- Hello! Welcome to Six Minute Vocabulary with me, Katherine. - And me, Neil.

- 嗨！歡迎來到6分鐘學英語，我是凱瑟琳。 - 我是尼爾。

In this program, we're looking at reporting verbs.

在本次節目中，我們來到「報告動詞」。

They are verbs that we use when we talk about what someone else has said.

這些動詞用來講述某人說過的話。

So verbs like "suggest," "deny" and "insist."

所以像是suggest（言下之意）、deny（否認）和insist（堅稱）這類的動詞。

Let's start by listening to Simon and Simon is a political news reporter.

聽聽看西蒙說的話開始，西蒙是一位新聞記者。

And while you're listening to Simon's news report, here's a question for you to think about.

而當你聽西蒙的新聞播報時，這裡有一個問題要你想想看。

Why did the Minister lie in her previous interview?

為何首相要在先前的採訪中說謊？

In a previous interview, the minister had denied knowing anything about the scandal.

在先前採訪中，首相否認並稱對這起醜聞一無所知。

However, she later apologized for saying this and admitted that she had lied.

然而，她後來為這句話道歉，並承認她撒了謊。

She insisted that she had not intended to cause any harm and suggested that it had been necessary to protect certain important public figures.

她堅持說她無意造成任何傷害，言下之意就是保護某些重要公眾人物的身份是必要的。

When advised to reconsider her position, she had initially demanded to know why, but eventually offered to resign.

在有人建議她重新考慮是否要繼續任職時，她起初要求知道背後的原因，但最後同意請辭。

We asked why did the minister lie in her previous interview?

我們問，為何首相要在先前的採訪中說謊？

And the answer is, she suggested that it had been necessary to protect certain important public figures.

而答案是，她提出，為了保護某些重要的公眾人物，這麼做這是必要的。

Scandal. Now it's interesting that the report uses the verb "suggested," so why didn't Simon use "said?" She said that?

都是醜聞。而有趣的地方在於，這名記者使用了suggested（言下之意）這個動詞，為什麼西蒙不用said（說）這個動詞呢？像是「她說」。

Well, "suggested" tells us that the minister said it, but not in a very strong or direct way and that's because she didn't want to embarrass the important public figures.

好的，suggested這個字告訴我們首相這麼說過，但語氣不是很強烈或直接，因為她不想讓重要的公眾人物難堪。

And that's an example of why reporting verbs are useful.

而這是報告動詞為什麼有用的一個例子。

We can always use "say," "tell" or "ask," but other reporting verbs express slightly different meanings and attitudes.

say（說）、tell（告訴）、ask（問）都可以使用，但這些報告動詞表達了稍微不同的意思和態度。

Yes, they do.

沒錯。

So reporting verbs make your writing or speaking more accurate and more interesting, too.

所以，報告動詞也使你的寫作或說話更準確、更有趣。

Now, listen for more reporting verbs in this clip.

現在，聽聽這個片段中更多的報告動詞。

In a previous interview, the minister had denied knowing anything about the scandal.

在先前的採訪中，首相否認並稱對這樁醜聞一無所知。

However, she later apologized for saying this and admitted that she had lied.

然而，她後來為這句話道歉，並承認她撒了謊。

So we heard "denied knowing anything."

我們聽到了「否認知情任何事」。

"Denied" has a negative meaning.

Denied否認有負面含義。

It means she said she didn't know anything about the scandal.

這意味著她說她對這個醜聞一無所知。

Yes, but then she apologized for saying this.

沒錯，但後來她為說這句話道歉了。

She said she was sorry for saying this.

她說她很抱歉這麼說。

And lastly she admitted that she had lied.

最後，她承認她撒了謊。

"Admit" is the opposite of "deny."

Admit（承認）是deny（否認）的反義詞。

It means you say that something is true.

這意味著你說的東西是真的。

We usually use "admit" when someone has to say that something is true although they would prefer not to.

僅管某人不願意說出口，但其不得不說某件事情是真實的時，我們通常使用admit（承認）。

And now on to the next clip.

