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

Analyze the question

In oral English, emphatic stress falls on the word that carries the new or corrected information. The capitalised word, AYO, is the one that answers the question. So we need the question that is wrong about who asked Mary to come.

Concept

Emphatic stress is used to correct or contrast. The sentence "AYO asked Mary to come today" implies: "It was Ayo, not someone else, who asked Mary to come today."

Step-by-step check of the options

• A. Did Chike ask Mary to come? This question names the wrong person (Chike). The reply "AYO asked Mary to come today" corrects the subject, so the stress on AYO fits.
• B. Did Ayo order Mary to come today? The thing in question is the verb (order vs ask). The stress would fall on ASKED.
• C. Did Ayo ask Dad to come today? The thing in question is the person asked (Dad vs Mary). The stress would fall on MARY.
• D. Did Ayo ask Mary to come today? Nothing in this question is wrong, so there is nothing to correct. The answer would be a simple "Yes", with no emphatic stress.

Answer

The stressed word AYO corrects the name "Chike" in the question.

Tip: Find the word in capitals, then look for the option that differs from the sentence at exactly that position. The stressed word replaces the wrong word in the question. Here that means Ayo replaces Chike.