Human Speech System Quiz

You can do this quiz online or print it on paper. It tests what you learned on the Human Speech System page.

1. Which part of the human speech system causes air to vibrate?

the lungs
the voice box
the vocal tract
a) the lungs b) the voice box c) the vocal tract

2. Where does this air come from?

the lungs
the voice box
the vocal tract
a) the lungs b) the voice box c) the vocal tract

3. Vibrating air is shaped into speech sounds and words in

the lungs
the voice box
the vocal tract
a) the lungs b) the voice box c) the vocal tract

4. The vocal tract includes the cavities (or spaces) inside

the lungs and the mouth
the mouth and the nose
the mouth, nose and lungs
a) the lungs and the mouth b) the mouth and the nose c) the mouth, nose and lungs

5. Air that passes freely through these cavities without being blocked can form

vowel sounds
consonant sounds
any speech sound
a) vowel sounds b) consonant sounds c) any speech sound

6. Air can be blocked by touching together two or more of the lips, tongue, teeth, top of the mouth and the back of the

nose
hand
throat
a) nose b) hand c) throat

7. Which speech sounds are made by blocking air in this way?

syllables
vowels
consonants
a) syllables b) vowels c) consonants

8. A meaningless unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound with or without surrounding consonant sounds is

a syllable
a word
a letter
a) a syllable b) a word c) a letter

9. How many syllables are in the word "elephant"?

two
three
four
a) two b) three c) four

10. Which word contains one vowel sound and two consonant sounds?

cat
two
any
a) cat b) two c) any

Your score is:

Correct answers:

Contributor: Matt Errey. Matt is the author of several books including 1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context and Common English Idioms for learners, and Matt's ESL Games and Quizzes for teachers.