Practice 1

Practice 1

Who Said It? Identifying a Person's Voice

    It is sometimes of crucial importance in a court case to identify recordings of voices on tape. A defendant whose voice is supposed to have been recorded will argue that it was not of really his or her voice while the prosecutors will do their best to establish that it was his or her voice. This is precisely where the contribution of the forensic linguist is so vital. Forensic linguists are often asked to judge whether a recording is genuine or not. Their task is far from easy, and there must always exist some doubt, however small, about their decision.
    It is especially difficult to identify with any degree of certainty a certain voice on a tape, especially a voice heard in a recorded telephone conversation. As yet, there is scarcely anything in a voice which can be regarded as unique to an individual. Unlike fingerprints, which are different for each individual, there is no such thing as a "voice print”. Consequently, it is impossible to express the results of identifying someone's voice with complete certainty. The problems are numerous - some people are mimics while others change their voice either consciously or subconsciously as a result of psychological factors such as stress. A number of people even change their voice according to whom they are addressing. Voice identification becomes even less certain when recordings of telephone calls are compared with the live voice of a particular individual or even with other recordings made under studio conditions.
    Fortunately, there are types of auditory tests which are reasonably accurate when conducted by qualified phoneticians. Such tests usually include a study of the so-called hesitation features of speech - the pauses, the clearing of the, throat, and the "ums" and "ers" all of which are so common to native speakers of a language and all of which often vary among social groups and regions as well as from one individual to another.
    When forensic phoneticians examine a particular voice, they compare it with known samples of the speech of the individual, one section at a time. Detailed notes are taken of speech patterns as well as the rhythm of speech.
    First of all, the phoneticians will probably listen to the way in which the vowel and consonant sounds are pronounced, using a special phonetic alphabet. This phonetic alphabet contains far more symbols than the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet, with which people are familiar. Its use makes it possible, for example, not only to note that someone pronounced the consonant "t", but also to record what kind of "t" it was, i.e., how far advanced in the mouth the tongue was when it articulated the mouth the tongue was when it articulated the sound, whether the end of the tongue was curled back, and whether it was pronounced with the actual tip of the tongue or not. Next, intonation (the rise and fall in voice pitch), voice quality, and the resonance of the speech (whether it is clear, deep, etc.) are all carefully examined. Finally, the samples of speech which have been examined are played side by side with known samples of the person's speech.
    It is important to note, however, in the case of recorded telephone conversations, that the voices recorded must first be passed through filters to reproduce the way high frequencies are lost over the telephone before any analysis can be attempted.
    Increasingly the world of high-technology is being used to play an important part in voice identification. A useful feature today is the use of the computer to analyze the average pitch of the voice, making it possible to compare the sample under examination with the known sample. Research conducted by the German police has shown that a person has a relatively stable pitch which can help in identifying their voice.
    One of the most important techniques for analyzing samples of voice recordings, however, is the speech spectrogram - A recording of someone's spectrogram, showing the amount and duration of voice energy in a given frequency band. These so-called voice prints were used in the United States during the 1960s but unfortunately at that time too much faith was attached to such voice prints. Today such voice prints are considered useful if used with other tests.

I. INFERRING

    Decide whether the following statements about the reading text are TRUE or FALSE. When there is not enough information to decide, put a question mark.
1. Voices in telephone conversations which have been recorded can never be identified with complete certainty.
2. Attempts are made to use voice prints as evidence in courts in the same way as fingerprints are used.
3. Forensic linguists have no difficulty in deciding when a person is mimicking someone else.
4. Stress can be one factor in causing changes to someone's voice.
5. Hesitation features are very useful for voice identification in a few cases as they offer a means of identifying learners of English at various stages.
6. Forensic linguists will concentrate on the actual words someone has spoken rather than on so-called hesitation features.
7. Speech patterns and rhythm can vary among social groups and regions.
8. There are more symbols in the phonetic alphabets used by forensic linguists than there are letters in the Roman alphabet.
9. It is important for phoneticians to write down not only the consonants and vowels used by a person but also the different way the same consonant or vowel has been produced.
10. Intonation is the name given to the clarity and depth of the voice.
11. Voice quality can sometimes be influenced by a person's intonation.
12. It is necessary to eliminate the high frequencies of voices in recordings of telephone. Conversations so that the voices can be compared more easily with someone's known voice.
13. One of the difficulties in using a computer is in determining the average pitch of a voice.
14. Spectrograms are very useful in voice identification when used with other tests.

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II. SUMMARISING

    1. Put the following events in their correct order according to the text. Type the number in the box before each sentence.
a. They carefully examine intonation, voice quality and speech resonance.
b. They compare speech samples by playing them side by side.
c. They pass the recorded voices through a special kind of filter.
d. They study the pronunciation of vowel and consonant sounds, using a special phonetic alphabet.

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    2. Several words have been omitted from the following text. First read the text as quickly as you can in order to understand the general meaning. Then read the text carefully and complete each blank with the most appropriate word.
    Phoneticians are increasingly becoming involved as witnesses in (1) cases. As a result, a new science - the science of forensic linguistics - has been (2) . These linguists are now frequently asked to examine a (3) of someone's voice and provide evidence concerning the (4) of the person whose voice is on the tape. When they analyze a voice, they are concerned just as much by hesitation features as the actual (5)  spoken. Recorded samples of (6) are played section by section and compared with other samples spoken by people who are known. Speech patterns and rhythms are (7) as the way in which (8) and consonants are pronounced. A special phonetic alphabet has been devised to (9) different ways of pronouncing the same consonant, etc. Such an (10) contains far more symbols than the 26 (11) in the Roman alphabet. Unfortunately, it is often very (12) to identify voices recorded in conversations, and special filters are (13) to overcome the lack of high frequencies in such recordings. All kinds of modern (14) is now used, chiefly in the form of computers and spectrograms. The former device is (15) of analyzing the average pitch of someone's (16) while the (17) device shows the amount of voice energy used for certain frequencies. These voice prints, as they are often (18) are extremely valuable when used together with other tests.

