/ α: /

Letter(s)                    Phoneme                           Word

                [a, ar]                       / α: /                                 are            45

Sean’s mum wants him to learn art (/α:t/).                           

She wants him to work hard and be smart.

He has to learn the multiplication table by heart. (/hα:t/)

Sean then may go to the park

with a bar of chocolate and an egg tart (tα:t).

Sean thinks his mum,

Mdm Chan is really obsessed with marks.

She even puts all his scores in a chart (/ʧα:t/).

[ a, ar ]             / α: /                 car                                    46

Sean always carries a basket of toy cars                                      

when he goes to the park.

He brings along his mask (/mα:sk/)

and a pack of cards.

He likes to put on his mask

to play cards with his friend, Mark.

Sean’s father, Dr Vet’s pet, Jet gets really excited

when he can go to the park, too.

He yelps and barks so much.

He runs really fast (/fα:st/)

and always runs far ahead of Sean, his master.

When Sean calls Jet to slow down,

Jet seems to run many times faster.

Sean always thinks Jet

a hard nut in shell to crack (kræk).

Sean laughs and laughs (lα:fs) at the thought.

He almost drops the bar of chocolate

and the egg tart.

 [ a, ar ]             / α: /                 car                                    47

Sean’s mum, Mdm Chan likes to take a sun bask                  

near a palm (/p α:m/) tree in her garden (/ˈgα:dn/).

She likes to apply some balm on her palm.

She wants to look calm and charmed (/ʧα:md/).

She likes to take some almond nuts with sardines

and a jar (/ʤα:/) of grape juice

when she basks (/bα:sks/).

[ a, ar ]             / α: /                 car                                    48

Mdm Chan always takes a bath(/bα:θ/)                                                after (α:ftə(r)) half (hα:f) an hour of sun bask. 
She usually takes a bath (/b α:θ/)

at half past three in the afternoon.

When she takes a bath,

she starts singing like a lark in the bath-tub.

Her voice is so sharp (∫α:p).

She often startles the cocks

and hens in the coop

when she sings

at the top of her voice.

  

[ a, ar ]             / α: /                 car                                    49

Mdm Chan goes to supermarket

once in a while.                 

She thinks all the goods

at the supermarket are charged (/ʧα:ʤd/)

at a fixed price.

She cannot bargain at all.

She always thinks it hard and harsh (/hα:∫/)

when all the goods are charged

at a fixed price.

She thinks shopping

at a supermarket is a difficult task (/tα:sk/).

She always has to guard (/gα:d/)

against buying too much.

  

[ a, ar ]             / α: /                 car                                    50

Sean likes to sit on the grass (/grα:s/)

drinking a glass of water                    

and a jar of fruit juice.

Jet, Dr Vet’s pet likes to lie on his stomach (ˈstʌmək)

on the grass eating sardines (/sα:dInz/) and pizza.

Sean and Jet are happy to see the grasshoppers

hopping all over the place (pleIs).

Jet always charges at them hoping

to catch (/kæʧ/) some to eat with sardines and pizza.