新冠病毒的來源一直以來都是人們爭論的焦點。陰謀論？實驗室洩漏？自然形成？今天讓我們通過5月2日的這篇經濟學人文章，看看目前為止對於新冠病毒的來源都有哪些不同的聲音。
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/05/02/the-pieces-of-the-puzzle-of-covid-19s-origin-are-coming-to-light
最容易奪人眼球的就是各種各樣的陰謀論（conspiracy theory），覺得這次病毒是有些國家用來對付敵國的秘密武器：
In some minds, though, the possibility looms of enemy action on the part of something larger than a virus. Since the advent of genetic engineering in the 1970s, conspiracy theorists have pointed to pretty much every new infectious disease, from aids to Ebola to MERS（中東呼吸症候群） to Lyme disease（萊姆病） to SARS to Zika（寨卡病毒）, as being a result of human tinkering or malevolence.
The politics of the covid-19 pandemic mean that this time such theories have an even greater appeal than normal.
有些同學在理解第一句話時可能有點困難，其實作者是為了防止「頭重腳輕」，即主語過長而謂語過短，將謂語提前，而把主語的一部分修飾內容挪到了謂語動詞之後。為了便於理解，我們不妨將其中幾個詞調換一下順序，讓這句話重回「頭重腳輕」的狀態：
In some minds, though, the possibility of enemy action on the part of something looms larger than a virus.
On the part of…這個短語可以用來替換平時最常用的by or from…，意思是由…製造或引起的。
Loom large這個動詞短語指的是某事物顯得非常突出，令人憂慮，揮之不去。文中所在的這句話意思就是：有些人更願意相信這個病毒是某些國家故意造出來的、用來攻擊別國的武器。
為了更好地理解loom large這個短語，我們有必要來了解一下它的基礎意義：龐然大物在朦朧中悚然驚現，比如A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一個黑糊糊的影子隱隱出現在我們的前面。所以不難理解，當某個問題loom large時，就說明這個問題像個龐然大物一樣在面前聳現，非常突出，讓人感到有些害怕。
Loom還常常用於進行時中，意思是某件事步步緊逼、迫在眉睫，如：Another government spending crisis is looming in the United States. 另一場政府開支危機在美國一觸即發。
https://zh.twgreatdaily.com/3A2YRXEBfwtFQPkdvtCH.html
Advent是一個名詞，意思是「出現；到來」，尤指某重大事件、發明的問世或者某重要人物的到來。文中的這句話意思就是自從20世紀70年代基因編輯問世以來，每一次爆發新的傳染病都免不了和陰謀論掛上鉤，總有人認為是有人刻意改變基因從而創造了病毒。
Tinker作動詞時常與介詞with搭配，本義是指對某樣東西進行小修小補（to make small changes to sth in order to repair or improve it），在經濟學人的文章中我們常常能在與基因編輯相關的內容中看到這個詞。如在2019年11月9日的一篇文章A Design for Life中，當談論到通過基因編輯和克隆這兩種方法來「定製」小孩存在一定的風險時就用到了tinker這個詞：
Debate about using science to create 「bespoke（定製的）」 human beings of one sort or another usually revolves around（圍繞） the ideas of genetic engineering and cloning. People worry about these for two reasons. One is practical. The tinkering involved could end up harming the resulting individual.
Malevolence是名詞「惡意」，它的形容詞是malevolent，意思是「心懷惡意的；居心不良的（having or showing a desire to harm other people）」。malevolent的反義詞是benevolent，仁慈的。這兩個詞都有相同的詞根vol-，表示「意願，意志」，-ent是形容詞後綴。兩者的區別就在於前綴，male-表示「壞，惡」，結合vol-一起理解就是「心懷惡意的」；bene-表示「善，好」，結合vol-理解就是「心懷善意的」，即「仁慈的」。
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/conspiracy-theory-rubber-stamp-vector-12751264
還有一些人認為新冠病毒來自實驗室洩露（leaks from laboratories）：
Filippa Lentzos, who studies biomedicine and security at King’s College, London, says the possibility of SARS-COV-2（即新冠病毒） having an origin connected with legitimate（合法的） research is being discussed widely in the world of biosecurity. The possibilities speculated about include a leak of material from a laboratory and also the accidental infection of a human being in the course of work either in a lab or in the field.
Leaks from laboratories, including BSL-4 labs, are not unheard of（無人理會；未被注意）. The world’s last known case of smallpox（天花） was caused by a leak from a British laboratory in 1978. An outbreak of foot and mouth disease（手足口病） in 2007 had a similar origin. In America there have been accidental releases and mishandlings（處理不當） involving Ebola, and, from a lower-containment-level laboratory, a deadly strain of bird flu. In China laboratory workers seem to have been infected with sars and transmitted it to contacts outside on at least two occasions.
