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Learn English Story: The Camel

This story uses sound pairs. These are sounds that are almost the same, except that one sound is softer than the other. The sound pairs are:

D/T      V/F       Z/S       B/P       G/K       J/Ch       Th/Th

In each of these pairs the 1st sound is lighter than the 2nd. For Th, we have two sounds, the smooth sound in common words like "the," "this" and "there" and the popped sound in other Th words like "think" and "thermometer." In the story, all sound pairs are in bold.

Sometimes these sounds cross over too. For instance, T's between vowels are usually pronounced as a light D, as in "water." S frequently becomes a Z sound in words like "is" and "his." (To test this, compare "hiss" with "his.") F becomes a V sound in the common word "of." These words are underlined below.

camel
VIDEO
    

The Camel

1. People try to travel in the desert.

2. Deserts are dry. There is little water.

3. You cannot go fast in a vast desert.

4. The camel does not zip across the sand. He goes slowly.

5. People tie packs to his back around his hump.

6. People hang a bag around his neck that has extra things.

7. The bag hangs by his chest.

8. Camels sometimes spit at people. Maybe it's a jest.

Sound Pairs

dry/try   vast/fast   zip/sand   back/pack   bag/back   jest/chest   that/things

Cross Over Sounds

desert = de-zert, is = iz, little = lid-ul, water = wa-der, does = duz, his = hiz, has = haz



      

Answer the questions:

1. Are deserts wet or dry?

2. What do people tie to the camel's back?

3. What do people put in bags?

4. What do camels do sometimes?

See answers below.








Answers

1. Deserts are dry.
2. People tie packs.
3. The bag has extra things.
4. Camels spit.
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