Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and the professor.

旁白：听一段学生和老师间的对话。

Student: Hi, professor Anderson.

学生：你好，安德森教授。

That was a really interesting lecture in class today.

今天你的课真的是太精彩了。

Professor: Thanks, Tom.

教授：谢谢，汤姆。

Yeah, animals' use of deception, ways they play tricks on other animals, that's a fascinating area.

嗯，动物的欺骗，以及他们如何戏弄别的动物，是一个很有趣的研究领域。

One we are really just starting to understand.

而且我们也才刚刚起步。

Student: Yeah, you know, selective adaptations over time are one thing.

学生：是的，一段时间内的选择性适应就是其中一个方面。

Oh, like, non-poisonous butterflies that have come to look like poisonous ones.

譬如，嗯，无毒的蝴蝶渐渐看上去跟有毒的类型一个样了。

But the idea that animals of the same species intentionally deceive each other, I have never heard that before.

但是，某些动物会刻意欺骗它们同类的这个想法，我之前从来没有听说过。

Professor: Right, like, there are male frogs who lower their voices and end up sounding bigger than they really are.

教授：好吧，我举一个例子，比如，雄性青蛙在鸣叫的时候，会降低鸣叫的音高，最终使得它们听起来比实际个头要大。

Student: So they do that to keep other frogs from invading their territory?

学生：这样的话，它们就能保卫自己的领地，使得别的青蛙不敢侵犯吗？

Professor: Right, bigger frogs have deeper voices, so if a smaller frog can imitate that deep voice. Well ...

教授：对的，个头越大的青蛙，鸣叫的声音音高也就越低，所以，如果小个儿的青蛙能够模仿这种叫声的话，嗯……

Student: Yeah, I can see how that might do the trick.

学生：好的，我能猜到它们是怎样做到的。

But, anyway, what I wanted to ask was, when you started talking about game theory.

但是，我真正想知道的是，你提到过的博弈论。

Well, I know a little bit about it, but I am not clear about its use in biology.

嗯，我虽然知道一点，但我不知道它在生物学上的应用。

Professor: Yeah, it is fairly new to biology.

教授：是这样的，这个理论对于生物学还是非常新的。

Basically, it uses math to predict what an individual would do under certain circumstances.

基本上说，它依靠数学计算来预计某一个动物个体在某一种特定环境下的反应。

But for example, a business sells, oh computer, say, and they want to sell their computers to a big university.

比如说，做生意吧，比如卖电脑，如果电脑商想要把电脑卖给一个规模大的大学。

But there is another company bidding too.

而另一个公司也在竞标。

So, what should they do?

这样的话，他们会怎么做呢？

Student: Well, try to offer the lowest price so they can compete, but still make money.

学生：嗯，在能够赚钱的前提下，相互竞争，给出尽量低的价格。

Professor: Right, they are competing, like a game, like the frogs.

教授：答对了，他们会竞争，就像一场游戏一样，就像我们刚才讲的青蛙一样。

There are risks with pricing too high, the other company might get the sale; there is also the number and types of computers to consider.

他们都面临着这样的境况，即如果给的标价太高，另一家公司就会拿下订单；而且，他们还要考虑出售电脑的数量和种类。

Each company has to find a balance between the cost and benefits.

每家公司都要在成本和盈利之间争取平衡。

Well, game theory creates mathematical models that analyze different conditions like this to predict outcomes.

而博弈论呢，可以帮助他们建立起数学模型，并以之分析不同条件下可能的结果会是怎样的。

Student: Ok, I get that!

学生：好的，我懂了！

But how does it apply to animals?

但这个理论是怎样用在动物上的呢？

Professor: Well, you know, if you are interested in this topic, it would be perfect for your term paper.

教授：嗯，如果你真的对这个东西感兴趣的话，它很适合作为你的学期论文题目。

Student: The literature review?

学生：您说的是那个文献综述作业吗？

Professor: Yeah, find three journal articles about this or another topic that interests you and discuss them.

教授：是的，关于这个话题或者其它你感兴趣的话题，你要找出三篇期刊文章，并对这些观点进行讨论。

If there is a conflict in the conclusions or something, that would be important to discuss.

如果三本杂志上的说法有冲突的话，那么这个矛盾的地方就有必要讨论了。

Student: Well, from what I have looked at dealing with game theory, I can't say I understand much of the statistics end.

学生：嗯，从我现在知道的关于博弈论的文献来看的话，里面涉及的许多统计学结论我都不太明白。

Professor: Well, I can point you to some that presents fairly basic studies, that don't assume much background knowledge.

教授：嗯，我可以给你指定一些只需要比较基础研究的话题。

You'll just need to answer a few specific questions: What was the researchers' hypothesis?

你特别有必要搞清楚这样几个问题：研究者的假设是什么？

What did they want to find out?

他们想要得出什么样的结果？

And how did they conduct their research?

他们是怎么进行他们的研究的？

And then the conclusions they came to.

他们得出了怎样的结论。

Learning to interpret these statistics will come later.

之后才涉及如何解读统计数据。