1. The Rainbow Passage

2. The Rainbow Passage
When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors.

3. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon.

4. There is , according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end
There is , according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

5. There
according
legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

6. Throughout the centuries people have explained the rainbow in various ways. Some have accepted it as a miracle without physical explanation. To the Hebrews it was a token that there would be no more universal floods.

7. The Greeks used to imagine that it was a sign from the gods to foretell war or heavy rain. The Norsemen considered the rainbow as a bridge over which the gods passed from earth to their home in the sky. Others have tried to explain the phenomenon physically.

8. Aristotle thought that the rainbow was caused by reflection of the sun's rays by the rain. Since then physicists have found that it is not reflection, but refraction by the raindrops which causes the rainbows.

9. Many complicated ideas about the rainbow have been formed
Many complicated ideas about the rainbow have been formed. The difference in the rainbow depends considerably upon the size of the drops, and the width of the colored band increases as the size of the drops increases.

10. The actual primary rainbow observed is said to be the effect of super-imposition of a number of bows.

11. If the red of the second bow falls upon the green of the first, the result is to give a bow with an abnormally wide yellow band, since red and green light when mixed form yellow.

12. This is a very common type of bow, one showing mainly red and yellow, with little or no green or blue.

13. The Rainbow Passage, a public domain text, can be found on page 127 of the 2nd edition of Grant Fairbanks' Voice and Articulation Drillbook. New York: Harper & Row.

14. Copyright © 2013 Excellent Global Comercial Ltda. All rights reserved.

15. (Phonemes) Possible Spellings (Phonograms)
Vowel Sounds
(Phonemes) Possible Spellings (Phonograms)

16. Long Vowels (They say their own name.)

17. /ā/ /ē/ /ī/ /ō/ /ū/

18. Long /ā/ a as in baby (at the end of a syllable or word)
a-e a-e as in cake
ai as in rain (at the beginning or middle of a syllable or word)
ay as in day (at the end of a syllable or word)
ea as in break, great, steak (only 3 words use this spelling)
ei as in vein
eigh as in eight
ey as in they

19. Long /ē/ e as in me ea as in eat ee as in feet
y as in candy (at the end of a word with two or more syllables)
e-e as in these
ei as in ceiling
ey as in key
ie as in chief

20. Long /ī/ i as in cry i-e as in pine igh as in light y as in cry
ie as in pie (chief)
y-e as in type

21. Long /ō/
o as in go
oa as in boat (beginning or middle of syllable or word)
o-e as in home
ow as in snow
oe as in doe, foe, hoe, Joe, Poe, roe, toe, woe
ough as in dough

22. Long /ū/ u as in music u-e as in cube ew as in few eu as in feud
ue as in rescue

23. /ā/ /ē/ /ī/ /ō/ /ū/ /ă/ /ĕ/ /ĭ/ /ŏ/ /ŭ/

24. Short Vowels

25. short /ă/
a as in bat

26. short /ĕ/
e as in net
ea as in bread

27. short /ĭ/
i as in kit
y as in gym

28. short /ŏ/
o as in hot
ou(gh) as in cough

29. short /ŭ/ u as in cut o as in other
ə unaccented vowel as in above, synthesis, decimal, harmony, medium, syringe
ou(gh) as in rough

30. R-controlled Vowels

31. /or/
or as in ford
ar as in war (after a w)

32. /ar/
ar as in car

33. /er/ er as in her ir as in bird ur as in burn
ar as in collar (unaccented syllable)
ear as in learn
or as in doctor (unaccented syllable)
or as in worm (after a w)

34. /air/
air as in fair
are as in care
ear as in bear
err as in merry

35. Diphthongs

36. /au/ a as in ball (and after a w as in water) au as in haul
aw as in draw (usually at the end of the syllable or word)

37. /ou/
ou as in out
ow as in cow
ough as in bough

38. /oi/ oi as in oil (beginning or middle of a word)
oy as in boy (end of a word except for royal and oyster)

39. /oo/ Long /oo/ oo as in moon ew as in grew ou as in soup
ough as in slough
u as in tulip
ue as in true
u-e as in rule

40. /oo/ Short /oo/ oo as in book u as in put
* ə This is the symbol of the schwa sound. Any vowel may say /ŭ/ when in an unaccented syllable of a multisyllabic word. Any R-controlled vowel can say /er/ in an unaccented syllable.

41. Consonant Sounds Possible Spellings

42. /b/
b as in bed

43. /d/
d as in dig

44. /f/
f as in fan
ph as in phone
gh as in laugh and cough

45. /g/
g as in good

46. /h/
h as in him

47. /j/ j as in jam g as in gem (when g is followed by e, i, or y)
dge as in judge (1-syllable word directly after 1 short vowel)

48. /k/
k as in kit
c as in cat
ck as in luck (1-syllable word directly after 1 short vowel)

49. /l/
l as in lamp

50. /m/
m as in map

51. /n/
n as in no
gn as in gnat and sign
kn as in knock

52. /p/
p as in pig

53. /r/
r as in rug
wr as in wren

54. /s/
s as in sun
c as in cent (when c is followed by e, i, or y)

55. /t/
t as in top

56. /v/
v as in van

57. /w/
w as in wet

58. /y/
y as in yes

59. /z/
z as in zoo
s as in has and nose

60. /ch/
ch as in chin
tch as in match (1-syllable word directly after 1 short vowel)

61. /sh/
sh as in ship

62. /zh/
s as in treasure and vision

63. /th/
th as in these (th is voiced)

64. /th/
th as in thistle (th is unvoiced)

65. /wh/
wh as in whale

66. /ng/
ng as in ring

67. These letters are not represented because they don’t have their own unique sound.
c borrows the sounds of /k/ and /s/
q is the combination of /kw/
x is the combination of /ks/ (box) or /gz/ (exist)