8. / θ ð /

Consonant pair   / θ    ð /            [ th ]         140

Soo bathes (/beIðz/) her pet cat, Nuzz once a week.

Nuzz does not like to have a bath (/bα:θ/).

She finds it hard to breathe (/bri:ð/).

She tends to hold her breath (/breθ/)

when Soo bathes her.

Then Soo wipes her with a piece of cloth

before she helps her to put on some clothes.

Nuzz hates all these (ði:z).

How she wishes (/ˈwIʃəz/) she could tell Soo the truth.

She has so little faith in water to keep clean.

She has her way

to keep herself spick and span.

She wishes Soo would leave her alone

and minds her own business.

Consonant pairs         / θ    ð /    [ th ]         141

Sean’s pet hamster Fine-I has given birth (/bз:θ/)

to three little ones.

He wants to keep two hamsters, for sure.

He will give the third (θз:d) hamster to Jean, his sister.

He always reminds Jean, his sister

to take good care of the health (/helθ/) of her hamster.

He always sees his hamster a kind of wealth (welθ) he has.

Sean likes to look at his hamsters

eating nuts, seeds and grains.

He thinks they really have strong teeth (ti:θ).

They could crack open any nuts

no matter how hard they are.

Sean wonders

whether (/ˈweðǝ(r)/)  they suffer any toothache.

Consonant pair      / θ     ð /                142

Hed knows “Health is more important than wealth (welθ).”

He also thinks you just cannot buy health  

with your wealth.

He knows he has to be in good health

to enjoy his life to the fullest.

He must listen to his mother (/ˈmʌðǝ(r)/)

to exercise every day.

He will jog with his father (/fα:ðǝ(r)/)

along the path (/pɑ:θ/) every morning or evening.

He thinks he should try to eat less bread.

But he knows it is not an easy thing to do.