籠子裡的那隻動物
這就是核心畫面本身。
noun · A2
A small furry animal with short ears and no tail, rather like a large hamster, often kept as a pet and also used in laboratories.
天竺鼠
核心畫面
A small round animal with no tail sits in a cage: easy to keep, easy to watch, and so it ends up in classrooms and laboratories alike. Once you picture the cage on the laboratory bench — the creature the new thing is tried on first, before anyone knows how it will turn out — the second use of the word follows on its own.
一隻圓圓的、沒有尾巴的小動物待在籠子裡。牠好養、好觀察，所以教室裡有，實驗室裡也有。只要把籠子挪到實驗桌上，畫面就完…更多收起
一隻圓圓的、沒有尾巴的小動物待在籠子裡。牠好養、好觀察，所以教室裡有，實驗室裡也有。只要把籠子挪到實驗桌上，畫面就完整了：新東西還沒人知道結果，先在牠身上試。這個字的第二個用法，就是從這個位置長出來的。From the word’s history
Wiktionary calls the origin of 'guinea' uncertain: the animals came from South America but may have reached Europe by way of Guinea; 'Guinea' was also used loosely for any far-off place; and some think it is an alteration of coney, meaning rabbit.
Wiktionary 說 guinea 的來源沒有定論。牠原產南美洲，一說是經由幾內亞一帶被帶進歐洲。也有人認為當時 guinea 只是泛指「很遠、不熟悉的地方」。另有一說是 coney（兔子）變過來的。所以這個名字幫不上理解，記畫面比較實在。
Wiktionary, entry “guinea pig” (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:136397965), etymology note on the uncertain origin of “guinea”.
Two branches
被拿來先試的人
把實驗桌上的位置借給人，借的是位置，不是罵人。
noun · B2
A person who is the first to try a new product, method, medicine or system, so that others can see whether it works and whether it is safe.
白老鼠；實驗對象
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
guinea pignoun/ˈɡɪni pɪɡ/
- 1
Any tailless rodent of the genus Cavia, which have short ears and superficially resemble large hamsters.
- 2
Any tailless rodent of the genus Cavia, which have short ears and superficially resemble large hamsters.
- 3
A living experimental subject.
- He became a human guinea pig and was paid by the company.
- [H]e spoke of the unwisdom of volunteering one's services as a guinea pig.
- 4
datedslangA professional company director, without time or real qualifications for the duties.
- 5
obsoletenauticaltransportA midshipman in the East India service; (by extension) a low-skilled or non-proficient seaman.
- A good seaman he is... none of your guinea-pigs.
- I promise you, to me it was no slight penance to be exposed during the whole voyage to the half sneering, satirical looks of the mates and guinea-pigs.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。