How to Use Can, Could and Be Able To - English Modal Verbs for Ability

英语语法 - 情态动词 能力

696,161 views ・ 2015-04-13

Oxford Online English


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00:01
Hello, I'm Oli.
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您好,我是Oli。
00:02
Welcome to Oxford Online English.
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欢迎来到Oxford Online English。
00:05
In this lesson, you can learn about using modal verbs to express ability.
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在本节课里,您可以学习使用 情态动词来表达能力。
00:10
If you don't know what modal verbs are, or why you should care about them, watch this
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如果您不知道情态动词是什么, 或者为什么您必须留意它们,
00:14
lesson, which gives you an introduction to the topic.
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看可以给您一个介绍 本主题的这个课程。
00:18
So in this lesson, we're going to focus on using the verbs 'can' and 'could' to talk
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所以在这节课,我们会关注 使用动词“can‘和”could“来
00:24
about ability.
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谈论能力。
00:26
You will also learn about the verbs 'be able to' and 'managed to'.
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您也会学习动词”be able to“ 和”managed to“。
00:30
These verbs are not modal verbs, but we can't use 'can' or 'could' in every situation to
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这些动词不是情态动词,但是我们不能 在每一种情形下使用”can“或
00:36
talk about ability, so we sometimes need to use a different, non-modal verb.
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”could“去谈论能力,所以我们有时 需要使用不同的、非情态动词。
00:43
First of all, let's look at using 'can' and 'could' to talk about ability.
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首先,我们看看使用”can“和 ”could“来谈论能力。
00:49
You can use 'can' to talk about abilities in the present or the future.
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您可以使用”can“现在式或 将来式来谈论能力。
00:54
For example: "She can speak Spanish very well."
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例如:”She can speak Spanish very well.“
00:57
Or: "Can you come with us on Saturday?"
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或者:”Can you come with us on Saturday?“
01:02
You can also use 'could' to talk about general abilities in the past.
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您也能使用”could“过去式 来谈论一般能力。
01:07
For example: "I could run much faster when I was younger."
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例如:”I could run much faster when I was younger.“
01:11
'When I was younger' is a general ability, so I could run faster any time I wanted.
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”When I was younger“是一般能力, 所以我随时都可以跑得很快。
01:18
"She could play the violin when she was a child."
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”She could play the violin when she was a child.“
01:22
Again, this is a general ability about a longer period in the past.
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同样,这是一个在过去 长期有的一般能力。
01:28
This is quite simple, and I'm sure you're familiar with it.
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这十分简单,以及 我确定您了解它。
01:31
However, there are many situations where you can't use 'can' or 'could' to talk about ability,
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然而,有很多您不能使用”can“或 ”could“来谈论能力的情形,
01:38
and we need to use a different verb.
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我们需要使用不同的动词。
01:40
One of these verbs is 'be able to'.
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这些动词中的一个是"be able to"。
01:44
Generally, 'can' and 'be able to' have the same meaning.
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通常来说,”can“和”be able to“ 有相同的意思。
01:47
So, you can usually use either verb without any difference in meaning: "She can speak
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所以,您可以常用任何一个动词而没有 任何含义上的差别:”She can speak
01:54
Spanish very well," or: "She's able to speak Spanish very well."
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Spanish very well," 或:“She's able to speak Spanish very well.”
01:59
These two sentences have the same meaning.
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这是两个有相同意思的句子。
02:02
"I could run much faster when I was younger," or: "I was able to run much faster when I
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“I could run much faster when I was younger,” 或:“I was able to run much faster when I
02:09
was younger."
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was younger.”
02:10
Again, there's no difference in meaning between these two sentences.
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同样,在这两个句子之间 没有意思上的差别。
02:14
However, you can't use 'can' or 'could' in every verb tense.
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然而,您不能在每一个动词 时态使用“can”或“could”。
02:19
If you want to use, for example, the present perfect form, there's no form of 'can' or
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如果您想用,例如,现在 完成式,没有
02:25
'could' which you can use.
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您能用的“can”或”could“。
02:28
So in these cases, you need to use a form of 'be able to'.
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那么在这些事例中,您需要使用 ”be able to“的一个形式。
02:34
For example: "He's been able to swim since he was two years old."
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例如:”He's been able to swim since he was two years old.“
02:39
There's no way to use 'can' or 'could' in this sentence and keep the same meaning.
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在这个句子里,没办法使用”can“或 ”could“并保留相同的意思。
02:44
We have to use 'be able to'.
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我们必须使用”be able to“。
02:46
"I like being able to choose my own working hours."
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”I like being able to choose my own working hours.“
02:51
After the verb 'like', we need a verb with '-ing', so we need to use 'be able to'.
