<h3>"A study published in the Geological Society of America's magazine, <em>GSA Today</em>, says there is strong geological evidence that New Zealand deserves to be considered its own continent."</h3>
Reporting verbs, also known as referring verbs, are verbs which are used when you report or refer to another writer's work. They are needed to connect the in-text citation to the information which you are citing. See the following examples, in which the reporting verbs (<u><em>point out</em></u> and <u><em>state</em></u>) are shown in bold.
- Sharpling (2012) <u>points out</u> that reporting verbs have subtle differences in meaning.
- University of Adelaide (2014) <u>states that</u> using the same reporting verb all the time is both repetitive and boring.
Reporting verbs vary in terms of <em>strength</em>. Consider the following examples.
- Smith (2016) <u>assumes</u> that reporting verbs have different strengths.
- Smith (2016) <u>insists</u> that reporting verbs have different strengths.
Although both verbs have the same general meaning, namely <em>believe</em>, the verb <em>assume </em>is quite weak, while the verb <em>insist </em>is much stronger. The second verb most closely matches the information above, and is therefore more accurate than the first one.
In your example, the reporting verb used is "<em>says</em>" which is a very weak reporting verb.
However, there is <u>Strong Source Information</u>, because it says
<h3>"<u>A study published in the Geological Society of America's magazine</u>,<u> </u><u><em>GSA Today</em></u>, says there is strong geological evidence that New Zealand deserves to be considered its own continent.
" </h3>
So, considering the above information, your best answer is
<h3>"<u>
A Weak Reporting Verb</u>"</h3>
Hope this helps! Brainliest would be much appreciated! Have a great day! :)