Question

Difficulty: EasyEmphatic Stress

Read the statement below in which the word written in CAPITAL LETTERS carries emphatic stress, then fill in the blank to complete the contrastive question that elicits this stress.

Answer:Statement: The scientist conducted the experiment in the MORNING.

Question: Did the scientist conduct the experiment in the 【afternoon】?

Answer

A contrasting time of day such as 'afternoon', 'evening', or 'night'.
In Oral English, emphatic stress places special emphasis on a single word to contradict a false assumption or alternative. Since 'MORNING' carries emphatic stress in the statement, the correct contrastive question must differ ONLY by substituting 'MORNING' with an alternative time of day (e.g., 'afternoon', 'evening', or 'night'). When asked 'Did the scientist conduct the experiment in the afternoon?', the speaker responds with emphatic stress on 'MORNING' to correct the questioner.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the word carrying emphatic stress in the given statement.
The word 'MORNING' is capitalized, indicating it carries the emphatic stress.
Emphatic stress highlights the specific piece of information being emphasized or contrasted.
2
Determine the role of a contrastive question in eliciting emphatic stress.
A contrastive question must keep all uncapitalized information identical while replacing only the stressed word with a contradictory alternative.
The speaker uses emphatic stress on 'MORNING' to correct an incorrect assumption or alternative proposed by the questioner.
3
Supply a valid word for the blank to complete the contrastive question.
Filling the blank with an alternative time word (such as 'afternoon', 'evening', or 'night') creates a correct contrastive question.
Asking if the experiment was conducted in the afternoon, evening, or night prompts the emphatic response: 'No, the scientist conducted the experiment in the MORNING.'

Key Concept

Emphatic Stress
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