BBC地道英语:Can of worms 一连串的复杂问题

The script of this programme 本节目台词

Finn: Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English. I'm Finn.

Feifei: And I'm Feifei.

Finn: Worms are great - don't you think they're really interesting?

Feifei: Erm, yeah? Kind of. But what's today's phrase?

Finn: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll come to that in a minute. But, did you know earthworms, the kind you normally find in the soil, are both male and female in one body?

What's in this can?

Feifei: 一只蚯蚓的身体既是公的也是母的 - that is quite interesting.

Finn: And if you cut a worm in half - only one part of the worm will die?

Feifei: 如果蚯蚓身体末端的一部分被切掉或断掉，剩下的一边一样能存活，而且在一段时间后它自己能复原，也就是说它们的再生能里很强。I knew that.

Finn: It's fascinating isn't it? And... earthworms can be really short - from only one millimetre - to a massive three metres! And, another one, worms can...

Feifei: Finn, Finn, hang on a second, why are we talking about worms so much?

Finn: Sorry, yes, I was doing some research for today's programme... The phrase, today, is - a can of worms!

Feifei: Well 'a can of worms' 这个短语用来表达当你开始解决一个问题时，这个问题会带出一连串的其它问题。

Finn: Yes, sometimes you want to deal with a problem, but you realise that by dealing with that problem it will open up a whole set of new problems.

Feifei: Like in these examples:

Feifei: That was possibly the longest example we've had on Authentic Real English.

Finn: Yes, well anyway - I hope everyone listening understands the phrase now. I think I'll get back to my reading. 34,000 different kinds of worm, wow... They can live for up to 10 years! Fascinating... They eat their own weight every day...

Feifei: OK, well I think we've lost Finn there. I think I've had enough of worms for one day. Do join us again for more Authentic Real English! Bye.

Finn: ...worms have existed for about 600 million years, and they breathe through their skin, cool!