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Shielding Brooke

I. UNDERSTANDING TEXT ORGANIZATION

    The following passage is taken from an article about the American film actress, Brooke Shields. There are a number of sentences missing from the passage. Read it through and decide where the following sentences should go.
    Suggestions:
    - Find the main ideas of the paragraphs, then put the relevant given sentences into the paragraphs.
    - Find what the personal pronouns (he, she, it, they, him, her, them) refer to.
    Base on the stylistic device called parallel construction or parallelism (the repetition of identical or similar syntactical structure in two or more sentences in close succession). The writer uses this stylistic device in order to achieve some effects: in this passage, the writer wants to emphasize diversity and contrast of ideas.

a) A serious student or a movie star ? b) She is also introspective. c) Or will she stay inside the image her mother has created for her and remain a sexy model, a pretty face which will fade in time? d) And that famous face! e) The marriage only lasted a few weeks after Brooke was born. f) She looks like a housewife. g) Now they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. h) Brooke's height and looks come from her father's side.

   He's a tall girl, almost gangling (5ft 1 lins). She walks into the room, looking straight ahead and sits down gracefully on a French chair and smiles. At eighteen, she already has a presence. (1) A complexion like honey and cream, green eyes skillfully made up, that gaze at you bright and clear, the dark eyebrows accentuating her bone structure.
    Her mother, Teri Shields, 49, hovers nearby, as always, gleaming with pride. She stage-manages the interview, interrupting when she thinks it's necessary. At five feet four inches, she is cheerfully large big breasted, plump and dressed casually in slacks and suede shirt, without makeup. (2) In fact she has built up he daughter's career since she was eleven months old and appeared in a soap commercial.
    Who is the real Brooke Shields? Sexy teenage siren or a sweet romantic girl? (3) All of these? Or none? There are two keys to Brooke's personality: her looks and her mother.
    (4) She inherited the Shields looks and athleticism, being an excellent rider and an all all-round athlete. Her father is now an executive with a consulting firm, living in Manhattan with his second wife Didi.
    Brooke's mother, born Ten Schmon, is from a poor and devout Roman Catholic background. At 31 she was managing a small restaurant when handsome Frank Shields walked in one night. (5)
    Teri Schmon Shields has worked all her life, and so has Brooke, (6) Since 1980 their average yearly income has been $1 million. Brooke Shields and Company has only one product: Brooke Shields.
    Not surprisingly, Brooke is shy with strangers. She is serious about her studies at Princeton, and quite brainy, (7)
    Brooke is unwavering in her ambition to become an even better film star. When she talks about acting she gets interested and comes across as a very nice girl who would really like to get to grips with her profession.
    At eighteen, will Brookie, as her friends call her, now come out of her shell, assert her own personality which is really very appealing - and then go on to real acting, unafraid to show her emotions? (8)

(Rosemary Wittman Lamb in the Sunday Express magazine)

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II. EXTRACTING MAIN IDEAS

    Choose a suitable heading for each paragraph from the list below. Type the number of the paragraph in the box.
a) Mother's roots
b) Behind the facade
c) Mothering Brooke
d) What next for Brooke?
e) First impressions
f) Brooke on acting.
g) A split personality?
i) The family business

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III. DEALING WITH UNFAMILIAR WORDS

Suggestions:
    You can understand the general sense or the passage as a whole without knowing what every word means. These techniques may help you:
- Decide whether you need to understand the exact meaning of the unfamiliar word in order to understand the general sense or the passage.
- Decide what part of speech the word is.
- Look in the context for clues to its general sense.
- Read on and confirm or revise your guess.
1. The following sentences are taken from the passage, but in each, there is one word missing. Without looking back at the passage, think of suitable words to fill the blanks. Write down any word which you think might fill in the blank.
Example : a) skin, texture, complexion
a) 'And that famous face! A like honey and cream.'
b) 'Green eyes skillfully made up that at you bright and clear.'
c) 'Who is the real Brooke Shields? Sexy teenage or a sweet romantic girl?'
d) 'Brooke's height and looks come from her father's side. She the Shields looks and athleticism.'
e) 'She is serious about her studies and quite .'
f) 'Will Brookie (...) now come out of her , assert her own personality?'

Answer Key:

    Look at the passage to check whether you guessed correctly. If the word you guessed wasn't exactly the word in the passage, read on and decide whether it means more or less the same.
2. There may be other words in the passage which you don't understand. Use the four techniques to guess their general meaning.

IV. INFERRING

    Work in pairs. Discuss what evidence there is in the passage for the following statements.
a) The writer thinks Brooke is attractive.

Example:

a) The writer thinks Brooke is attractive because he describes her as 'a sexy teenage siren.'

b) Brooke's looks do not come from her mother.

c) Brooke's mother is a competent business woman.

d) Brooke does not live with her father.

e) Brooke is not quite grown up yet.

f) Brooke is firmly controlled by her mother.

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