In the following sentence, the word that receives the emphatic stress is written in capital letter. From the…

Analyze the question

Emphatic stress (also called contrastive stress) falls on the word that corrects or contrasts with something in the question. Here, the stressed word is BICYCLE, so the question must have mentioned a different item in that position, while the other details stay the same.

Concept

The answer to a question repeats the unchanged information and puts stress on the new or corrected information. The sentence "Ade's BICYCLE is made of steel" implies: "It is Ade's bicycle, not some other thing of his, that is made of steel."

Checking each option

• A. Is Bola's bicycle made of steel? The difference is the owner (Bola vs Ade). The stress would fall on ADE's, not BICYCLE.
• B. Is Ade's car made of steel? The owner (Ade's) is the same, and the material (steel) is the same. The only difference is the object (car vs bicycle). The correction is "No, Ade's BICYCLE is made of steel." This fits the stress on BICYCLE.
• C. Was Ade's bicycle made of steel? The difference is the tense (was vs is). The stress would fall on IS.
• D. Is Ade's bicycle made of plastic? (The "I" is a typo for "Is".) The difference is the material, so the stress would fall on STEEL.

Answer

The only option where the bicycle is the contrasted item is B.

Tip

To solve emphatic stress questions, find the stressed word in the answer. Then look for the option whose question differs from the answer in exactly that word. The stressed word marks the point of correction.