HELEN: Now when we get to our findings I thought we could divide them up into the different zones we identified on the shore, and the problems organisms face in each zone.

在写发现部分的内容时，我认为我们应该分类到海岸的不同区域，把我们鉴定过的生物和受到威胁的生物。

So for the highest area ...

对于海拔最高的地区……

COLIN: ... the splash zone?

科林：你指的是飞溅区？

HELEN: Yeah, we found mostly those tiny shellfish that have strong hard shells that act as protection.

海伦：是的，我们发现这些小型贝类生物大多拥有强硬的外壳来保护自己。

COLIN: But not from other organisms that might eat them, predators?

科林：但是并不能保护它们不被其他生物捕食，比如食肉动物？

HELEN: No, that's not the main danger for them.

海伦：对，但这并不是它们生存的主要威胁。

But the shells prevent them from drying out because they're in the open air for most of the time.

这些外壳主要为了防止干燥，因为它们大多时间都在露天中。

COLIN: Right.

科林：是的。

And since they're exposed, they need to be able to find some sort of shelter, or cover themselves up, so they don't get too hot.

一旦他们暴露在外，他们需要找到遮挡物或是把自己罩上，这样它们就不会感到太热。

Then in the middle and lower zones, nearer the sea, we need to discuss the effects of wave action ...

在中间和低阶靠海的地区，我们需要探讨一下波浪效应……

HELEN: Yes, and how organisms develop structures to prevent themselves from being swept away,or even destroyed by being smashed against the rocks.

海伦：是的，还要谈论生物如何进化形态保护自己免受冲走的危险，甚至被岩石击碎的危险。

COLIN: I haven't done anything on the geological changes.

科林：我没准备关于地质变化的部分。

I don't know what to put for that.

我不知道怎么做。

HELEN: No, we weren't concentrating on that.

海伦：我也没有，我们当时没有关注这个方面。

Maybe we need to find some websites.

或许我们可以从互联网中找一些材料。

COLIN: Good idea.

科林：好主意。

I've got the lecture notes from Mr Blake's geology course, but they're too general.

我拿到了布莱克先生的地质学讲义，但是内容有点泛泛。

But we could ask him which books on our Reading List might be most helpful.

不过我们可以让他推荐一下，书单里哪本书对我们最有用。

HELEN: Right. OK, now I did a draft of the section of sources of possible error in our research, but I don't know if you agree.

海伦：好的。我写了一个草稿，关于我们研究中可能存在的问题来源分类，我不知道你是否赞同。

For example, the size of the sample, and whether it's big enough to make any general conclusions from.

比如，样品数量的多少、对于总结论它的数量是否充分。

But I thought actually we did have quite a big sample.

不过实际上我觉得我们的取样范围已经够大了。

COLIN: We did. And our general method of observation seemed quite reliable.

科林：对。我们观察的通用方法看起来比较可靠。

But we might not be all that accurate as far as the actual numbers go.

但是和实际数量相比可能不是很精确。

HELEN: Yeah, we might have missed some organisms - if they were hiding under a rock, for example.

海伦：是的，我们可能还遗漏了一些生物，比如它们有可能藏到了石头下面。

I wasn't sure about the way we described their habitats.

我不是很肯定我们对它们的栖息地表述是否准确。

I decided it was probably OK.

我想基本上是没有问题的。

COLIN: Yeah, and the descriptions we gave of the smaller organisms, they weren't very detailed, but they were adequate in this context.

科林：对，还有我们对那些小型生物的描述不是很详细，但是在本次研究中已经够用了。

I'm not sure we identified all the species correctly though.

不过，我不确定我们有没有准确辨认出所有的物种。

HELEN: OK, we'd better mention that. Now, how …

海伦：好吧，我们最好说一下。现在，如何……