3. Paco finds a heart under a hat in a hut.

Icono IDevice Reading activity

Paco wakes up with the newspaper on his chest and the radio on. He fell asleep half an hour ago. He has had a terrible nightmare. In it, he is looking for a boy who was digging at a diamond mine and has disappeared. He enters a hut and finds out a heart under a hat. This terrible sight has made him wake up! Undoubtedly, it was a nightmare. He opens the newspaper and reads out the news about the expansion of Sierra Gold Corporation once again. Let's read it with him!

 

 

Sierra Gold Corporation Announces Property Acquisition in Region Known for Coloured Diamonds and Gold

Sierra Gold Corporation announced the acquisition of a 12 mile long concession on the Manu river in the Zimmi region with an option to expand down to the Atlantic ocean. The company has investigated the property and has discovered small coloured and clear diamonds. Also discovered was coarse gold. Coarse gold indicates proximity to the original source of the gold vein. The property is now being cleared to allow equipment to be deployed on site.

By DG Jones. C. Commons

Sierra Leone is a major exporter of diamonds and is recognized internationally for the size and quality of its diamonds. The country’s major source of hard currency has come from the sale of diamonds. Sierra Leone’s production is characterized by a high proportion of gem quality diamonds. The country became famous world-wide after the discovery of the Star of Sierra Leone, a magnificent 969 carat diamond. In 2002, a 1440 carat, gem quality diamond was discovered in the Kono district, which was later sold in Belgium for approximately US$75 million. Sierra Leone has produced many of the largest alluvial diamonds ever discovered.

The gold mining operation has been delayed by the unusually long rainy season. The rivers are still swollen and the ground very muddy. The transport of the two 10 ton processing plants has been delayed until the conditions become more favourable.

Sierra Gold is engaged in the exploration and development of gold and diamond properties in West Africa. The Birimian greenstone belt of West Africa has had a long history of gold mining and prospecting. The region has been one of the fastest growing gold producing areas worldwide.


Have a look at the following words from the passage above and guess which ones are pronounced /a:/ and which ones /ʌ/. Ask Mike to pronounce the following words and try to hear the difference:

grant /gra:nt/, grunt /grʌnt/

 

hard
company
plants
after
country
discovery


Icono IDevice Further knowledge

Now, watch the video to see how this vowel sound is pronounced correctly.

 


Icono IDevice Actividad

Although there are not specific rules to know how to pronounce words or sounds in English, we will try to help you distinguish both vowel sounds by means of common spellings for them.

Click on the pictures below and study the charts of the most common spellings for both sounds.

 



Icono de iDevice Solved exercise

It is very frequent that students get confused with the pronunciation of three sounds in English: /a:/, /æ/, and /ʌ/. Ask Mike to pronounce the following sentence: Paco found out a heart under a hat in a hut. Then, ask him to pronounce for you the following words from the sentence so that you may clearly see how they are correctly pronounced.

 

By whiteafrican. C. Common
heart /ha:t/

 

 

hat /hæt/

 

hut /hʌt/

 

 

Complete the chart with examples of words containing vowels or groups of vowels which are pronounced in the same way as the examples given. Underline the part of the word that contains the sound.

ea in heart a in hat u in hut
     
     
     
     

Icono de iDevice Self-assessment

Have a look at the following list of words in the box and place them in the correct place according to the pronunciation of the three vowels studied above (Write them in order).

muddy / farther / clumsy / start / laughter / majesty /

stand / mac / much / last / truck / track / front / smart

/a:/: , , , ,

/æ/: , , ,

/ʌ/: , , , ,

  

This is the end of topic 3. In it, we have studied the past perfect tense, in contrast with the Past Simple, and general notes on the passive voice. We have also had a look at a new vowel sound in English —/a:/— in contrast with other two vowel sounds already studied: /æ/, and /ʌ/.

Remember, the more you practice the better. So, go on to next section to do some more exercises related to the subjects studied. Come on, try them, they are easy!!!!