第一句話says後面的定語從句比較長，首先提取它的主幹：the possibility is being discussed widely in the world of biosecurity. 某事物的可能性在生物安全領域被廣泛地討論。再找出possibility的修飾成分：of SARS-COV-2 having an origin connected with legitimate research，這下我們就知道生物安全領域所討論的究竟是什麼方面的可能性了——新冠病毒的來源和被批准的實驗研究有關。
BSL-4 lab是biosecurity-level 4 laboratory的縮寫，即生物安全四級實驗室，等級和安全性最高的生物安全實驗室。原文中提到的Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV，武漢病毒研究所)就擁有這個級別的實驗室，並對BSL-4 lab做了扼要的介紹：the sort of high-containment facility in which work is done on the most dangerous pathogens
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/05/02/the-pieces-of-the-puzzle-of-covid-19s-origin-are-coming-to-light
還有科學家認為新冠病毒並非人造，而是自然形成：
Western experts say categorically that the sequence of the new virus’s genome（基因組；染色體組）—which Chinese scientists published early on, openly and accurately—reveals none of the telltales genetic engineering would leave in its wake.
Categorical意思是「確認無疑的；明確的；肯定的」，例如：
a categorical statement/reply/assurance明確的聲明／回復／保證
He is quite categorical that the UN should only help the innocent civilian population.他非常堅定地認為，聯合國應該只援助無辜的平民。
Telltale指的是「暴露事情的；說明問題的（showing that sth exists or has happened）」，如：The telltale smell of cigarettes told her that he had been in the room. 那股明顯的香菸味告訴她,他曾在這房間裡待過。文中telltale所在的句子就是說從中國科學家一早就公布的病毒基因組測序中就可已看出並無基因編輯的痕跡。
做一個小拓展，告密者、打小報告的人，尤指那些向大人告密的小孩子，在英語中也可以用telltale來表達。
科學家還發現了新冠病毒的「表兄弟」RATG13，它的基因序列和Covid-19的相似度高達96%。它們的不同之處在於受體結合域（receptor-binding domain，RBD），新冠病毒的獨特之處在於病毒表面的突刺蛋白上的RBD擅於粘附在病毒所感染的人類細胞表面的特定分子上：
It is in the collection of viral genomes assembled during those studies that scientists have now found the bat virus closest to SARS-COV-2. A strain called RATG13 gathered in the same cave in Yunnan shares 96% of its genetic sequence with the new virus. RATG13 is not that virus’s ancestor. It is something more like its cousin.
The bat viruses look different from SARS-COV-2 in a specific way. In SARS-COV-2 the spike protein on the viral particle’s surface has a receptor-binding domain (RBD) that is adept at sticking to a particular molecule on the surface of the human cells the virus infects. The RBD in bat coronaviruses is not the same.
Be adept at/in doing sth. 意思是擅長、熟練做某件極其困難的事。
結合新冠病毒RBD的特性，最近一項研究表明該病毒可能是基因重組的產物。不同的冠狀病毒感染了同一個宿主，並在宿主體內交換了部分基因組：
One recent study suggests that SARS-COV-2 is the product of natural genomic recombination. Different coronaviruses infecting the same host are more than happy to swap（交換） bits of genome. If a bat virus similar to RATG13 got into an animal already infected with a coronavirus which boasted an RBD better suited to infecting humans, a basically batty virus with a more human-attuned RBD might well arise. That is what SARS-COV-2 looks like.
Be more than happy to do sth. 在這裡意思是相當樂意做某事，高興得不能再高興了，用來強調後面的to do sth.的具體內容。
Boast作及物動詞時意思是「擁有（值得自豪的東西或品質）」，如The houses will boast the latest energy-saving technology. 這些房屋將應用最新的節能技術。
作不及物動詞時意思是「自誇；自吹自擂」，如果後面想接自誇的具體內容，須和介詞about或of搭配，如：She is always boasting about how wonderful her children are. 她總是誇耀她的孩子們多麼出色。
Be attuned to… 意思是「熟悉、適應、習慣……（to be or become familiar with the way someone thinks or behaves so that you can react to them in a suitable way）」，文中的human-attuned RBD就是指適應於人類的RBD。例如：British companies still aren’t really attuned to the needs of the Japanese market. 英國公司還未熟悉適應日本市場的需求。
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220303602
為了找到新冠病毒的源頭，各國科學家們還在做著不懈的努力：
Ian Lipkin, the boss of the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, in New York, is working with Chinese researchers to test blood samples taken late last year from patients with pneumonia all around China, to see if there is any evidence for the virus having spread to Wuhan from somewhere else. If there is, then it may have entered Huanan market not in a cage, but on two legs. The market is popular with visitors as well as locals, and is close to Hankou railway station, a hub in China’s high-speed rail network.
Further research may make when, where and how the virus got into people clearer. There is scope for a lot more virus hunting in a wider range of possible intermediate species（中間宿主）. If it were possible to conduct detailed interviews with those who came down with the earliest cases of covid-19, that genetic sampling could be better aimed, says Dr Embarek, and with a bit of luck one might get to the source. But the time needed to do this, he adds, 「might be quick, or it might be extremely long」.
內容節選自
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/05/02/the-pieces-of-the-puzzle-of-covid-19s-origin-are-coming-to-light
圖片來源：
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/05/02/the-pieces-of-the-puzzle-of-covid-19s-origin-are-coming-to-light
https://zh.twgreatdaily.com/3A2YRXEBfwtFQPkdvtCH.html
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/conspiracy-theory-rubber-stamp-vector-12751264
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220303602
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