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在动词”like“之后,我们需要一个带”-ing“的动词, 这样我们需要使用”be able to“。
02:56
Again, there's no way to use 'can' or 'could' in this sentence.
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同样,没办法在这个句子里 使用”can“或”could“。
03:01
There are many cases like this.
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有很多类似这样的例子。
03:04
Generally, if you have a choice, it's better to use 'can' or 'could', because it makes
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通常来说,如果您有一个选择,最好是使用 ”can“或”could“,因为它
03:08
your sentence simpler and shorter.
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会让您的句子更简单并更短。
03:11
We sometimes choose to use 'be able to', even when 'can' or 'could' are possible, because
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我们有时选择使用”be able to“,即使在 ”can“或”could“可以用时,因为
03:17
it sounds more formal.
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那听上去更正式。
03:19
OK, now let's look at ability in the past: 'could' vs. 'be able to'.
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好,现在过去时态下的能力: “could” vs“be able to”。
03:25
This gets a little bit more complicated.
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这有点复杂。
03:28
Let's look at an example sentence: "The traffic was really bad, but we could catch our train."
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我们来看一个例句:“The traffic was really bad, but we could catch our train.”
03:36
Does it sound right to you?
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那听起来对吗?
03:37
What do you think?
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您怎么想?
03:40
If you said it sounds wrong, you're actually correct; this sentence is not right, it's
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如果您说听起来是错的,您实际上是 正确的;这个句子不正确,
03:45
not possible.
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那是不可能的。
03:46
Do you know why?
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您知道为什么吗?
03:48
The answer is this sentence is talking about a specific ability at a specific moment in
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在这个句子里的回答是在谈论 一个在过去的特定
03:55
the past.
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时刻的特定能力。
03:58
In this case, you can't use 'could'; you need to use a different verb.
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在这个事例里,您不能使用“could”; 您要用一个不同的动词。
04:04
You could say: "The traffic was really bad, but we were able to catch our train."
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您可以说:“The traffic was really bad, but we were able to catch our train.”
04:09
Or: "The traffic was really bad, but we managed to catch our train."
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或者:“The traffic was really bad, but we managed to catch our train.”
04:15
In both of these sentences, we're talking about one moment, one train.
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在这两个句子,我们在谈论 一个时刻、一部火车。
04:20
It's a specific situation; that means we can't use 'could'; we must use 'be able to' or 'managed
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那是一个特定的情形;那意味着我们不能用 “could”;我们必须用“be able to”
04:30
to'.
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或者“managed to”。
04:32
Let's look at some more examples.
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我们来看一些例子。
04:34
"It was hard work, but we managed to finish everything on time."
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“It was hard work, but we managed to finish everything on time.”
04:39
That means we finished something specific, at a specific moment.
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那意思是我们在特定时刻完成了 某些特定的事情。
04:44
"Our car broke down on the way, but luckily I was able to fix it."
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"Our car broke down on the way, but luckily I was able to fix it."
04:49
I fixed it at a specific moment; it wasn't a general thing.
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我在某个特定的时刻修好它;那 不是一件一般的事情。
04:55
There's one more important point here, which makes it even a little bit more complicated.
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在这里,有一个要点,甚至让它 变得有一点更复杂。
05:00
This difference between general and specific situations only applies to positive sentences.
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一般情形和特定情形之间的 区别仅适用于肯定句。
05:08
If your sentence is negative, there's no difference between 'could' and 'be able to'.
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如果您的句子是否定的, “could”和 “be able to”之间没有区别。
05:13
It's like most other cases: you can choose which verb to use and it doesn't matter.
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那就像大多数的事例:您能选择 用哪一个动词,那没有问题。
05:19
"It was hard work, and we couldn't finish everything on time."
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"It was hard work, and we couldn't finish everything on time."
05:24
Or: "It was hard work, and we weren't able to finish everything on time."
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或者: "It was hard work, and we weren't able to finish everything on time."
05:31
Because these sentences are negative, it doesn't matter if the situation is general or specific;
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因为这些句子是否定的,无论情形是一般的 或特定的,它都没有问题;
05:37
it's now possible to use both forms: 'couldn't' or 'weren't able to'.
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用两个形式也是可能的:“couldn't” 或“weren't able to”。
05:41
Again, there's no difference in meaning in this case.
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同样, 在这个例子, 意思上没有区别。
05:45
So, to review, 'can/could' or 'be able to' generally have the same meaning, unless you're
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那么,来复习一下,“can/could”或“be able to” 通常有相同的意思,除非您
05:53
talking about a specific situation in the past, and the sentence is positive.
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在谈论一个过去的特定情形, 句子是肯定式。
05:59
If you're not sure about this, remember you can always use 'be able to' in every case
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如果您不确定这个,记住您总是 能在每件事上使用“be able to”
06:05
and never be wrong.
