To answer these questions, we need to compare the pronunciation of each word in the options.
Question 1: A. honor B. happy C. honest D. hour
The underlined parts are "h" in all options, but the actual difference lies in the first vowel sound. In "happy", the first vowel sound is /æ/ (as in "cat"), while in the other options, the first vowel sound is /ɑ/ (as in "father") for "honor" and "honest", and /aʊ/ (as in "now") for "hour". However, we need to focus on the underlined "h". We should consider that "hour" starts with /aʊ/ while the other three words start with /h/. So the answer is D. hour.
Question 2: A. hardship B. picture C. various D. item
The underlined parts are the first consonant sound of each word. However, looking at the first vowel sound will not be helpful here, so we should look at the consonant sounds. All options but one start with a voiceless consonant sound /h/, /p/, /v/. The answer is B. picture (no, because picture starts with /p/ which is also voiceless) and A. hardship (no, because hardship starts with /h/ which is also voiceless). Wait, various starts with /v/ which is also voiceless but can be voiced sometimes. The answer should be D. item (no, because item starts with /aɪ/ and this /aɪ/ starts with a vowel sound, not a consonant sound, but among the choices, item is the only one that starts with a vowel sound while the other options start with a consonant sound, so this analysis is helpful to determine the answer). But hardship and picture start with voiceless /h/ and /p/ respectively, so they are not different from the other two options in terms of the voiceless consonant sound. Item is different, but the answer is various. What is the actual difference? The actual difference lies in the fact that "various" is the only word among the options that starts with a labiodental fricative /v/, which is sometimes voiced, while the other words start with a voiceless sound (/p/, /h/, none). No. The answer should be various (no) and item (yes).
Analyze:
'confident' stressed at first syllable
'animal' stressed at first syllable
'similar' stressed at first syllable
'attention' stressed at second syllable
The other three words 'confident', 'animal', 'similar' are stressed at first syllable. However, 'attention' is stressed at second syllable.
Answer: D. attention
Analyze:
'follow' stressed at first syllable
'improve' stressed at second syllable
'allow' stressed at second syllable
'invent' stressed at second syllable
The other three words 'improve', 'allow', 'invent' are stressed at second syllable. However, 'follow' is stressed at first syllable.
Answer: A. follow
Here are the answers to the given questions:
5. A. benefits
6. A. therefore
7. D. am
8. C. to buy
9. A. ever been bitten
10. B. Therefore
11. B. has risen
12. D. was stolen
13. B. to play
14. A. exciting
15. D. will be cleaned
I'll fill in the blanks for you.
16. A - is
17. D - donate
18. B - have