听力文本

Recording 29
录音29
What I appreciate most about my work is the fact that I can turn the fossils I find into information we can actually use.
我对于自己的工作中最欣赏的一点是，我能把我找到的化石转化成我们能真正利用的信息。
So, how do we extract that information? Well, first we need to run the fossil through a special machine. That gives me a date for the fossil.
那么，我们是怎么提取信息的呢？首先，我们要用一种特殊的机器扫描化石。这会让我得到化石的日期。
From then on, I begin to work out what type of animal it was, what it ate and how it interacted with the landscape.
接着，我开始研究这是什么种类的动物，以什么为食，和大自然如何互动。
Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to be awarded a grant from a government-funding body. Palaeontology isn't only about the past. It can help with current issues too.
今年早些时候，我很幸运，获得了一家政府资助机构的拨款。古生物学不仅仅是关于过去的，也能帮助（我们解决）当前的问题。
For example, I plan to use these funds to excavate new areas and try to find out how ancient creatures evolved during their own period of climate change, just as animals today have to.
举个例子，我计划利用这些资金去挖掘新的地区，试着找出古生物在它们各自的气候变化时期是如何进化的，正如现在的动物要做的一样。
In another project, I'm going to study fossil collections that are housed in museums around Australia.
在另一个项目中，我会研究澳大利亚各博物馆的化石收藏。
I'm doing that to try to find out when Australia's mega-fauna became extinct-that is, all the giant mammals, lizards and birds.
我这么做是为了找出澳大利亚的巨型动物群是什么时候灭绝的—巨型动物就是各种体型巨大的哺乳动物、类蜥蜴爬行动物和鸟类。
That will help us to finally find out what caused these extinctions. Was it nature or was it humans?
这有助于我们最后找出灭绝的原因。是自然原因还是人为原因？