4 A sinister plot

Chapter Four A SINISTER PLOT "How are we going to find our way back to the Beagle?" Kiki asked. "The rainforest is amazing, but without the GPS on my camera, I don't have a clue where we are!" Ollie took out the map and compass he'd found in the Beagle's equipment locker. "Ever done orienteering before?" "Never," Kiki admitted.

第四章险恶的阴谋“我们怎样才能找到回到小猎犬号的路呢？”Kiki问道。 “雨林太神奇了，但我的相机上没有GPS，我不知道我们在哪里！”奥利拿出了他在小猎犬号装备柜里找到的地图和指南针。 “以前玩过定向越野吗？”“从来没有，”琪琪承认。

"Then this is the perfect time to start!" Kiki watched Ollie take bearings with the compass and draw pencil lines on the map. "I'd say we're about… here," he said, pointing to where the lines met. "Wow!" said Kiki. "We've come a long way from the landing strip. I wonder what those buildings are?" They soon found out. As they hiked through the rainforest, Ollie caught sight of a row of tree trunks, all the same distance apart. That was strange. He beckoned Kiki over to where the oddly neat trees began.

“那么现在就是开始的最佳时机！”琪琪看着奥利用指南针测方位，在地图上用铅笔画线。 “我想说我们大概在……这里，”他指着线的交汇处说。 “哇！”Kiki说。“我们已经走了很长一段路。 我想知道那些建筑是什么？”他们很快就发现了。 当他们徒步穿过雨林时，奥利看到了一排树干，它们之间的距离都一样。 这很奇怪。他向琪琪招手，让她走到树木开始的地方。

"Oh, no!" he said, as he figured out what they were looking at. "It's a palm oil plantation—like Jamal told us about." Row upon row of oil palms stood lined up like soldiers ready for inspection. Ollie felt shocked to see how different it was from the rainforest. Only oil palms grew here, without any other plants. There was no diversity, and hardly any sign of animals. The word for that was monoculture. The rainforest had been a great, glorious mess, like a carnival bursting with life. There was something sad about these quiet, orderly rows of oil palm trees growing where the rainforest had once been. This must be why the animals they'd seen had had to be moved to the nature preserve. At the edge of the plantation, a row of bright yellow bulldozers had been parked,

“哦，不！”当他弄明白他们在看什么时，他说。 “这是一个棕榈油种植园——就像贾马尔告诉我们的那样。” 一排排的油棕榈像士兵一样排列着，等待检阅。 看到这里与热带雨林的不同，奥利感到震惊。 这里只有油棕，没有其他植物。 这里没有生物多样性，几乎没有任何动物的迹象。 这个词叫做单一文化。 热带雨林曾经是一片巨大而辉煌的混乱，就像一个充满生机的狂欢节。 在曾经是雨林的地方，一排排安静、整齐的油棕树生长着，这让人感到有些悲伤。 这就是为什么他们看到的动物必须被转移到自然保护区的原因。 种植园边上停着一排亮黄色的推土机，

facing outward. Kiki and Ollie headed over to get a closer look. That was when Ollie heard voices. "Get to cover, quick!" he hissed to Kiki. They hid behind the nearest bulldozer, crouching down next to its muddy caterpillar tracks. Two men and a woman came into view. The woman held a tablet. One of the men carried a clipboard, and the other a phone. He wore dark glasses and seemed to be the leader. He barked questions at the other two as they walked between the oil palms.

面临着向外。琪琪和奥利走过去仔细看看。 就在这时，奥利听到了一些声音。 “躲起来，快！”他嘶嘶地对琪琪说。 他们躲在最近的推土机后面，蹲在泥泞的履带旁。 两个男人和一个女人出现了。 那个女人拿着一块写字板。其中一人拿着写字板，另一人拿着手机。 他戴着墨镜，似乎是领袖。 当他们走在油棕榈树丛之间时，他大声问另外两个人问题。

"And you're quite certain we will be ready to start by six o'clock tonight?" "Only one more set of papers to sign," said the clipboard man. "Get it done. Now, is the expansion zone clearly marked? Signs posted? I don't want the men cutting down the wrong trees. It would be all over the newspapers." "Taken care of," said the woman with the tablet. "Cheer up, boss. You're looking at a fifty percent increase in palm oil production. You'll be rich!" "I'm already rich," sneered the plantation boss. "And I'll celebrate when this project is

“你能肯定我们今晚六点钟就能出发吗？”“还有一套文件要签，”拿剪贴板的人说。 “完成它。现在，扩建区有明确的标记吗？ 标牌吗?我不希望人们砍错树。 报纸上肯定会到处都是。” “搞定了，”拿着药片的女人说。 “振作起来，老板。棕榈油产量将增加50%。 你会发财的！”“我已经很有钱了，”种植园老板嘲笑道。 “当这个项目完成时，我会庆祝的

complete, not before!" Ollie and Kiki traded horrified glances. "They're going to cut down even more of the rainforest!" Ollie whispered. "And they're starting today!" "We can't let them do that," Kiki said. "We've got to stop them!" "Yes! But… how?" "This is going to take more than just us," Kiki said. "We need all of the Secret Explorers to help with this one." Ollie nodded in agreement. "Let's get back to the Beagle, and fast!" Luckily, the plantation boss and his two employees were starting to walk away from them in the other direction. At least we won't be spotted, Ollie thought. He took out the compass so he could find the route to the airstrip.

完成了，以前没有！”奥利和琪琪惊恐地交换了一下眼色。 “他们要砍伐更多的雨林！”奥利低声说。 “他们今天就开始了！”“我们不能让他们那样做，”琪琪说。 “我们必须阻止他们！”“是啊!但是……如何?”“这需要的不仅仅是我们，”Kiki说。 “我们需要所有的秘密探险者来帮助解决这个问题。” 奥利点头表示同意。 “我们回到小猎犬号上去吧，快！”幸运的是，种植园老板和他的两个雇员开始从另一个方向离开他们。 至少我们不会被发现，奥利想。 他拿出罗盘，以便找到去飞机跑道的路线。