2007年12月27日，巴基斯坦前总理、巴人民党主席贝娜齐尔•布托遇刺身亡，至今谜雾重重。面对国内反对党的指责，巴总统穆沙拉夫只得向英国求援，由英国苏格兰场（Scotland Yard，伦敦警察局）派遣专家前往巴基斯坦协助调查。2008年1月4日，伦敦警察局派遣的6人专家团抵达巴首都伊斯兰堡。当时西方主要媒体都对此进行了报道，其中法新社（AFP）的一条新闻报道是这样说的：

Scotland Yard team arrives in Pakistan: officials

Fri Jan 4, 2008

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AFP) - A team of Scotland Yard investigators have arrived in Pakistan to help probe the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, airport officials said Friday.

英国调查专家抵达巴之后，他们检查了贝•布托遇刺时乘坐的防弹汽车，前往贝•布托遇害前参加公众集会的拉瓦尔品第利亚卡特•巴格公园，在公园门口的贝•布托遇刺地点周围仔细查看现场，对制高点和关键地点进行拍照、测量和记录，然后还前往收治遇刺后的贝•布托的医院以及敛尸房进行了实地察看。

但是，贝•布托的丈夫和儿子对于上述调查并不卖帐，他们多次表示，巴基斯坦政府方面的调查将不能使他们信服，因此呼吁英国和美国支持该党要求联合国介入贝布托死因调查的请求。西方媒体于是又有相关报道，如美联社（AP）的一篇报道的标题和导语是这样的：

Bhutto's husband calls for UN probe

By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jan 5, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The husband of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Saturday accused elements within Pakistan's government of responsibility for her murder and urged Britain and the United States to support a U.N. investigation into the killing.

Bhutto's son demands UN probe into mother's assassination

AFP via Yahoo! News - Jan 08 9:26 AM

The son of Pakistan's slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto warned that the country faces disintegration unless upcoming elections are "free and fair," and demanded a UN probe into her death.

从上述三则新闻报道，我们可以发现，新闻媒体在表达“调查”这一意思的时候倾向于使用probe，而不是人们更加熟悉的investigate。在上述新闻报道中，虽然investigate的名词形式investigator和investigation都有出现，但probe显然占据了很显著的地位，无论是其作为动词还是名词，第二条和第三条新闻的标题中就使用了probe，而第一条新闻的导语中使用了probe这个动词，干脆没有出现investigate。

其实，在这里，investigate是完全可以使用的，因为它的释义就是“查明（犯罪、事故或科学问题的真相），调查，审查”。用于调查贝•布托遇刺的这一背景之下，investigate完全符合当前语境。但是，我们又发现，probe这个在普通英语中使用频率不如investigate的单词在新闻报道中出现的机会反而多一些，其中的原因就在于新闻英语喜欢使用一些短小精悍的单词，英语新闻无论是标题还是正文都力求用有限的字数来表达新闻的内容，为此，在措词上尤其要狠下功夫，选词尽可能经济达意、简短明了，偏爱选用那些短小精悍或字母最少的动词。这是因为短小易懂、形象生动的措词不仅能增强新闻的简洁性和可读性，而且还能节省版面篇幅。比如说，同样是“禁止”，新闻报道倾向于使用ban，而不是prohibit。Probe在新闻报道中的使用也就属于这一原因。《朗曼当代高级英语辞典》也提供了确凿证据，其对probe释义为a very thorough inquiry into something, used by newspapers（彻底调查，深入调查）并且明确指出这是报纸用语。

在关于贝•布托遇刺案调查的新闻报道中，媒体同期使用probe的频率确实相当高。比如说，《印度快报》1月9日的一则新闻报道说，曾经调查美国《华尔街日报》记者丹尼尔•珀尔5年前在巴基斯坦被杀案的侦探将参与调查贝•布托遇刺真相。该报道的标题和导语是这样的：

Detective who cracked Pearl case to probe Bhutto killing

Wednesday January 9, 03:31 PM

The Indian Express

The Pakistani detective, who cracked the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl five years ago, has joined the team probing the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Zubair Mahmood of the Federal Investigation Agency in the port city of Karachi has been deputed to join the Pakistani team working with investigators from Britain's Scotland Yard to probe the assassination.

在调查贝•布托遇刺案的同时，2008年元旦，一名美国外交官在苏丹首都喀土穆街头遭枪击后不治身亡。随后，美国国务院宣布，美国外交安全人员和美国联邦调查局组成一个联合小组，前往苏丹调查这一事件。西方媒体对此进行了报道，其中一则报道如下：

FBI agents arrive in Sudan to probe US diplomat's killing

Fri Jan 4, 2008

KHARTOUM (AFP) - FBI and other US investigators have arrived in the Sudanese capital to probe the killing of a US diplomat in a drive-by shooting on New Year's Day, officials said Friday.

美国调查人员抵达苏丹之后，他们对谁是这起袭击事件的幕后指使展开了调查，相关新闻报道是这么说的：

U.S. agents probe Sudan attack claim

By Andrew Heavens

Fri Jan 5, 2008

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - U.S. security agents are investigating reports that a previously unknown militant group was behind the killing of a U.S. aid officer and his Sudanese driver in Khartoum, an embassy official said on Saturday.

在上述新闻发生的同时，联合国对刚果（金）的人权问题调查也引起了媒体的关注，有关媒体刊登了以下一篇报道：

UN rights investigators probe Congo

By EDDY ISANGO, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jan 5, 2008

GOMA, Congo - Congolese government forces summarily executed civilians and members of a politician's private militia and used excessive force during clashes with the militia last year, according to a preliminary report by U.N. human rights investigators.

The investigators had probed March clashes in Kinshasa, Congo's capital, between Congolese forces and security guards of Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord who was runner-up in 2006 presidential elections.

在其他新闻报道中，probe的使用也相当普遍，比如：

Report: Feds probe Internet suicide

AP via Yahoo! News – Jan. 9, 29 minutes ago

A federal grand jury has issued a subpoena to MySpace.com in a probe stemming from the suicide of a Missouri teenager who received cruel messages on the networking site that turned out to be a hoax, a newspaper reported.

FBI to probe Sikh brothers' murder in California

IANS via Yahoo! India News - Jan 08 10:45 PM

New York, Jan 9 (IANS) Police have sought the help of FBI's hate-crime investigators to probe the December killing of two Sikh brothers who ran a restaurant in California.

从上述新闻报道可以看出，probe很有新闻缘，西方媒体在表达“调查”这一意思的时候，他们首先想到的就是probe，而不是investigate。当然，作为一个使用更加普遍的单词，investigate用在上述新闻报道中也并无不妥，只是似乎可以这么说，probe是新闻媒体在表达“调查”这一意思时候的首选单词，其原因可能在于新闻英语喜欢使用音节少的单词，而investigate是一个使用范围很广的普通词汇。不过，在表示“调查人员”这一意思的时候，新闻媒体只使用investigator，而从未见过使用prober这一单词。

了解一些新闻英语常识，懂得同义词汇用法之间的一些细微差异，有助于我们更好地学习英语，把英语学的活一些，用的活一些，从而可以更好地帮助广大英语学习者提高英语综合应用能力。