Лекция - Lecture O Connor текст песни

Lecture
O'Connor JD
(Extract)
Miss Tooley. How do you think we ought to start?
JD O'Connor. My idea is this. Suppose we just say a few ordinary
sentences. After that we'll go back again and notice
how we've said them and what sort of tune we've
used, and then we'll try to make some clear and
general rule about them.
Miss Tooley. Yes, that's a good idea. Now the first thing I said
was this: «How do you think we ought to start?»
I wonder if the listeners can hear the tune. «How
do you think we ought to start?»
JD You see, listeners, that sentence starts on a fairly
high note and it continues on that same note
until it reaches the word «ought». Just listen.
Miss Tooley. «How — How do you think we — How do you
think we ought to start?»

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JD Like that, you see. The word «ought» is said on a
slightly lower note, and the sentence continues
on that lower note until it gets to the very last
syllable.
Miss Tooley. How do you think we ought to start? How do you
think we ought to start?
JD Again, you see. The word «start» is on a slightly
lower note and not only that, it falls as you say it:
«start — start».
Miss Tooley. Yes, it does. It falls right down to the bottom
of my voice, listen: «How do you think we ought
to start? How do you think we ought to start?»
JD So the sentence is really in three parts,
corresponding to the number of stressed syllables:
«how», followed by four weak syllables, then
«ought», followed by one weak syllable; and, lastly,
«start», followed by nothing at all.
Miss Tooley. How do you think we — ought to — start?
JD We can make a good rule out of that. In sentences
like this, the first stressed syllable and any weak
or unstressed syllables following it, are said on
a fairly high note; the second stressed syllable and
any more weak syllables after that, are said on
a slightly lower note, and the same with the third,
and the fourth, and so on until you come to the
last stressed syllable of all, which not only begins
on a lower note than the previous one, but also
falls right down until it can scarcely be heard at all.
Well, now we must go back to the beginning and
see if our rule works for some of our other
sentences.