《兩大步驟輕鬆分辨insist及persist兩個TOEIC易混淆生字》
TOEIC（多益）考生欲達到藍色（730-855分）或金色（860-990分）證照考生
可以 用下面兩大步驟輕鬆辨識insist及persist兩個易混淆生字
步驟一：insist及persist後方介係詞不同
例：She insisted on attending the video-conference. （她堅持參加視訊會議。）
例：In spite of adversity, she persisted in fulfilling her promises.（縱使在逆境中，她堅持履行諾言。）
步驟二：insist及persist是兩種不同的「堅持」動作
insist是說話者「堅持」某人或某事物應該是某種狀態
例：I insist that everybody (should) be on time.（我堅持每個人應該要準時。）
例：My direct supervisor insisted that I (should) meet the deadline。（我的直屬上司當時堅持我應該在期限內完成。）
persist是「縱使遇到困難」仍「堅持」做某事。
例：She persisted in completing her assignments on her own even though there was a blizzard. （她堅持獨力完成工作項目，縱使有暴風雪。）
insist及persist也是Cambridge IELTS（劍橋雅思）官方試題閱讀測驗高頻率生字。
insist [ɪnˋsɪst]
➽ v.堅持；堅決主張；堅決要求
字源：in裡面+sist站立
口訣：「在心裡面一直堅持」→v.堅決主張
考題：(IELTS15,T1,R1) The Banda Islands were ruled by local sultans who insisted on maintaining a neutral trading policy towards foreign powers. （Banda群島由當地蘇丹王統治，他們堅持維持對外國勢力的中立貿易政策。）
考題：(IELTS17,T3,R2) The RSPO insists upon no virgin forest clearing, transparency and regular assessment of carbon stocks, among other criteria.
persist [pɚˋsɪst]
➽ v.①堅持，固執；②持續
字源：per從頭到尾，始終+sist站立
口訣：「始終站立」→v.持續
考題：(IELTS17,T1,R1) However, Pearson and his partners persisted. （然而，Pearson及其夥伴們堅持不懈。）
persistence [pɚˋsɪstəns] n.堅持不懈
考題：(IELTS15,T2,R3) The students then completed a task requiring persistence in which they were asked to guess the potential performance of employees based on provided profiles, and where told that making 10 correct assessments in a row would lead to a win. （然後學生們完成了一項需要堅持不懈的任務，在該任務中根據提供的資料，他們被要求猜測員工的可能的表現，並被告知連續做出10次正確評估會獲勝。）
persistent [pɚˋsɪstənt] = tenacious = dogged
➽ adj.①堅持的，堅持不懈的；固執的；②持續的
字源：per從頭到尾，始終+sist站立+ent做…動作的
口訣：「始終屹立的」→adj.堅持不懈的
考題：(IELTS12,T6,R3) Having to deal with this persistent linguistic competition can result in difficulties, however. （然而，必須處理這種持續的語言競賽可能會導致困難。）
並且persist在Cambridge IELTS考試中還出現某事物「持續」狀態的第二種用法。
persist [pɚˋsɪst]
➽ v.①堅持，固執；②持續
字源：per從頭到尾，始終+sist站立
口訣：「始終站立」→v.持續
考題：(IELTS17,T3,L4) The theory that some birds hibernate persisted until experiments were done on caged birds in the 1940s which demonstrated that birds have no hibernation instinct.（某些鳥類冬眠的理論持續到1940年代，當時對籠中鳥做的實驗證明鳥類無冬眠的本能。）
總結：insist及persist因中文翻譯極為相似，建議TOEIC或IELTS考生用後方介係詞及用自行造句練習兩種不同「堅持」動詞的用法。
