Concept:The phonetic symbol /ɜː/ represents a long vowel sound heard in words like "her" and "bird".Explanation:The word "scourge" is pronounced with the /ɜː/ sound.The options "water", "heart", and "shears" contain different vowel sounds: /ɔː/, /ɑː/, and /ɪə/ respectively.Only "scourge" matches the given phonetic symbol.Answer:A. scourge