<-NARRATOR:->Listen to part of a conversation between a student and her biology professor.
旁白：请听一段学生和其生物学教授之间的对话。
<-MALE PROFESSOR:->So the assignment is to reproduce one of the animal camouflage experiments we read about in our text book.Which experiment did you pick?<-FEMALE STUDENT:->Well... I was wondering if I could try to reproduce an experiment that’s...kinda the opposite of what was discussed in the textbook?
教授：所以作业是重现我们在课本上读到的一个动物伪装实验。你选择哪个实验呢？学生：嗯...我想知道我是否可以尝试复制一个实验，这个实验……有点和课本上讨论的相反？
<-MALE PROFESSOR:->So, instead of how and why an animal might hide itself, you want to do something about why an animal might want to be seen? Hmmm. Tell me more.<-FEMALE STUDENT:->Well, I got the idea from one of the journals you said we should look at…it’s an experiment about, um, [upspeak] they called them eyespots in the article?<-MALE PROFESSOR:->Eyespots, sure. The patterns on the wings of moths and butterflies that are generally believed to scare off predators because they look like big eyes?
教授：所以你想去做一个为什么动物会有意暴露自己的实验，而不是一个动物如何及为什么伪装自己的实验？嗯。多说一点。学生：嗯，我是从你推荐我们阅读的期刊上获得这个想法的...这是一项关于，嗯，关于期刊上他们口中所说的眼斑的实验？教授：眼斑，当然，飞蛾和蝴蝶身上的图案通常会被认为可以吓退捕食者，因为它们看起来像是大大的眼睛。
<-FEMALE STUDENT:->Yeah. Except the article was about an experiment that disputes that theory.<-MALE PROFESSOR:->Well, we know that the markings do scare the birds, but the idea that the spots look like eyes is, well that’s just a commonly held belief.
学生：是的。不过这篇文章是关于一项反驳这个理论的实验的。教授：嗯，我们知道，这些图案确实会吓退鸟类，但是这些图案看起来像眼睛的观点实际上，实际上只是个被人们广泛认同的观点而已。
<-FEMALE STUDENT:->So...that’s not even based on research?<-MALE PROFESSOR:->Well, this whole idea of moth or butterfly markings being scary because they look like eyes rests on how we imagine that their predators, like birds, perceive the markings.And we can never really know that. All we can do is observe bird behavior. But tell me more about the experiment.
学生：所以...这个观点甚至不是基于研究而来的？教授：嗯，蛾子和蝴蝶身上的图案因为像眼睛而使人害怕这整个观点，其实是基于我们对于捕食者，比如鸟类，会如何感知这些图案的想象。我们永远不能真正地验证这个观点。我们所有可以做的事情是去观察鸟类的行为。但是你现在多给我讲讲这个实验吧。
<-FEMALE STUDENT:->OK, so the experiment looked at the shapes of the markings on moth wings.The researchers wanted to know if the markings that were round or eye-shaped were more effective at deterring predators than square or rectangular markings.<-MALE PROFESSOR:->OK…
学生：好的，所以这个实验观察了飞蛾翅膀上斑纹的形状。研究人员想知道，圆形或眼睛形状的斑纹是否比正方形或长方形的斑纹更能有效地威慑捕食者。教授：好的...
<-FEMALE STUDENT:->Yeah. So, they attached food to paper models of moths, with different shaped marks drawn on the wings, to see how birds reacted.And what’s interesting is they realized that the round marks were not more effective at scaring birds than other shapes.
学生：是的。因此，他们把食物附在纸上的飞蛾模型上，在翅膀上画上不同形状的标记，观察鸟类的反应。有趣的是，他们发现，圆形图案并没有在吓退鸟类上比别的形状的图案更加有效。
<-MALE PROFESSOR:->Were they less effective?<-FEMALE STUDENT:->No, they were about the same. But what researchers did determine is that larger markings are more effective than smaller markings at scaring off prey.They called this phenomenon “visual aliveness.”
教授：圆形图案效果更差吗？学生：不，它们效果差不多...但研究人员确定的是，在吓跑猎物方面，较大的斑点比较小的斑点更有效。他们把这个现象称为“视觉活力”。
<-MALE PROFESSOR:->Visual aliveness. huh. Well, I guess it’s not all that shocking, if you think about it.<-FEMALE STUDENT:->So, anyway, is it OK? Can I repeat this experiment and write about it?<-MALE PROFESSOR:->Yes, I think that’ll work. The problem I foresee is, well, where?This is an urban campus...You’ll have a hard time finding a good place to set up the experiment.
教授：视觉活力。嗯。如果你仔细想想，我想这并不那么令人震惊。学生：管怎样，可以吗?我可以重复这个实验并写下来吗？教授：是的，我想可以。我预测的问题是，在哪里（做这个实验）？我们这里是城里的大学...你想找一个适合做这个实验的地方可能会很困难。
<-FEMALE STUDENT:->Oh, I-I wasn’t planning on doing it on campus.I’m going home for spring break, and my family lives in the country, far from the nearest city. I can set it up in the backyard.
学生：哦，我，我没有打算在大学里做。我春假要回家，我家住在乡村地区，离最近的城市很远。我可以在后院里做这个实验。
<-MALE PROFESSOR:->Good idea. Except one week is not a lot of time. So you’ll need to make some adjustments to have enough data.I’d set up the experiment near a bird feeder, and get in as much observation time as you can.
教授：好主意。但是一周的春假时间并不长，所以你需要对实验做一些改动，以得到足够的数据。我建议把实验地点设置在鸟食器附近，然后争取尽可能多的观察鸟类的时间。