanged, making it the proper context for the response.
Distractors incorrectly query the subject, main verb, or direct object.

Key Concept

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

Emphatic Stress

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