而現在到了下一個片段。

She insisted that she had not intended to cause any harm and suggested that it had been necessary to protect certain important public figures.

她堅稱她非有意造成任何傷害，而言下之意即保護某些重要公眾人物是必要的。

We heard the verb "insisted."

我們聽到了動詞insisted（堅稱）。

To insist means to say something strongly, especially when other people say something different.

堅稱某物代表語氣很強烈，特別是在其他人有不同看法時。

Yes. So the minister said strongly that it was incorrect that she'd intended to cause harm.

沒錯。所以部長強烈表示說她有意造成傷害是不正確的。

Now we've already looked at the verb "suggest," but it's worth noticing that "insist," "suggest" and "admit" are all followed by a "that clause" in the news report.

我們已經看過了動詞suggest（言下之意），但值得注意的是，在新聞報道中，insist（堅稱）、suggest（言下之意）和admit（承認）後面都有that所帶出的子句。

Yes. So for example, she suggested that it had been necessary.

沒錯，舉例而言，「她言下之意指出這是必要之舉」。

But we often leave the word "that" out so - she suggested it had been necessary.

但我們通常會省略that這個字，所以就會是「她言下之意指出這是必要之舉。」（此句沒有that）

Other reporting verbs have different patterns.

其他報告動詞有不同的形式。

Some verbs are followed by a verb plus i-n-g.

有些動詞後面是動詞加ing。

Such as "deny."

如deny（否認）。

And some are followed by to plus an infinitive.

有些後面跟著 to 加不定詞。

And you'll hear three examples of this in our final clip.

你會在我們最後一個片段中聽到這三個例子。

When advised to reconsider her position, she had initially demanded to know why but eventually offered to resign.

在有人建議她重新考慮是否要繼續任職時，她起初要求知道背後的原因，但最後同意請辭。

Right. We heard "advised," which means "told" but in a polite or indirect way.

是的。我們聽到了advised（建議），代表著用有禮貌或比較間接的方式去「告訴」。

And "demanded," which means "asked" in a slightly aggressive way.

而demanded（要求）代表asked（問），但稍微有些攻擊性。

And finally she offered to resign.

最後她提出辭職。

So she said that she was willing to resign if that's what people wanted.

她說，如果那是人們想要的，她願意辭職。

It's quiz time.

現在是測驗時間。

Which three reporting verbs from the show today can you use instead of "said" in these sentences?

你可以用今天節目中的哪三個報告動詞來代替第一句中的said（說）？

Number one. I didn't believe her at first but she "said" that it was true.

一、我起初不相信她，但她said（說）這是真的。

It's "insisted." She "insisted" that it was true.

她insisted（堅稱）是真的。

That's right. Well done.

這就對了。做得好。

Number two. When questioned by the police the boy said that he had stolen the car.

二、當警察詢問時，男孩說他偷了車。

So the boy "admitted" that he had stolen the car.

所以，這個男孩admitted（承認）他偷了車。

Number three. Several people have said that there's a possibility that the actor's marriage might be in trouble.

三、一些人說這位名演員的婚姻有可能出問題了。

And the answer is "suggested."

答案是suggested（言下之意）。

It is! And that's the end of the quiz.

沒錯！測驗告一段落了。

Congratulations if you got them all right.

如果你全對的話，恭喜你！

Well done indeed and finally here's a top tip to help you learn new words more quickly.

做得好！而最後這裡有一個幫助你學習單字更快的最終小技巧。

Keep a list of reporting verbs and study their meanings.

製作一份報告動詞列表並研究他們的含義。

When you're writing, every time you use the words "said," "asked" or "told," check your list to see if there's a different verb that you can use in that context to add variety to your english.

寫作若要用到said（說）、asked（問）、或told（告訴）時，回去查查看這份列表，看看是不是有不同的動詞用法能夠使用，藉此增加英文文章的多樣性。

And there's more about this at bbclearningenglish.com

更多相關內容都在bbclearningenglish.com

Join us again soon for more Six Minute Vocabulary.

歡迎再次加入六分鐘學英文。

Bye.

掰。