First reading.

In the following text, there are three levels of accent. the neutral level is in ordinary print, the accented level is in boldface, and the doubly-accented level is in underlined bolface.

Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an organization that helps alcoholics help themselves. It has been in existence since 1935. It was started by two men who found that they could control their drinking problem by getting support from each other. Since 1935, AA groups have formed all over Canada, the U.S., and in many other countries. Many people believe that it is one of the most effective ways of dealing with the problem of alcoholism.

At a typical AA meeting, a member of the group may tell the story of how he or she became an alcoholic and how his behaviour has affected the lives of the speaker's family. The person may talk about how life has changed since he or she started his or her recovery. Each person has a chance to talk about the speaker's story.

Since it started, AA has been so successful that many other self-help groups have started programs based on the AA model. Today you can find such groups as OA (Overeaters Anonymous), NA (Narcotics Anonymous), ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics), and others. Many people have been able to quit their addictive or problematic behaviour as a result of these self-help groups.

Second reading.

Read and record the following text, in the first paragraph of which the three levels of accent have been indicated to get you started. The neutral level is in ordinary print, the accented level is in boldface, and the doubly-accented level is in underlined boldface.

The refugee crisis has reached cataclysmic proportions. The cataclysm is partly natural, but largely man-made. Drought and famine have caused starvation everywhere, even in the so-called urban centers. The entire northern province has become lifeless and desert-like; only massive foreign intervention and monetary assistance can halt the widening agricultural crisis.

Meanwhile, the country is in the grips of civil war, and the old government is in its death throes. The former social institutions are breathing their last breath. The revolutionary army has demanded that government forces give up and join them. Peace-talks initiated at the beginning of the revolution have long since broken down, which comes as no surprise, as the government’s offers of amnesty are considered suspect, and the insurgents demands boldly self-serving. Citizens sympathetic to the rebel cause have shut down the capital, which today is the very image of despair. Mutinous junior officers have arrested the surviving members of the puppet cabinet, contributing to the general state of paralysis. The shut-down will presumably last until the old dictator leaves, perhaps voluntarily, and the new one takes over.

The foreign minister arrives tomorrow in Washington to discuss the rebels’ ideology and the new national policy. At the White house, he will have to face a barrage of criticism from politicians and political advisors who want the rebels to clarify their ideological position. So far, clarity has not been a characteristic of the rebels’ speeches, and many observers are frankly worried. Photographs from refugee centers reveal evidence of deplorable atrocities, and volunteers for international relief agencies report numerous human rights violations. The rebels have disputed the value of the photographic evidence, claiming that further foreign intervention is unnecessary.