基因檢測套件真的可信嗎？⏲️ 6分鐘英語：英語精讀講義

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com 出品的《6分鐘英語》。

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

大家好，這裡是 BBC 英語教學的《6分鐘英語》。

I'm Neil.

我是尼爾。

And I'm Beth.

我是貝絲。

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

如今，透過追溯家譜來深入了解家族歷史變得非常流行，

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

家譜是一種圖表，顯示了一個家族在很長一段時間內的所有成員。

What do you know about your family history, Beth?

妳對自己的家族歷史了解多少呢，貝絲？

Well, my mom actually did our family tree.

嗯，其實我媽媽做過我們的家譜。

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

呃，她發現我們的許多祖先都移民到了美國。

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

嗯，不過除了這些，我就不知道太多了。

What about you?

你呢？

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

挺幸運的，我的姓氏比較少見，

so it's quite easy to trace my ancestors,

所以追溯祖先相當容易，

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

我們家裡有人，呃，追溯到了1700年，還找到了和我同名的人。

Wow, that's amazing.

哇，太厲害了。

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

是的，網際網路讓我們更容易找到研究所需的歷史記錄，去探尋祖籍，

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? 文法

但是，如果你想了解歷史記錄出現之前的時代呢？

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

幸運的是，現在一些公司提供利用 DNA 追蹤祖先的服務。

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

DNA 是由父母遺傳給孩子的細胞資訊，

telling the body how to create life.

告訴身體如何創造生命。

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

來自英國的聽眾克里斯最近做了一次 DNA 祖源測試。

When the test returned some unexpected results,

當測試反饋了一些出人意料的結果時，

Chris called BBC Radio 4 program Sliced Bread,

克里斯打電話給了 BBC Radio 4 的節目《Sliced Bread》，

wondering how accurate they really were.

想知道這些結果到底有多準確。

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 測試套件，

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

傳回來的結果大致符合預期，

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

但裡面有一些小差錯，這讓我開始思考，

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

這到底準不準，還是說我應該半信半疑？

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

克里斯想知道他的結果是否準確，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.

這是一個習語，意思是懷疑某事並非完全真實。

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

所以，在今天的節目中，我們將討論 DNA 祖源追蹤的準確性。

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

像往常一樣，我們會學習一些有用的新詞彙和短語。

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

別忘了，你可以在我們的網站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到本節目的所有詞彙。

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

不過首先，我有一個問題要問妳，貝絲。

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

對 DNA 祖源測試保持謹慎的一個原因是，人類之間的相似度非常高。

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

你絕大部分的 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. 片語動詞

僅僅是那極其微小的差異，造就了人類之間所有的基因變異。

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

那麼，人類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%，還是 C、99.9%？

I am going to guess 99.9%. 文法

我猜是 99.9%。

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

好的，稍後在節目中我們會揭曉答案。

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

基於 DNA 研究的另一個問題是，如何對 ancestry（祖籍）和 ethnicity（種族）等詞彙的含義達成共識。

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

在這裡，系譜學家露易絲·鮑多克向 BBC Radio 4 的節目《Sliced Bread》解釋了這些詞之間的區別。

So, ancestry is really about people.

祖籍實際上是指人。

It's about your actual forebears. 用詞

它是指你真正的 forebears（祖輩）。

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

而種族，你可能會從地理角度去理解，

maybe which continent or which region your people came from.

比如你的族群來自哪個大洲或哪個地區。

Like ancestors, the term forebears means actual people,

就像 ancestors（祖先）一樣，forebears（祖輩）一詞指的是具體的人，

the relatives in your family from a long time ago.

也就是很久以前你家族中的親屬。

But Louise is more interested in the term ethnicity, 用詞

但露易絲更感興趣的是 ethnicity（種族）這個詞，

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

它指的是一群人所共有的文化、語言和傳統，

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

這與地理位置密切相關。

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

而正是這個地理問題引起了 BBC 主持人格雷格·富特的興趣。

Greg sent DNA samples to two different companies.

格雷格把 DNA 樣本寄給了兩家不同的公司。

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

第一家公司的結果與他對自己家族已有的了解相吻合，

that the past five generations came from England.

即過去五代人都來自英格蘭。

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

但請聽一下，當露易絲·鮑多克在格雷格所在的 BBC Radio 4 節目《Sliced Bread》上揭曉他第二次 DNA 測試的結果時，發生了什麼。

It's gonna blow your mind. 慣用語

結果絕對會讓你大吃一驚。

Okay.

好的。

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

我能告訴你你看到的是什麼嗎？

Yes, please do.

當然，請說。

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

它顯示你，首先，66% 是北歐和西歐血統，

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

但明確指出那不包括英國。

Okay, that's a wide geographical area.

好的，這是一個很廣的地理區域。

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

27.5% 是愛爾蘭、蘇格蘭和威爾斯血統，

but again, explicitly not English. 用詞

但同樣明確指出，不是英格蘭。

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

第二家公司的 DNA 測試結果「blows Greg's mind」（讓格雷格大吃一驚）。

It makes him very excited and surprised.

這讓他非常興奮和驚訝。

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

根本沒有證據表明他的祖先是英格蘭人。

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

事實上，各家公司是將 DNA 與其資料庫中的其他樣本進行比較。

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

由於不同公司使用不同的資料庫，格雷格的結果如此截然不同也就不足為奇了。

Unlike his actual DNA. 表達脈絡

儘管他的實際 DNA 是不會變的。

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

說到這裡，尼爾，你那個問題的答案是什麼？

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

我問妳，所有人共享了人類百分之多少的 DNA。

And what was your answer, Beth?

妳的答案是什麼，貝絲？

I said 99.9%.

我說是 99.9%。

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

嗯，妳一定很聰明，因為答案是正確的。

Well done.

幹得漂亮。

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

好了，我們來回顧一下今天學過的詞彙，

starting with family tree,

從 family tree（家譜）開始，

a diagram showing all the members of a family.

這是一個顯示家族所有成員的圖表。

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.

如果你對某事 take with a pinch of salt（半信半疑），你就是不相信它是完全真實的。

Forebears are relatives who lived in the past.

Forebears（祖輩）是指過去生活過的親屬。

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

Ethnicity（種族）意思是一群人共有的社會、文化和語言特徵。

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

最後，如果某件事 blows your mind（讓你大吃一驚），它會讓你感到興奮或驚訝。

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

我們的6分鐘又一次到了。

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

不妨去 BBC 英語教學的網站看看，

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

在那裡你能找到專門為本節目準備的學習單和小測驗。

See you there soon.

期待很快在那裡見到你。

Goodbye.

再見。

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com 出品的《6分鐘英語》。