SECTION 3

Emma: We've got to choose a topic for our experiment, haven't we, Jack?

艾玛：杰克，我们应该为我们的实验选择一个主题了，不是吗？

Were you thinking of something to do with seeds?

你有考虑与种子相关的内容吗？

Jack: That's right.

杰克：是的。

I thought we could look at seed germination - how a seed begins to grow.

我想我们可以观察种子的萌发——种子是如何开始生长的。

Emma: OK. Any particular reason?

艾玛：好的。有什么特别的原因吗？

I know you're hoping to work in plant science eventually ...

我知道你希望最后能在植物科学领域工作……

Jack: Yeah, but practically everything we do is going to feed into that.

杰克：是这样的，实际上我们所做的一切都是为了实现这个。

No, there's an optional module on seed structure and function in the third year that I might do, so I thought it might be useful for that.

第三年的时候我可能会上一个关于种子结构和功能的选修课。我认为它会对这门课有用。

If I choose that option, I don't have to do a dissertation module.

如果我选择这门课，我就不需要写论文了。

Emma: Good idea.

艾玛：是个好主意。

Jack: Well, I thought for this experiment we could look at the relationship between seed size and the way the seeds are planted.

杰克：嗯，我认为在这个实验中，我们可以看看种子大小和种子种植方式之间的关系。

So, we could plant different sized seeds in different ways, and see which grow best.

因此，我们可以以不同的方式种植不同大小的种子，看看哪种方式生长得最好。

Emma: OK. We'd need to allow time for the seeds to come up.

艾玛：好。我们需要留出时间让种子萌发。

Jack: That should be fine if we start now.

杰克：现在开始应该可以。

A lot of the other possible experiments need quite a bit longer.

毕竟许多其他可能的实验会需要更长的时间。

Emma: So that'd make it a good one to choose.

艾玛：所以这会是一个很好的选择。

And I don't suppose it'd need much equipment; we're not doing chemical analysis or anything.

而且我认为它不需要太多设备；我们不需要做化学分析或其他事情。

Though that's not really an issue, we've got plenty of equipment in the laboratory.

虽然这并不是什么大问题，我们的实验室里有很多设备。

Jack: Yeah. We need to have a word with the tutor if we're going to go ahead with it though.

杰克：没错。如果我们要继续这样做，我们需要与导师沟通一下。

I'm sure our aim's OK.

我确信我们的目标没问题。

It's not very ambitious but the assignment's only ten percent of our final mark, isn't it?

虽然它不是很宏大，但这个实验只占我们最终成绩的百分之十，不是吗？

But we need to be sure we're the only ones doing it.

不过我们需要确保我们是唯一做这个实验的人。

Emma: Yeah, it's only five percent actually, but it'd be a bit boring if everyone was doing it.

艾玛：是的，实际上只有百分之五，但如果每个人都这样做这个实验，那就有点无聊了。

Jack: Did you read that book on seed germination on our reading list?

杰克：你在我们的阅读清单上读过那本关于种子萌发的书吗？

Emma: The one by Graves?

艾玛：格雷夫斯写的那本？

I looked through it for my last experiment, though it wasn't all that relevant there.

我做最后一次实验的时候查阅过，虽然它并不是那么相关。

It would be for this experiment, though.

但是，与这个实验是很相关的。

I found it quite hard to follow - lots about the theory, which I hadn't expected.

我发现这本书很难理解——关于理论的内容很多，这是我没想到的。

Jack: Yes, I'd been hoping for something more practical.

杰克：是呢，我一直希望有一些更实际的东西。

It does include references to the recent findings on genetically-modified seeds, though.

不过，它包括了一些近期转基因种子研究成果的参考文献。

Emma: Yes, that was interesting.

艾玛：是这样的，很有意思呢。

Jack: I read an article about seed germination by Lee Hall.

杰克：我读了一篇李霍尔关于种子萌发的文章。

Emma: About seeds that lie in the ground for ages and only germinate after a fire?

艾玛：是关于落在地上多年的种子，只有在火灾后才会发芽的那篇吗？。

Jack: That's the one.

杰克：就是那个。

I knew a bit about it already, but not about this research.

我已经了解了一点，但不是关于这项研究。

His analysis of figures comparing the times of the fires and the proportion of seeds that germinated was done in a lot of detail - very impressive.

他的数据分析非常的细致，详细对比了火灾的次数和种子发芽的比例——令人印象深刻。

Emma: Was that the article with the illustrations of early stages of plant development?

艾玛：是有植物发展早期阶段图示的那篇文章吗？

They were very clear.

它们非常清晰。

Jack: I think those diagrams were in another article.

杰克：我记得那些图表在另一篇文章中。

Emma: Anyway, shall we have a look at the procedure for our experiment?

艾玛：无论如何，我们应该看一下我们实验的流程吧？

We'll need to get going with it quite soon.

很快就需要着手去做了。

Jack: Right. So the first thing we have to do is find our seeds.

杰克：对。所以我们要做的第一件事就是找到种子。

I think vegetable seeds would be best.

我认为蔬菜种子最好。

And obviously they mustn't all be the same size.

自然，它们的大小不必要相同。

So, how many sorts do we need?

那么，我们需要多少种呢？

About four different ones?

大约四种不同的？

Emma: I think that would be enough.

艾玛：我认为这样足够了。

There'll be quite a large number of seeds for each one.

每个种类都会有相当大数量的种子。

Jack: Then, for each seed we need to find out how much it weighs, and also measure its dimensions, and we need to keep a careful record of all that.

杰克：接下来，对于每粒种子，我们需要测量它的重量和尺寸，并且需要仔细记录所有的数据。

Emma: That'll be quite time-consuming.

艾玛：那会非常耗时。

And we also need to decide how deep we're going to plant the seeds - right on the surface, a few millimetres down, or several centimetres.

我们还需要决定我们要把种子种在多深的地方——是种在地表，还是种几毫米深，或者几厘米深。

Jack: OK. So then we get planting.

杰克：不错。然后我们就可以开始种植了。

Do you think we can plant several seeds together in the same plant pot?

你觉得我们可以在同一个花盆里种几粒种子吗？

Emma: No. I think we need a different one for each seed.

艾玛：我觉得不可以。我认为每粒种子都应该单独种植。

Jack: Right. And we'll need to label them - we can use different coloured labels.

杰克：好吧。我们需要给它们贴标签——可以使用不同颜色的标签。

Then we wait for the seeds to germinate - I reckon that'll be about three weeks, depending on what the weather's like.

然后我们就可以等待种子发芽——我估计大约需要三周，这取决于天气情况。

Then we see if our plants have come up, and write down how tall they've grown.

我们观察植物是否发芽，并记录下它们的高度。

Emma: Then all we have to do is look at our numbers, and see if there's any relation between them.

艾玛：接下来我们所要做的就是分析我们的数据，看看它们之间是否存在关系

Jack: That's right. So …

杰克：没错。所以……