This is News Review from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

這是 BBC 學英語的新聞評論節目。 我是 Neil。

And I'm Beth.

我是 Beth。

Stick with us and you can learn the vocabulary to talk about this story.

跟著我們你可以學習用在這個議題上的字彙。

Yes, you can.

沒錯。

And don't forget to subscribe to our channel, like this video, and try the quiz on our website.

不要忘記訂閱我們的頻道，按讚這個影片，並到我們的網站上進行測驗。

But now, today's story.

但現在開始今天的議題。

Hepatitis. A recent mysterious outbreak of the liver disease has seriously affected over a thousand young children from 35 countries across the world.

肝炎。最近神秘的肝病暴發嚴重影響了來自全球 35 個國家的 1000 多名幼兒。

Until now, nobody knew why.

至今仍然沒有人知道造成的原因。

But scientists in the UK say the likely cause is two common viruses which came back after the Covid lockdowns ended.

但英國的科學家表示，可能的原因是兩種常見的病毒，它們在新冠病毒疫情封城結束後又捲土重來。

Beth, you've been looking at the headlines. What's the vocabulary?

Beth，你看過今天要評論的頭條新聞了，我們要學的詞彙是什麼？

We have "get to the bottom of", "culprit" and "constellation".

有「刨根問底」、「罪魁禍首」和「群集」。

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

這是 BBC 學英語的新聞評論節目。

Let's have a look at our first headline.

讓我們看一下我們的第一個頭條新聞。

This one comes from The Sun: Major breakthrough as scientists get to the bottom of mysterious hepatitis outbreak in kids

這條新聞來自《太陽報》：科學家在對兒童間神秘的肝炎爆發刨根問底上取得重大突破

Now, we're looking at "get to the bottom of" something.

我們要看的詞彙是「對…尋根究底」。

And this is about discovering the truth, isn't it?

這個用法是關於找尋真相，對嗎？

Yeah. That's right.

是的。沒錯。

If we get to the bottom of something, we find out the cause of a particular situation.

如果我們對某件事情刨根問底，我們就能找到特定情況的原因。

So in the headline, the mystery illness is the thing that people don't understand, but scientists have been investigating. They're trying to get to the bottom of it.

所以在標題寫道，神祕的疾病是人們不理解的事情，但是科學家一直在調查。他們正試圖弄清事情的真相。

Now, obviously, disease is a really serious matter. Is this expression only for serious things?

顯然，疾病是一個非常嚴重的議題。所以這個用法只適用於嚴重的事情嗎？

Well, not always serious problems, but certainly negative situations.

不一定都是嚴重的問題，但肯定是負面的情況。

So the police would try to get to the bottom of a crime.

像是，警察會試圖查清犯罪的真相。

Yeah. And now a crime is both negative and serious.

沒錯。但犯罪也是是既負面又嚴重。

Yeah, but we could also say "someone stole my pen", which is obviously negative, but not so serious. I'm trying to get to the bottom of it.

是的，但我們也可以用在「有人偷了我的筆」的情況，這顯然是負面的，但沒那麼嚴重，而我正在努力弄清事情的真相。

Yeah. Well, I've seen Beth's pen, and it's really not serious. I can tell you.

是的。我看過 Beth 的筆，我可以告訴你，真的不嚴重。

But anyway, you might want to get to the bottom of it.

總之，你可能會想刨根問底。

How formal or informal is this expression?

這種表達方式是正式的還是非正式的？

It's informal, so you can use it in conversation, and you wouldn't really see it in official reports.

這是非正式說法，所以你可以在日常對話中使用它，不會在正式文件上看到。

OK. Well, I'm glad we've got to the bottom of that piece of vocabulary.

好的。我很高興我們已經弄清了這個詞彙的真相。

Let's have a look, one more time.

讓我們再看一次。

Now, let's have our next headline, please.

現在，讓我們來看看下一個頭條新聞，謝謝。

This one comes from the Mail: Scientists find likely culprit behind mystery child hepatitis outbreak - and Covid itself is NOT to blame

這條新聞來自《每日郵報》：科學家發現神秘兒童肝炎爆發的可能罪魁禍首——並非新冠病毒

Well, it's a long headline, but we're looking at one word in particular, and it is "culprit".

這個標題很長。但我們要特別看一個詞，它是「罪魁禍首」。

Are you a fan of crime drama, Beth?

你喜歡看犯罪劇嗎，Beth？

Yeah, I love a good crime drama.

是啊，我喜歡好看的犯罪劇。

OK, so you will know that the culprit is the person who committed the crime.

