Chapter 03 弱化现象
弱化的意义
弱化是指英语语流中，音质或者音量发生的明显变化。通常情况下，弱化可以分为元音弱化和辅音弱化两类。一般情况下，虚词是常见的弱读形式。英语听力考试中，弱读可能是比较难以分辨的，如果把握不好弱读规则，就会大大影响对听力内容的理解。现在，我们来具体了解哪些音需要弱读以及弱读的发音规则。
弱读的分类
1．冠词的弱读
(1)定冠词the通常是读作[ðə]，弱读时，在辅音前读[ðə]，在元音前读[ðɪ]。a和an在弱读时，发音分别是[ə]和[ən]。
例 I think it's the [ðə] key moment to decide what to do next.
The [ðɪ] answer to solve this question seems to be incorrect.
Her father is a [ə] doctor.
The boy ate an [ən] apple just now.
(2)如果要强调定冠词the，则是读作[ði:]。
例 Catherine is the [ði:] only student who gets a poor mark in physics.
It was the [ði:] girl in red that received a nice present.
2．人称代词的弱读
第三人称代词he, him, her及物主代词形式his, her的弱读规则：
(1)如果位于句中，首字母h通常不发音。
例 Mr. Brown told him [ɪm] that the plane was delayed.
It takes her [ə] a lot of time to prepare for the competition.
(2)如果位于句首，通常不需要弱读。
例 He [hɪ] was a good boy in the past.
Her [hə(r)] parents hoped her to enter the technical college.
3．连词and的弱读
(1) and通常是读作[ənd]。弱读时，如果and前后的单词分别是以辅音结尾和元音开头，则其读音为[ənd]；如果and之后的单词是以辅音开头，通常要弱读为[ən]。
例 Ms. Yang and [ənd] I went to Paris last week.
Lily and [ən] Sunny are best friends.
(2) that通常是读作[ðæt]；弱读时，则是读作[ðət]。
例 It's the first time that [ðət] she has come to Paris.
This is the very novel that [ðət] he likes very much.
4．助动词的弱读
(1) be动词：am, is, are, was, were
· am通常是读作[əm]，而与主语进行缩写时，通常要弱读为[m]。在需要重读时，其发音是[æm]
例 Why am [əm] I so afraid of being a failure at times?
I'm [m] good at writing and dancing.
· are通常是读作[ɑ:(r)]。在弱读时，可以读作[ə]和[ər]，并且只有在元音、半元音之前，才读作[ər]。is在弱读时，通常读作[s]或[z]。
例 Where are [ər] you going to do?
There are [ə] some books on the second shelf.
He's [z] here.
It's [s] a basketball.
· was通常会弱读，读作[wəz]。在强读时，则是读作[wɒz]; were通常会弱读，读作[wə]；而在重读时要读作[wʒ:]。
例 It was [wəz] a very sad story.
They were [wə] going to visit Miss. Gao.
(2) have, has, had
have, has, had作实义动词时的弱读通常是[həv], [həz]和[həd]；作助动词时，通常要弱读，读音分别为[əv], [əz]和[əd]，或者[v], [z]和[d]。
例 They have [əv] seen the movie before.
She has [əz] gone to Beijing.
I had [əd] finished the book.
(3) do和does
do, does作实义动词时，通常是读作[du:]和[dʌz]；作助动词时，通常要弱读，读音分别为[də]和[dəz]。
例 How do [də] you think about the issue?
Sam does [dəz] not understand what he is talking about.
(4)情态动词would
情态动词would通常是读作[wʊd]；作助动词时，可以与动词原形连用构成过去将来时，或是与“have+动词的过去分词”连用构成过去将来完成时，通常要弱读为[wəd]。例如：
例 I believe they would [wəd] complete the road construction according to schedule.
If you had taken his advice, you would [wəd] have passed the test.
实战演练
⇨弱读
But their teacher, James Nasmith had other ideas. He had been working for a long time on a new game that would have the excitement of the American football. Nasmith showed the men a basket he had hung at each end of the gym, and explained that they were going to sue a round European football. At first everybody tried to throw the ball into the basket no matter where he was standing.（CET-4）
⇨非弱读
But their teacher, James Nasmith had other ideas. He had been working for a long time on a new game that would have the excitement of the American football. Nasmith showed the men a basket he had hung at each end of the gym, and explained that they were going to sue a round European football. At first everybody tried to throw the ball into the basket no matter where he was standing.（CET-4）
★对比来看，弱读与非弱读的差别是不是很大？跟着录音再读一遍。