揭秘托福口语中的“连续现象”（附:CNN跟读材料）
很多同学在口语课上跟我抱怨说：“在托福考试的听力材料中，总会出现几个词连在一起，速度特别快，发音又特别怪，稍微一愣神，材料后面的内容就会分心，到答题环节就不知所云了”。还有些学生吐槽说：“我的口语表达语速慢，做口语题总是超时，获取的答题信息总是说不完”。
同学们经常抱怨的这些连在一起，速度快，发音怪的现象就是口语表达中的单词连读（Linking）。比如，国外人见面时，通常会寒暄How are you? 对方会回应道Good，and you? 当然，看着文本，同学们理解起来没有任何问题。然而在听力中，“Good，and you”的读音听起来却是“goodenju”，对于很多同学来说，理解起来自然压力山大，甚至认为这根本就不是在说英语。
还有，在Friends Season 1中，当Ross与Rachel首次见面时，两人就客厅桌子上最后一块饼干产生了下面的对话：
Rachel: Sorry.
Ross: no, no, no, go~
Rachel: No, you have it, really, I don’ want it.
Ross: Split it?
Rachel: Okay.
Ross: Okay. You know you probably didn’t know this, but back in high school, I had a, um, major crush on you.
Rachel: I knew.
… …
上面我们听到的havit, wantit, splitit, backin, hada, crushon等等，都是口语中单词连读现象的体现，加上Rachel的语速过快，同学们在盲听的过程中，有些地方可能听不太清楚。
再来看我们常见的材料，在TPO 27 Task 3听力中
Man: “Yeah, why? Yon don’t like the idea?”
Woman: “Not at all.”
在这里，女生的回答就是同学熟悉的“闹太套 – notatall”。
在TPO 30 Task 3听力中
Man: “So, Jane, what do you think of Eric’s proposal?”
Woman: “I am all for it.”
在课堂上，很少有同学能准确地复述此处表示同意态度的句子，因为他们还在使劲地猜测“forit”到底是什么鬼。
可见，单词连读（Linking）的现象在英语口语表达中非常普遍，既出现在日常问候语和影视作品中，又常见于同学们备考的托福听力材料中，其重要性自然不言而喻。因此，掌握英语单词的连读规则，不仅有助于听懂听力材料中的内容，也有利于提升口语表达的连贯度。
这种连读现象在口语表达中最为常见，规则即为：相邻两个单词中，前一个单词的末尾音标为辅音，后一个单词的首个音标为元音，即可发生连读现象。
示例：
And an officer said the snow was blowing around so badly.
And/ænd/的末尾音标为辅音/d/, an/æn/的首个音标为/æ/, 发生连读/dæ/；an/æn/的末尾音标为辅音/n/, officer/’ɔfisə/的首个音标为元音/ɔ/,发生连读/nɔ/。因此，And an officer应该读成Andanofficer.
练习例句：
a. Now President Obama and Congress can avoid this cliff by coming up with a compromise, a plan to lower the country's debt.
b. Are you've heard us talk a lot about the fiscal cliff?
c. The storm also made driving pretty dangerous as you might expect in some areas.
当相邻单词的前后音标相同或相似，则发生连读。换句话说，若前后单词相邻音标完全相同，则只发后一个音标，且将该音拉长；若相似，需要省略前面的音标，发出后一个音标。
示例：
Predictions said another foot could be on the way.
Predictions的最后一个音标为辅音/s/，紧跟着的said的第一个音标也是辅音/s/,所以这两个单词的发音应为Predictionsaid…只发一个/s/，且音长要拉长。
The song ascended to the top of the Adult Contemporary list.
Ascended的末尾音标为/d/，to的首个音标为/t/，属于相似音标，需省略前面的/d/，只发后一个音标/t/, 所以发音为ascendeto。
练习例句：
a. But the weather was not looking at the calendar.
b. They also made sure she did not try to take off her leg braces.
c. When she was six years old, she began to wear metal leg braces because she could not use that leg.
这里所说的辅音/t/,/d/,当其前后均为元音时，美国人在发音时会选择跳过该辅音，/t/的音听起来像/d/。可能这样说，同学们难以理解，那我们来看以下的例子：
示例：
A lot of guys wouldn’t even notice, but I am not a lot of guys.
这句话里面A lot of，/t/的前面为元音/a/, 后为元音/ə/，所以发音时需要跳过/t/, 听起来实际上是/ladəv/；notice这个单词中，/t/前面是元音/o/,后为元音/i/，所以听起来像是/nodis/；but I am中的/t/前面为/ʌ/,后面为双元音/ai/，所以应读成/bʌdai/;再如not a, /t/前面为/a/,后面为/ə/,听起来像是/nadə/。
练习例句：
a. I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.
b. Wilma Rudolph received a lot of attention from the press and the public.
c. She supported the civil rights movement -- the struggle for equality between white and black people.