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并从来都不会错。
06:07
Next, let's look at 'could' in more detail.
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接下来,我们看看“could”的更多细节。
06:12
'Could' has two meanings.
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“Could”有两个意思。
06:14
Look at two sentences: "I couldn't help you because I had too much to do."
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看两个句子:“I couldn't help you because I had too much to do.”
06:19
"I couldn't help you even if I wanted to."
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"I couldn't help you even if I wanted to."
06:24
In these two sentences, the verb 'could' is used in different ways.
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在这两个句子里,动词“could” 被用不同的方式使用。
06:28
Can you see the difference?
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您能找出区别吗?
06:29
Here's a question to check your understanding: how would you use 'be able to' in these two
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有一个问题来测您的理解: 您怎么在这两个句子里
06:35
sentences?
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使用“be able to”?
06:37
If you want to think about your answer, pause the video and think about it.
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如果您想考虑您的回答,暂停 视频并考虑它。
06:42
In the first sentence, "I couldn't help you because I had too much to do," the meaning
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在第一个句子:"I couldn't help you because I had too much to do,"
06:48
is past.
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意思是在过去的。
06:50
If we use 'be able to', we would say: "I wasn't able to help you because I had too much to
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如果我们使用“be able to”,我们要说:"I wasn't able to help you because I
06:56
do."
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had too much to do.“
06:58
In the second sentence, 'could' has a hypothetical or conditional meaning.
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在第二句,”could“有一个假想 或条件的意思。
07:04
To use 'be able to', we would say, "I wouldn't be able to help you even if I wanted to."
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要使用”be able to“,我们要说,”I wouldn't be able to help you even if I wanted to.“
07:12
So 'could' can have two different meanings; a past meaning and a hypothetical meaning.
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所以”could“能有两个不同的意思; 一个过去意思和一个假想意思。
07:19
You need to use the context of the sentence or the situation to understand what 'could'
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您要用句子的上下文或环境 来理解”could“是什么
07:25
means.
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意思。
07:26
For example: "Why couldn't he do it last week?"
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例如:"Why couldn't he do it last week?"
07:31
The time marker 'last week' shows you that this sentence is past, and that 'could' has
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时间标识”last week“显示您这个 句子是过去式,”could“有
07:35
a past meaning.
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一个过去的意思。
07:37
"We could work together, if you wanted."
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"We could work together, if you wanted."
07:40
Again, the end of the sentence with 'if' shows you that 'could' has a hypothetical meaning.
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同样,句尾带”if“的句子告诉您 ”could“有一个假想的意思。
07:48
OK, let's review the important points from this lesson.
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好,我们来复习本节课的重点。
07:53
You can use 'can' or 'could' to talk about abilities in the past, present or future.
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您可以使用”can“或”could“来谈论 过去、现在或将来的能力。
07:58
'Can/could' and 'be able to' usually have the same meaning.
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”Can/could“和”be able to“ 通常有相同的意思。
08:03
Sometimes you need to use 'be able to', for example if you need to use a verb with '-ing',
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有时,例如,如果您用一个带”-ing“ 的
08:09
or if you need to use the present perfect tense, or some other tense where 'can/could'
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动词,或是如果您需要用现在完成 时态,或一些其他的”can/could“
08:15
don't exist.
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不存在的时态,您要用”be able to“。
08:18
In the past, 'could' and 'was/were able to' are sometimes different.
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在过去式,”could“和”was/were able to“ 有时是不同的。
08:24
If you are talking about a specific situation, and the sentence is positive, you can only
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如果您在谈论一个特定的环境, 句子是肯定的,您仅能
08:29
use 'was/were able to', or 'managed to'.
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使用”was/were able to“或”managed to“。
08:34
Finally, 'could' can have two different meanings.
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最后,”could“可以有两种不同的意思。
08:38
It can have a past meaning, the same as 'was/were able to', or it can have a hypothetical meaning,
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它可以有过去的意思,与”was/were able to“相同,或它有一个假想的意思,
08:45
like 'would be able to'.
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像是”would be able to“。
08:48
OK, that's the end of the lesson.
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好,本节课到此结束。
08:51
I hope it was useful for you.
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我希望它对您有用。
08:53
If you want to see the full version of this lesson, you can check it out on our website.
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如果您想看本节课的完整版本, 您可以看一下我们的网站。
08:56
The full lesson includes a text, so you can read and review everything.
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全部的课程包括文字,所以您可以 读并复习每一样东西。
09:02
There's also a quiz to help you practise the topic and check that you've understood everything.
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也有一个随堂测验来帮您练习这个 主题,并检查您明白了所有的东西。
09:07
OK, that's all.
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好,就到这。
09:08
Thanks again for watching, and I'll see you next time.
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再次感谢观看,下次见。
09:12
Bye bye!
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再见!
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