好的，那你應該知道「culprit」就是指犯罪的人。

Yes. Detectives look for the culprit.

是的。偵探們在尋找罪犯。

But in this headline, we are not talking about a person that is guilty of a crime, but, actually, the cause of a bad situation.

但在這個標題中。我們談論的不是一個犯了罪的人，而是一個不好的情況的成因。

So, the culprit is not only a person.

所以，culprit 不單單只用來指人。

That's right.

沒錯。

So, for example, we can say that the wildfires that we've been seeing recently, they have been caused by heatwaves, and scientists say that climate change is the culprit.

舉例來說，我們最近看到的野火，它們都是因熱浪造成的，而科學家說表示，氣候變化是罪魁禍首。

Yeah. Now, culprit, crime - it all sounds very formal.

是的。罪魁禍首、犯罪，它們聽起來都很正式。

Is it formal? Always?

它是正式的嗎？總是這樣嗎？

Well, it is and it isn't.

是也不是。

It kind of depends on the context, like so many of these things.

這要取決於事件發生的背景，像這樣的情況很多。

So, if you saw in an official report of a serious crime, then, of course it's formal.

所以，如果你在正式文件中看到了嚴重的犯罪，那麼，這個用法當然是正式的。

But, we can also use it for not so serious situations - like more informal.

但是，我們也可以在不那麼嚴肅的情況下使用它，比較非正式的場合。

Yeah. And it's used as a kind of exaggeration to make it kind of funny that saying that something, someone is a culprit when it's just not that serious.

是的。而且它被當作是一種誇飾，讓事情變得有趣，像是說某個東西、某個人是罪魁禍首，但它其實沒有那麼嚴重。

True, true. - Like this pen that I stole.  

沒錯。- 就像我偷的這支筆。

Right. Let's look at that again.

對。讓我們再看看這個用法。

Let's have the next headline, then, please.

那我們就來看看下一個標題吧，謝謝。

This one is from The Scientist: Preprints Propose Constellation of Causes for Kids' Liver Disease

這條新聞來自《科學家》：預印本提出了兒童肝病的病因群集

According to preprints, preprints are a kind of academic scientific research paper, there are many related causes for this liver disease in children.

根據預印本（預印本是一種學術科研論文），這種兒童肝病有許多相關成因。

In fact, what they call a constellation.

事實上，他們稱作群集。

A constellation is a group of stars, though, Beth. So what's the connection?

不過，constellation 是指星座不是嗎？那麼它們之間有什麼關聯呢？

Yeah. You're right. So a constellation is a group of stars that form a pattern.

是的。你是對的。所以，constellation 是指一群星星形成一個圖案。

For example, everyone knows 'The Plough'. That's the one that looks like a giant spoon.

例如，大家都知道「北斗七星」它長得像一個大湯匙。

Yeah. And 'Orion'. That's the one with the stars that make up the belt.

是的。還有 「獵戶座」。它長得像皮帶一樣。

But constellation here is not being used to talk about stars.

但是 constellation 在這裡不是用來談論星星的。

It's to say that there is a group of things that are very similar.

是用在有一群東西相似的東西上。

And, of course, stars in a constellation look very similar to us, and that's the connection.

當然，對我們來說，組成星座的星星長得很像，所以這兩種用法間的關聯在這。

Exactly. Yeah.

沒錯。

So in the headline, they are suggesting that there's a group of similar things that are causing this illness.

所以在標題上。他們表示有一群類似的東西引起這種疾病。

Now, let's have a look at the pronunciation of this word 'constellation'. Four syllables, but where's the stress?

讓我們來看看constellation 的發音，有四個音節。 但重音在哪裡呢？

con-ste-LLA-tion. It's on the third syllable.

con-ste-LLA-tion。在第三個音節。

Constellation.

Constellation。

OK, let's look at that again.

好的，讓我們再看一次這個用法。

We've had "get to the bottom of" - find out what happened.

我們學了「刨根問底」——找出發生了什麼事情。

"Culprits'"- who or what is responsible for something bad happening. And it's not just used for crime dramas.

「罪魁禍首」——是誰或什麼事情要為壞事的發生負責，而且不僅僅用於犯罪劇。

And "constellation" - a group of things that are related.

而「群集」—— 一群有關聯的事物。

Don't forget there's a quiz on our website, www.bbclearningenglish.com.

不要忘了我們的網站上有小測驗，我們的網站是 www.bbclearningenglish.com。

Thank you for joining us, and goodbye.

謝謝你加入我們，掰掰。

Bye.

再見。