本集內(nèi)容

Searching for the Loch Ness Monster 尋找尼斯湖水怪

學(xué)習(xí)要點(diǎn)

有關(guān) “the unexplained（未知）” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

What kinds of environmental DNA are scientists collecting from the loch?

文字稿

It's a mystery which endures. Just what exactly lies beneath the murky waters of Loch Ness?

這是一個(gè)由來(lái)已久的謎團(tuán)。尼斯湖渾濁的湖水下究竟隱藏著什么？

The sightings of Nessie stretch back hundreds of years - but as yet, no definitive explanation has been found. A team of scientists, led by New Zealand's Otago University, has been testing water samples and collecting environmental DNA from all forms of life in the loch, including plants, insects, fish and mammals.

尼斯湖水怪的出現(xiàn)可以追溯到幾百年前，但至今仍無(wú)確切的解釋。由新西蘭奧塔哥大學(xué)牽頭的一個(gè)科學(xué)家團(tuán)隊(duì)采集分析了尼斯湖水樣，并收集了湖中生物的脫氧核糖核酸（DNA），包括植物、昆蟲(chóng)、魚類和哺乳動(dòng)物。

Professor Eric Verspoor, University of the Highlands and Islands
You basically take a litre or two of water and you filter it out, and in the stuff that's filtered out will be DNA. And using that DNA, you can then sequence it. And on the basis of the sequence, identify the types of organisms that are present in the water.

埃里克·維斯普教授     高地與群島大學(xué)
“你提取一到兩升水，然后過(guò)濾，過(guò)濾掉的東西里會(huì)有環(huán)境 DNA。用這些 DNA，可進(jìn)行基因排序。根據(jù)序列，識(shí)別出水中存在的生物體類型?！?

The world's media gathered at the loch side to hear exactly what they found.

全世界的媒體都聚集在湖邊，想聽(tīng)聽(tīng)這項(xiàng)研究到底發(fā)現(xiàn)了什么。

Professor Neil Gemmell, University of Otago
This idea of a giant, extinct reptile… Well, we didn't find any reptilian DNA, so we don't think that seems very plausible based on the samples and the analysis that we've undertaken. And we also went looking for another idea, which is a giant eel. Well, we don't know if the eels are giant or not but we certainly found an awful lot of eel DNA. I guess, much more than I expected.

尼爾·格默爾教授    奧塔哥大學(xué)
“我們沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)任何爬行動(dòng)物的 DNA，我們認(rèn)為這似乎不太可信，這是根據(jù)我們所做的樣本分析得出的結(jié)果。我們也試圖尋找一條巨型鰻魚。我們不知道湖中的鰻魚是否巨大，但我們確實(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)了大量鰻魚 DNA。比我想象的要多?！?

But one long-time Nessie hunter is unconvinced by today's news.

但是這位長(zhǎng)期研究尼斯湖水怪的男士并不認(rèn)可這項(xiàng)研究的新發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Steve Feltham, Nessie hunter
Eels in Loch Ness? Personally, I think a 12-year-old boy could tell you that. There could be some massive eels in there - that could be the explanation. But to say 'we have found evidence of eels' is like saying 'we've found evidence of fish in a Scottish loch'. Well done!

史蒂夫·費(fèi)爾特姆     “尼斯湖水怪” 尋找者
“尼斯湖里有鰻魚？在我看來(lái)，一個(gè) 12 歲的男孩都知道這個(gè)。尼斯湖里可能有一些巨大的鰻魚，這可能是一種解釋。但是說(shuō) ‘我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了鰻魚存在的證據(jù)’ 就像說(shuō) ‘我們?cè)谔K格蘭的湖泊中發(fā)現(xiàn)了魚類存在的證據(jù)’。這研究做得真好！”           

The sense of mystery here at the loch, though, remains. More than 20% of the DNA found was unidentified - meaning the search for Nessie goes on.

盡管如此，尼斯湖的神秘感依然存在。此次研究發(fā)現(xiàn)的生物 DNA 中超過(guò) 20% 是未知的，這意味著對(duì)尼斯湖水怪的搜尋仍將繼續(xù)。

詞匯

mystery 神秘的事情

definitive explanation 確切的解釋

plausible 貌似可信的

unconvinced 不信服的，不確定的

unidentified 不明的，未知的

問(wèn)題答案

Scientists are collecting DNA from all forms of life, including plants, insects, fish and mammals.