基因检测包真的靠谱吗？⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com 出品的《6分钟英语》。

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

大家好，这里是 BBC 英语教学的《6分钟英语》。

I'm Neil.

我是尼尔。

And I'm Beth.

我是贝丝。

Nowadays, it's popular to find out more about your family history by tracing your family tree, 講解

如今，通过追溯家谱来深入了解家族历史变得非常流行，

a diagram that shows all the members of a family over a long period of time.

家谱是一种图表，显示了一个家族在很长一段时间内的所有成员。

What do you know about your family history, Beth?

你对自己的家族历史了解多少呢，贝丝？

Well, my mom actually did our family tree.

嗯，其实我妈妈做过我们的家谱。

Um she found a lot of our ancestors had emigrated to the United States. 講解

呃，她发现我们的许多祖先都移民到了美国。

Um but yeah, I don't know much more than that.

嗯，不过除了这些，我就不知道太多了。

What about you?

你呢？

Well, I'm lucky to have an unusual surname,

挺幸运的，我的姓氏比较少见，

so it's quite easy to trace my ancestors,

所以追溯祖先相当容易，

and somebody in my family has uh gone back to 1700 and found somebody with my name. 短語動詞

我们家里有人，呃，追溯到了1700年，还找到了和我同名的人。

Wow, that's amazing.

哇，太厉害了。

Well, the internet has made it easier to find the historical records needed to research your ancestry, 講解

是的，互联网让我们更容易找到研究所需的历史记录，去探寻祖籍，

the origins of your family.

也就是你家族的起源。

But, what if you want to find out about a time before historical records began? 語法

但是，如果你想了解历史记录出现之前的时代呢？

Luckily, some companies now offer to trace your ancestry using DNA.

幸运的是，现在一些公司提供利用 DNA 追踪祖先的服务。

DNA is the cellular information that's passed down from parents to children, 短語動詞

DNA 是由父母遗传给孩子的细胞信息，

telling the body how to create life.

告诉身体如何创造生命。

Listener Chris from the UK recently took a DNA ancestry test. 短語搭配

来自英国的听众克里斯最近做了一次 DNA 祖源测试。

When the test returned some unexpected results,

当测试反馈了一些出人意料的结果时，

Chris called BBC Radio 4 program Sliced Bread,

克里斯打电话给了 BBC Radio 4 的节目《Sliced Bread》，

wondering how accurate they really were.

想知道这些结果到底有多准确。

Not so long ago, I sent off a home DNA testing kit, 講解

不久前，我寄出了一份家用 DNA 测试套件，

and the results that came back were broadly in line with expectations, 講解

传回来的结果大致符合预期，

but it had some little glitches in there, which made me think, 用詞

但里面有一些小差错，这让我开始思考，

is this accurate or is it to be taken with a pinch of salt? 習語

这到底准不准，还是说我应该半信半疑？

Chris wondered whether his results were accurate or whether to take them with a pinch of salt,

克里斯想知道他的结果是否准确，或者是否需要“take with a pinch of salt”（半信半疑），

an idiom meaning to doubt something is completely true.

这是一个习语，意思是怀疑某事并非完全真实。

So, in this program, we'll discuss how accurate DNA ancestry tracing is. 表達脈絡

所以，在今天的节目中，我们将讨论 DNA 祖源追踪的准确性。

And as usual, we'll learn some useful new words and phrases.

像往常一样，我们会学习一些有用的新词汇和短语。

And remember, you can find all the vocabulary for this program on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

别忘了，你可以在我们的网站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到本节目的所有词汇。

First though, I have a question for you, Beth. 表達脈絡

不过首先，我有一个问题要问你，贝丝。

One reason to be cautious about DNA ancestry tests is that humans are very similar to each other. 語法

对 DNA 祖源测试保持谨慎的一个原因是，人类之间的相似度非常高。

Most of your DNA is identical with every other person on Earth, 短語搭配

你绝大部分的 DNA 和地球上其他人是完全相同的，

and it's only the tiny amount of difference that accounts for all genetic variations between humans. 短語動詞

仅仅是那极其微小的差异，造就了人类之间所有的基因突变。

So, exactly how much DNA do humans share with each other?

那么，人类究竟共享了百分之多少的 DNA 呢？

Is it A, 79.9%, B, 89.9%, or C, 99.9%?

是 A、79.9%，B、89.9%，还是 C、99.9%？

I am going to guess 99.9%. 語法

我猜是 99.9%。

Okay, well, we'll find out the answer later in the program.

好的，稍后在节目中我们会揭晓答案。

Another problem for research based on DNA is agreeing on the meaning of words like ancestry and ethnicity. 講解

基于 DNA 研究的另一个问题是，如何对 ancestry（祖籍）和 ethnicity（种族）等词汇的含义达成共识。

Here, genealogist Louise Baldock explains the difference between these words to BBC Radio 4 program Sliced Bread. 短語搭配

在这里，系谱学家路易丝·鲍多克向 BBC Radio 4 的节目《Sliced Bread》解释了这些词之间的区别。

So, ancestry is really about people.

