本書旨在幫助美語學習者快速掌握美式英語的語音、語調的秘訣。本書將發音練習重點放在元音、外國人發音容易出問題的輔音如V, W, B, TH和美式發音R, 強調正確的重音音節，正式英語和口語的用詞區別、同音字詞 (如 they're 和 there), 正確分辨有不發音字母的單詞 (comb, receipt等), 避免令人尷尬的發音錯誤（party 和 potty發成一樣的音），等等。作者教學經驗豐富，全書配有作者親自錄製的教學音頻，發音純正地道，技巧易學易懂。書中還專門針對中國學習者的發音特點就大家在學習美音中容易混淆的問題進行說明和解釋。
Contents目錄
Introduction引言vi
Chapter 1: The Vowel Sounds元音1
Production of Vowels元音的發音1
The Main Vowel Sounds of American English美式英語中的主要元音3
/i/ as inmeet/i/的發音（meet）4
/?/ as insit/?/的發音（sit）4
/e?/ as intake/e?/的發音（take）6
/?/ as inget/?/的發音（get）7
/æ/ as infat/æ/的發音（fat）8
/ɑ/ as infather/ɑ/的發音（father）9
/?/ as infun/?/的發音（fun）10
/?/as insaw/?/的發音（saw）11
/o?/ as inboat/o?/的發音（boat）13
/?/ as ingood/?/的發音（good）14
/u/ as intoo/u/的發音（too）14
/?r/ as inbird/?r/的發音（bird）16
/a?/ as intime/a?/的發音（time）16
/a?/ as inhouse/a?/的發音（house）17
/??/ as inboy/??/的發音（boy）18
Chapter 2: Vowels in Detail元音的細節19
Review of /?/ and /i/ Sounds複習/?/和/i/ 19
Review of /?/ and /æ/ Sounds複習/?/和/æ/ 20
Review of /?/, /ɑ/, /?/, and /o?/ Sounds複習/?/、/ɑ/、/?/和/o?/ 21
The Problematico容易出現問題的o 22
Three Different Ways to Pronounce the Lettero字母o的三種不同發音方法25
Review of /æ/ versus /?/複習/æ/和/?/的區別25
The American /?/ Sound /?/的美式發音26
Review of /?/, /æ/, /ɑ/, /?/, /?/, and /o?/複習/?/、/æ/、/ɑ/、/?/、/?/和/o?/ 28
The Problematic /?/ Sound容易出現問題的/?/ 29
Review of /?/ and /u/ Sounds複習/?/和/u/ 30
/u/ versus /ju/ /u/和/ju/比較30
Review of the /?r/ Sound複習/?r/ 31
Vowels Followed by the /r/ Sound元音後接/r/時的發音方法32
Chapter 3: Consonants輔音33
Forming American Consonants發出美式的輔音33
Voiceless and Voiced Consonants清輔音和濁輔音34
Vowel Length and Voiced and Voiceless Consonants元音長度與濁輔音和清輔音35
Stops and Continuants塞音和連續音37
Chapter 4: Problematic Consonants容易出現問題的輔音39
The Various tSounds of American English美式英語中t的各種發音39
The “Fast d” Sound“快速d”的發音43
The /t?r/ Sound: tr/t?r/的發音：tr 44
The /d?r/ Sound: dr/d?r/的發音：dr 44
The /d?/ Sound: duand d y/d?/的發音：du和d y 45
The /t?/ Sound: tuand t y/t?/的發音：tu和t y 45
Words Ending in -ed以-ed結尾的單詞46
The thSound th的發音49
The American /r/美式的/r/ 53
The American /l/美式的/l/ 56
Understanding /l/ versus /r/區分/l/和/r/的發音58
The /v/ Sound /v/的發音61
Understanding /b/ versus /v/區分/b/和/v/的發音62
The /w/ Sound /w/的發音63
Understanding /v/ versus /w/區分/v/和/w/的發音64
The /s/ and /z/ Sounds /s/和/z/的發音65
The /?/ Sound: Pronouncing ng/?/的發音：發ng音68
Consonant Clusters輔音連綴70
Chapter 5: Syllable Stress音節重音73
Stressed and Reduced Vowels元音的重讀和弱讀73
Comparing Stressed and Reduced Vowels比較元音重讀和弱讀76
Dangers of Stressing the Wrong Syllable音節重讀錯誤的危害78
General Rules for Stress Placement音節重讀的一般規則79
Reduced Vowels for Review複習元音弱讀86
Chapter 6: Word Stress單詞重音89
Compound Nouns複合名詞89
Proper Stress with Adjectives形容詞的適當重讀91
Phrasal Verbs短語動詞93
Noun Forms of Phrasal Verbs短語動詞的名詞形式94
Abbreviations and Numbers縮寫詞和數字95
Names of Places and People地名和人名96
Word Stress Within a Sentence句子中的單詞重音96
Which Words Should I Stress?應該重讀哪個單詞？98
Reducing Vowels in Unstressed Words非重讀單詞中的元音弱讀101
Thought Groups and Focus Words意群和焦點詞106
Contrastive Stress對比重音107
Chapter 7: Intonation語調109
Falling Intonation降調109
Rising Intonation升調110
Non-final Intonation非最終語調111
Wavering Intonation搖擺語調113
Chapter 8: Sound Like a True Native Speaker
像母語者一樣發音115
Linking: Connecting Words for Smoother Speech Flow連讀：使語流更平滑115
Rules for Linking連讀的規則116
Contractions縮讀125
Conditional Tense and Contractions條件時態與縮讀130
Casual versus Formal Speech隨意講話與正式講話132
Chapter 9: Memorizing the Exceptions記住特例135
Same Spelling, Different Pronunciation拼寫相同，發音不同136
Two Correct Pronunciations兩種正確發音137
Words with Dropped Syllables省略音節的單詞137
Words with Silent Letters帶有不發音字母的單詞138
Homophones同音異義詞139
Native Language Guide母語指南141
Chinese中國學習者141
Index索引149
