She slept on the BIG bed.

Analyze the question

This is an emphasis (contrastive stress) question. The word in capital letters, BIG, carries the emphatic stress. Emphatic stress is used to correct or contrast one piece of information with another. So the sentence must answer a question that asked about a different size or kind of bed, not about the person, the action, or the position.

Explain the concept

The stressed word is the "new" or "correcting" information. The question that fits the sentence will contain a contrasting word in the same position:

• "She slept on the BIG bed" means: it was the big bed, not the small one.
• The question being answered would therefore suggest a different type of bed, such as "small."

Check each option

• A. Did she sleep under the big bed? The contrast here is under vs on. The stress would fall on "on" (She slept ON the big bed). ✗
• B. Did she sleep on the small bed? The contrast is small vs big. The stress falls on "BIG." ✓
• C. Did she sleep on the big couch? The contrast is couch vs bed. The stress would fall on "BED." ✗
• D. Did he sleep on the big bed? The contrast is he vs she. The stress would fall on "SHE." ✗

Answer

The correct option is B. The emphasised word BIG corrects "small" in the question.

Tip

Find the word that differs between the question and the sentence. That is the word that will carry the emphatic stress. If the stressed word is in capitals, look for the option that changes exactly that word.