在英语中，Plosive consonants意为塞音，主要有/t/&/d/,/p/&/b/,/k/&/g/. 当这些音标出现在单词的末尾，且紧跟着的单词首音亦为辅音音标，则不发出塞音音标。
示例：
I just don’t want my kids to make the same mistake I made.
在这句话中，我们正确的读法应该是I jus don’ wan my kids to ma the same mistake I made。因此，我们需要将相邻的塞音和辅音结构中的塞音省去，这样读起来是不是会快很多？
练习例句：
a. She also had polio, which damaged her left leg.
b. My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.
c. The coach, Ed Temple, worked very hard for the girls on the team.
前面我们已经探讨过了Vowel + t, d + Vowel的发音规则，这里我们再来说一说Consonant + t, d + Consonant的发音特征。当这种现象出现时，我们可以省略辅音之间的/t/和/d/音标。
示例：
For example, he would make the members of the team run one extra time around the track for every minute they were late to practice.
我们可以发现，would make中/d/前为辅音/l/，后为辅音/m/,所以/d/音可以省略；around the中/d/前为辅音/n/,后为辅音/θ/，则/d/音可以省略。
练习例句：
a. Taylor Swift closes 2011 with one of the fastest-rising chart hits of her career, "Ours."
b. The season's first blizzard hit the middle western U.S. earlier this week.
c. She refused me without even thinking.
Glottal stop的意思是，当/t/和/n/音标出现在一块时，/t/音需要快发，同时要立即移向/n/音，最直观的例子是单词button, 其音标为/bʌtn/，/t/要发半音，然后迅速移向/n/音。
示例：
That’s not important right now.
同学们可以发现这里的important单词后半部分tant的音标为/tnt/，出现了/t/和/n/音相连，那么，我们在发音时需要快发/t/音，迅速转向/n/音。
练习词组：
a. cute kitten
b. Bill Clinton
c. have forgotten
当th字母组合(音标为/θ/和/ð/)出现在”n”, ’’s’或者’’z’’音标之后，则’’th’’的音标可以在发音中省略，产生连读现象。
示例：
Yes, I guess that works for me.
在这句话中，guess that相邻部分应该读成/…sat…/，因为th字母组合音标为/ð/,出现在/s/的后面，可以省略，发生连读。
练习例句：
a. Today is December 21st, it's the first official day of winter.
b. She did very well on the new track team.
c. She was the youngest member of the United States team.
在单词中或者单词间”nt”字母组合的前后为元音的话，那么其/t/的音标可在发音中省略。在单词sentimental中出现了两次’’nt”组合，且前后均为元音，其省略后的音标可以读成’’senimenal”。
示例：
How on earth can you get to the international airport in an hour?
International单词中的”nt”字母组合的前后音标为/i/,后面音标为/ə/，均为元音，因此，international音标中前两个音节可以读成/inə/。
练习例句：
a. She was also voted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
b. This moment is worthy of remembering.
c. The drivers could only see about five feet in front of their cars.
Schwa的意思是元音弱读，即为在多音节的单词中，元音部分的弱读现象，常见于多音节单词的词首。
示例：
And an officer said the snow was blowing around so badly.
此句中的officer和around的单词均为多音节词，其中o 和 a均为元音，可以弱读。
练习例句：
a. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.
b. She also appeared on television many times.
c. Today is December 21st, it's the first official day of winter.
弱读现象还发生一些特定的词类上，这些词通常在句子中不承载主要意思，属于非实意词汇。主要包括：代词如you, her, his等; 限定词如some, any, the等；助动词如am, were, can等；介词如at, in, on, from等；以及连词如and, if, or等。
示例：
He gave her the nickname "Skeeter."
此句中he, her, the均不承载主要意思，所以其在句子中的发音可以弱读。
练习例句：
a. Wilma Rudolph was a fine example for many people inside and outside the world of sports.
b. She won a bronze medal, or third place, in the sprint relay event.
c. These victories made people call her the "world's fastest woman.
那么，当同学们能够真正地掌握英语中上述连读规则时，想必大家也将能够轻松听懂听力材料中那些所谓的速度快，发音怪的词群了吧。与此同时，当你在平时的口语练习过程中，充分注意这些连读现象出现的地方，加以跟读和模仿，久而久之，你的口语表达中也能自然地体现出连读哦，到时候你还怕口语说不顺？语速不够快？内容答不完吗？还在等什么，赶紧练起来！！！
Today is December 21st, it's the first official day of winter.
But the weather was not looking at the calendar.
The season's first blizzard hit the middle western U.S. earlier this week.
It was headed and expected to move into New England today.
Tens of thousands of people lost power.
The storm also made driving pretty dangerous as you might expect in some areas.
Nearly 100 accidents were reported by late Wednesday morning including a 30-car pileup on one Iowa highway.
And an officer said the snow was blowing around so badly.
The drivers could only see about five feet in front of their cars.
Blizzard warnings were up yesterday in Iowa, also in part of Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Parts of Wisconsin had already seen up to 7 inches of snow by yesterday morning.
Predictions said another foot could be on the way.
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