《中英對照讀新聞》Eureka! After about a century of research, Swiss scientists have finally cracked the mystery of the holes in Swiss cheese. 找到了！經過一世紀研究，瑞士科學家終於解開瑞士起司洞的謎團

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Despite what you may have been told as a child, they are not caused by mice nibbling away inside cheese wheels.

儘管小時候人家可能這樣告訴你，但起司裡的洞不是老鼠咬掉的。

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Experts from Agroscope, a state centre for agricultural research, said the phenomenon -- which marks famous Swiss cheeses such as Emmental and Appenzell -- was caused by tiny bits of hay present in the milk and not bacteria as previously thought.

瑞士聯邦農業部研究機構Agroscope的專家表示，愛摩塔和亞本塞等知名瑞士起司都有這個現象，這是牛奶中的乾草造成的，而不是此前認為的細菌 。

They found that the mystery holes in such cheeses became smaller or disappeared when milk used for cheese-making was extracted using modern methods.

他們發現，用以製作起司的牛奶擠取作業現代化後，這些起司神秘的洞孔會變小或消失。

"It’s the disappearance of the traditional bucket" used during milking that caused the difference, said Agroscope spokesman Regis Nyffeler, adding that bits of hay fell into it and then eventually caused the holes.

聯邦農業部研究機構發言人尼菲勒表示，擠牛奶時不再使用傳統桶子，造成這項差異；傳統製法中，擠牛奶會用桶子裝，少許乾草不小心掉進桶子裡，最後造成洞孔產生。

新聞辭典

Eureka：感嘆詞，（成功做到某事時發出的歡呼）我發現了，我找到了，我成功了。例句："Eureka!" she shouted as the engine started.（「我成功了！」隨著引擎發動，她大聲歡呼。）

crack：動詞，解決問題，破譯。例句：I’ve been trying to solve this problem all week, but I still haven’t cracked it.（整個星期我一直試著解決這個問題，但還是不得要領。）

nibble (away) at sth：片語，逐漸消耗，蠶食。例句：Even when inflation is low, it nibbles away at people’s savings, reducing their value considerably over several years.（即使通貨膨脹率不高，它仍在慢慢消耗人們的儲蓄，在幾年間使其大幅貶值。）