祖籍实际上是指人。

It's about your actual forebears. 用詞

它是指你真正的 forebears（祖辈）。

Your ethnicity, you would probably think of in geographical terms, 短語搭配

而种族，你可能会从地理角度去理解，

maybe which continent or which region your people came from.

比如你的族群来自哪个大洲或哪个地区。

Like ancestors, the term forebears means actual people,

就像 ancestors（祖先）一样，forebears（祖辈）一词指的是具体的人，

the relatives in your family from a long time ago.

也就是很久以前你家族中的亲属。

But Louise is more interested in the term ethnicity, 用詞

但路易丝更感兴趣的是 ethnicity（种族）这个词，

the shared culture, language, and traditions of a group of people,

它指的是一群人所共有的文化、语言和传统，

and this is closely connected to a geographical location. 短語搭配

这与地理位置密切相关。

And it's this question of geography, which interested BBC presenter Greg Foot. 語法

而正是这个地理问题引起了 BBC 主持人格雷格·富特的兴趣。

Greg sent DNA samples to two different companies.

格雷格把 DNA 样本寄给了两家不同的公司。

The results from the first company matched what he already knew about his family, 短語搭配

第一家公司的结果与他对自己家族已有的了解相吻合，

that the past five generations came from England.

即过去五代人都来自英格兰。

But listen to what happens when Louise Baldock revealed the results of Greg's second DNA test on his BBC Radio 4 show Sliced Bread. 表達脈絡

但请听一下，当路易丝·鲍多克在格雷格所在的 BBC Radio 4 节目《Sliced Bread》上揭晓他第二次 DNA 测试的结果时，发生了什么。

It's gonna blow your mind. 習語

结果绝对会让你大吃一惊。

Okay.

好的。

Can I tell you what you're looking at? 語氣意圖

我能告诉你你看到的是什么吗？

Yes, please do.

当然，请说。

It says that you are, first of all, 66% North and West Europe, 表達脈絡

它显示你，首先，66% 是北欧和西欧血统，

but explicitly that doesn't refer to the United Kingdom. 用詞

但明确指出那不包括英国。

Okay, that's a wide geographical area.

好的，这是一个很广的地理区域。

27 and a half percent Irish, Scottish, and Welsh,

27.5% 是爱尔兰、苏格兰和威尔士血统，

but again, explicitly not English. 用詞

但同样明确指出，不是英格兰。

The second company's DNA test blows Greg's mind.

第二家公司的 DNA 测试结果“blows Greg's mind”（让格雷格大吃一惊）。

It makes him very excited and surprised.

这让他非常兴奋和惊讶。

There's no evidence of his ancestors being English at all. 語法

根本没有证据表明他的祖先是英格兰人。

Actually, companies compare DNA with other samples in their database. 短語搭配

事实上，各家公司是将 DNA 与其数据库中的其他样本进行比较。

And since companies use different databases, it's not too surprising that Greg's results were so different. 語法

由于不同公司使用不同的数据库，格雷格的结果如此截然不同也就不足为奇了。

Unlike his actual DNA. 表達脈絡

尽管他的实际 DNA 是不会变的。

Speaking of which, what was the answer to your question, Neil? 表達脈絡

说到这里，尼尔，你那个问题的答案是什么？

I asked you what percentage of human DNA is shared by everyone.

我问你，所有人共享了人类百分之多少的 DNA。

And what was your answer, Beth?

你的答案是什么，贝丝？

I said 99.9%.

我说是 99.9%。

Well, you must be very clever because the answer is correct. 語法

嗯，你一定很聪明，因为答案是正确的。

Well done.

干得漂亮。

Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, 表達脈絡

好了，我们来回顾一下今天学过的词汇，

starting with family tree,

从 family tree（家谱）开始，

a diagram showing all the members of a family.

这是一个显示家族所有成员的图表。

Ancestry refers to the origins of a family.

Ancestry（祖籍）指的是家族的起源。

If you take something with a pinch of salt, you don't believe it's completely true.

如果你对某事 take with a pinch of salt（半信半疑），你就是不相信它是完全真实的。

Forebears are relatives who lived in the past.

Forebears（祖辈）是指过去生活过的亲属。

Ethnicity means the social, cultural, and linguistic characteristics shared by a group of people.

Ethnicity（种族）意思是一群人共有的社会、文化和语言特征。

And finally, if something blows your mind, it makes you excited or surprised.

最后，如果某件事 blows your mind（让你大吃一惊），它会让你感到兴奋或惊讶。

Once again, our 6 minutes are up. 短語搭配

我们的6分钟又一次到了。

But why not head over to the BBC Learning English website, 短語動詞

不妨去 BBC 英语教学的网站看看，

where you'll find a worksheet and quiz especially for this program.

在那里你能找到专门为本节目准备的练习表和小测验。

See you there soon.

期待很快在那里见到你。

Goodbye.

再见。

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com 出品的《6分钟英语》。