Answer the following question below and choose the option that has the same vowel sound as the one represented by the letter (s) underlined. book

Analyze the question: This is a phonetics (oral English) question on vowel sounds. The word "book" is given, and you must find the option whose vowel sound matches the "oo" in "book".

Explain the concept: The letters "oo" in English can make two different sounds:

• Short /ʊ/, as in book, cook, look, foot, good
• Long /uː/, as in cool, fool, tool, moon, food

The short /ʊ/ is produced with the lips slightly rounded and the sound cut short. The long /uː/ is held longer, with the lips more tightly rounded.

Step-by-step solution:

1. "book" is pronounced /bʊk/, so the vowel is the short /ʊ/.
2. Check each option: • A. cool: /kuːl/ has the long /uː/. ✗ • B. cook: /kʊk/ has the short /ʊ/. ✓ • C. fool: /fuːl/ has the long /uː/. ✗ • D. tool: /tuːl/ has the long /uː/. ✗
3. Only cook shares the short /ʊ/ vowel with "book".

Answer: B. cook

Tip: Remember that "oo" followed by k (book, cook, look, hook, took, shook) is almost always the short /ʊ/ sound. Words like cool, fool, tool, school, moon use the long /uː/. A quick way to tell them apart: if you can stretch the sound out ("coooool"), it's long. If you can't ("cook"), it's short.