Chapter Two · Vowels in Detail
Review of /ʊ/ and /u/ Sounds
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Review of /ʊ/ and /u/ Sounds
Remember, the /ʊ/ sound is relaxed with the lips almost neutral, just very slightly rounded. By contrast, the /u/ is a tense sound. The lips are rounded and tense.
这一页复习 /ʊ/ 和 /u/。
这两个音都可能和 oo 有关，所以特别容易混淆。
/ʊ/：短、松、嘴唇只是轻微圆，像 good, book, foot, full。
/u/：更长、更紧、嘴唇明显圆起来，像 food, boot, too, fool。
读 /ʊ/ 时，嘴巴不要太用力，嘴唇接近自然状态，只是稍微圆一点。
读 /u/ 时，嘴唇要更圆、更紧，声音也更长。
/ʊ/ = relaxed，短而松。
/u/ = tense，长而紧。
这是这一页最重要的判断标准。
Sentence Pairs for Practice
| /u/ | /ʊ/ |
|---|---|
| Are you a fool? | Are you full? |
| Take care of that food. | Take care of that foot. |
| I bought some new boots. | I bought some new books. |
| This is a cool book. | This is a cook book. |
| We need a pool. | We need to pull. |
| Where is the shoe? | Where is the sugar? |
这些句子对比非常关键。
每组句子只有一个核心元音不同，但意思会改变。
比如 fool 和 full，food 和 foot，boots 和 books。
food / foot
boots / books
cool / cook
pool / pull
shoe / sugar
不要把 book 读成 boot 的元音。
不要把 full 读成 fool。
/ʊ/ 要短、松；/u/ 要长、紧。
先单独读词对：
fool / full，food / foot，pool / pull。
确认嘴唇紧张程度不同后，再读完整句子。
这一节的目标是让你把 oo 的两种常见读法分开：
/u/：food, boot, cool。
/ʊ/：foot, book, cook。
Dialogues for Practice
1.
A: Will you start to cook soon?
B: No, I am still too full to think of food.
2.
A: Who took my cookie?
B: Don’t look at me.
3.
A: You should have had some soup. It’s so good.
B: No, thanks, I’m really full.
4.
A: He’s foolish to walk in the woods by himself.
B: Yes. There are a lot of wolves in those woods.
C: I think that wolves howl when the moon is full.
B: Is that really true?
5.
A: Do you like my new boots?
B: Yes, they’re cool.
A: And take a look at my blue suit. It’s made of wool.
B: To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t wear the blue suit if I were you.
A: Don’t you think it looks good on me?
C: I think you should return it.
A: And I think you shouldn’t be so rude!
这些对话把 /ʊ/ 和 /u/ 放进真实语境里。
你需要在自然句子中分清：
cook / too / full / food，
took / cookie / look，
boots / cool / blue / wool。
/ʊ/ 重点词：cook, full, took, cookie, look, should, good, woods, wolves, wool, wouldn’t, looks, shouldn’t。
/u/ 重点词：you, soon, too, food, soup, foolish, moon, true, new, boots, cool, blue, suit, rude。
第一遍只听，感受 /ʊ/ 和 /u/ 的区别。
第二遍慢读，把 /ʊ/ 和 /u/ 的词分别标出来。
第三遍跟读整段，重点保持 /ʊ/ 的放松感和 /u/ 的紧张圆唇感。
good 和 food 都有 oo，但发音不同。
good 是 /ʊ/，food 是 /u/。
wool 是 /ʊ/，但 cool 是 /u/。
对话练习的目标是：
不要只在单词表里分清 /ʊ/ 和 /u/，而是要在真实表达中保持区别。
/u/ versus /ju/
Some words that contain the letter u are sometimes pronounced differently in other English accents. Some British speakers often add an extra /j/ sound before the /u/. Non-native speakers who studied British English in their native countries are often surprised to learn that Americans say “Tooz-day” for Tuesday instead of the British “t+yooz-day.” Similarly, you may have learned to say “t+you+n” for tune rather than “toon” as Americans do.
这一节开始讲 /u/ 和 /ju/ 的区别。
美式英语里，很多含字母 u 的词会直接读 /u/，而不是在前面加一个 /j/。
在一些英式发音里，Tuesday 可能更接近 t+yooz-day。
但美式英语里常读得更像 Tooz-day。
同样，tune 在美式英语里常接近 toon，而不是 t+you+n。
这一部分不是说英式发音错，而是提醒你：这本书训练的是美式发音。
如果目标是美式英语，就要习惯很多 u 直接读成 /u/，不要额外加 /j/。
如果你以前学过英式发音，可能会把 Tuesday、tune、student、new 这类词读得更像 /ju/。
在美式训练里，要特别注意哪些词更常读成 /u/。
这一页有两个重点：
- 继续复习 /ʊ/ 和 /u/：/ʊ/ 短松，/u/ 长紧。
- 开始理解美式 /u/ 和英式常见 /ju/ 的区别，比如 Tuesday 和 tune。