Here are the answers to each question:
1. D. did they
2. C. since
3. A. Increased
4. D. would have
5. B. saw
6. B. took
7. D. You're welcome
8. A. followed
9. D. out
10. D. cartoons
Based on the IPA notations, I can analyze the pronunciation of each word and answer the questions.
11. The underlined part differs in pronunciation if it is not a /t/ sound. The words "missed", "wasted", and "dropped" all end with a /t/ sound (/mɪst/, /weɪstɪd/, and /drɑpt/, respectively). However, "laughed" ends with a /ft/ sound, but the sound is /ft/ which can be considered the same sound with the other 3 words. Meanwhile, the sound /t/ is made by the letter "d" in "dropped" (it's a voiced dental stop) while in "missed", "wasted", and "laughed", it's made by the letters "ssed" "sted" and "ghed". Among these 4 options, the sound /t/ in "missed", "wasted", "laughed" are all unvoiced, and among the 3 latter options, "missed" "wasted", and "laughed" all end with a /t/ sound, which is not the case in "dropped" since the /t/ sound in "dropped" is not made by the letters "ssed", "sted", or "ghed" as in the other 3 words, thus it is the odd one out, but "laughed" also differs from "missed" and "wasted" because in "missed", "wasted", the /t/ sound is in the "ssed" and "sted" ending, while in "laughed" it's not the case. Thus we should compare "missed" and "wasted" with "dropped". Between "missed", "wasted", and "dropped", "dropped" is the odd one out because the /t/ sound in "dropped" is a voiced dental stop, but in the 2 other words, it is unvoiced. Considering the options, we would expect an answer where the /t/ sound differs from the other 3 words.
Considering the options we should look for an answer where there are no /t/ sounds like in "missed", "wasted", "dropped". Thus the correct answer is A, "laughed", or more precisely, there are 2 correct answers, "laughed" (with a different ending) and "dropped" (with a /t/ sound voiced, which is not the case in "missed", "wasted", and "laughed"). Between the 2 correct answers, we should pick "dropped" because in "dropped" the /t/ sound is voiced while in "missed", "wasted" and "laughed", it is unvoiced.
Thus the correct answer is D, "dropped".
12. The words "leak", "beach", and "leaf" all end with a /k/, /ʧ/, and /f/ sound, respectively. The word "great" also ends with a /t/ sound (/greɪt/), which is similar to the sound in the other options. However, the sound /t/ is voiced in this word, thus the correct answer is A, "leak", no, because it ends with a /k/ sound. However, "beach" also ends with a different sound /ʧ/. We are looking for the word with a different ending. Thus we should look at "leaf", "leak" "beach" and determine the word that has an ending that is the most different from the other 2 words.
Considering the options we would expect an answer where the ending is a /t/ sound. Between the options "leaf", "leak" and "beach", the word with an ending that is the most different from the other 2 words is "leaf", because "leaf" ends with a /f/ sound while "leak" ends with a /k/ sound, and "beach" ends with a /ʧ/ sound.
However, we have not considered the word "great" yet. Between the options "leak", "beach", "leaf" and "great", "great" is the word that has an ending that is the most different from the other 3 words, because it's the only word that ends with a /t/ sound, voiced.
Thus the correct answer is D, "great".
13.
Analyze:
'account', 'conserve', and 'install' all have stress at the second syllable, while 'faucet' has stress at the first syllable.
Answer: D. faucet
14.
Analyze:
'appliance' has stress at the second syllable, while 'energy', 'natural', and 'furniture' all have stress at the first syllable.
Answer: C. appliance
15. C (should be: They asked me what happened last night, but I was unable to tell them.)
16. B (should be: The woman whose son is excellent in maths lives next door to us.)
17. B (should be: The students laughed happily when they saw the monkeys eating bananas.)
D