CLARE: Hi Jake. How are you getting on with the practical teaching?

克莱尔：你好，杰克。你的实践教学进展如何？

JAKE: It's harder than I expected, but I've got some great classes. How about you?

杰克：比我想象的要难，但我上了几堂很棒的课。你呢？

CLARE: Not brilliant. I'm really struggling with my Year 12 science class.

克莱尔：不怎么样。我12年级的科学课上的很吃力。

JAKE: Are they hard to control?

杰克：学生很难管教吗？

CLARE: Well, I don't have discipline problems as such.

克莱尔：不是纪律的问题。

It's just that they don't seem to think that science has anything to do with their lives. It's depressing.

只是他们似乎不认为科学与他们的生活有任何关系，真让人沮丧。

They listen to what I say, and I gave them a test last week and the results weren't too bad, but there's no real engagement.

他们听我讲课，我上周给他们做了个测试，结果还不错，但他们没有真正参与进来。

JAKE: Right.

杰克：这样啊。

CLARE: And as part of my teaching practice, I have to design an experiment for them to do.

克莱尔：作为教学实践的一部分，我必须为他们设计一个实验。

I was wondering about something on the children's diets . . . you know, asking them to record what they eat and maybe linking it to their state of health.

我在想关于孩子们饮食的问题......你知道的，让他们记录下他们吃了什么，也许还能和他们的健康状况联系起来。

JAKE: Mmm. Let's think. So your methodology would involve the children recording what they eat.

杰克：嗯，让我们想想。所以你的方法是让孩子们记录他们吃了什么吗？

OK, but you'd also need to have access to the children's medical records and I don't think people would be happy about that; confidentiality would be an issue.

好吧，但你还需要查阅孩子们的医疗记录，我想人们不会乐意这样做；保密性也是个问题。

If you could get the right data, the conclusions might be significant, but I suspect it's not going to be easy.

如果你能得到正确的数据，结论可能很有意义，但我怀疑这并不容易。

CLARE: Right.

克莱尔：没错。

JAKE: Have you thought about doing an experiment using animals?

杰克：你有没有想过用动物做实验？

CLARE: Wouldn't that be upsetting for the children?

克莱尔：那不会让孩子们难过吗？

JAKE: Well, the animals don't have to be harmed in any way.

杰克：嗯，动物不必收到任何伤害。

It could just be an experiment where they're given a certain diet and the effects are observed.

这可能只是一个给它们特定饮食并观察其效果的实验。

CLARE: Would I have to get permission to use animals?

克莱尔：用动物进行实验需要得到许可吗？

JAKE: Yes, you'd have to submit an outline of the experiment and fill in a form, but it's quite straightforward.

杰克：是的，你得提交一份实验大纲，然后填一张表格，不过这很简单。

CLARE: But if we found out that, say, a particular diet affects the health of animals, the same thing wouldn't necessarily be true for people, would it?

克莱尔：但是如果我们发现，比如说，某种特定的饮食会影响动物的健康，那么同样的事情不一定适用于人类，不是吗？

JAKE: No that's true, but the findings for any experiment are going to be limited. It's inevitable.

杰克：没错，但是任何实验的结果都是有限的。这是不可能避免的。

CLARE: I suppose so. So what animals could I use to investigate the effects of diet? Mice?

克莱尔：我想也是。那么我可以用什么动物来研究饮食的影响呢？老鼠吗？

JAKE: Yes. You'd need experimental mice – ones that have been specially bred for experiments.

杰克：是的。你需要实验小鼠--专门为实验培育的小白鼠。

OK, so what will your experiment be investigating exactly?

好吧，那你的实验具体要研究什么？

CLARE: Well, something to do with nutrition.

克莱尔：和营养相关。

So maybe we could look at food supplements . . . things like extra iron and extra protein, and their impact on health.

也许我们可以看看食物补充剂，比如额外的铁和蛋白质，以及它们对健康的影响。

JAKE: Mmm. That might be rather broad. Maybe just look at the effects of one supplement, like sugar, on the health of the mice?

杰克：嗯。这可能比较宽泛。也许只研究一种补充剂，比如糖，对老鼠健康的影响？

CLARE: In fact, maybe the focus could be on whether mice can control their own diet. . . .

克莱尔：事实上，也许重点可以放在小鼠能否控制自己的饮食上. . .

JAKE: So, what happens when they have access to more sugar, that they don't really need?

杰克：那么，当他们有了更多并不需要的糖，将会发生什么？

CLARE: Exactly. Do they eat it or do they decide to leave it?

克莱尔：没错，看它们是吃还是不吃？

JAKE: Great. Then later on, you could do a follow-up experiment adding another variable.

杰克：太好了。然后，你可以做一个后续实验，加入另一个变量。

Like, you could give some of the mice the chance to be more active, running on a wheel or something, and the others just sit around and don't do much.

比如，你可以给一些小白鼠活动的机会，让它们在轮子上跑什么的，而其他的小白鼠只是坐在那里，什么也不做。

CLARE: Or I could repeat the experiment but change the type of food I provided . . . or use mice with a different genetic structure.

克莱尔：或者我可以重复这个实验，但是改变所提供的食物种类……或者使用不同基因结构的小白鼠。

But I think your idea would be more interesting, I might think about that some more.

但是我觉得你的想法更加有趣，我可以再考虑一下。