WAEC 2021 English Language · Question 97

/ʊə/ — choose the word that contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbol

Question

From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbol. /ʊə/

A.pour
B.count
C.tour
D.dear

Answer: C. tour

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question: You are asked to find the word that contains the diphthong /ʊə/. This is the sound in words like "poor", "sure" and "cure".

Concept: /ʊə/ is a centring diphthong. It starts with the short, rounded "oo" sound /ʊ/ (as in "put") and glides to the weak vowel /ə/ (the "uh" sound at the end).

Transcribe each option:

A. pour is /pɔː/. It has the long vowel /ɔː/, the same sound as in "paw". In standard Nigerian and British English it is not /ʊə/.
B. count is /kaʊnt/. It has the diphthong /aʊ/, as in "cow".
C. tour is /tʊə/. It has the /ʊə/ sound, so this matches.
D. dear is /dɪə/. It has the diphthong /ɪə/, as in "here".

Answer: The word that contains /ʊə/ is tour, which is option C.

Exam tip: The three centring diphthongs are often confused:

/ɪə/ as in dear, here, beer
/eə/ as in care, hair, there
/ʊə/ as in tour, poor, cure, sure

"Pour" and "poor" look and sound close, but "pour" is usually /pɔː/ and "poor" is /pʊə/. Watch for this trap in exams.

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