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24 The Assignment
任务
His eyes blazed with excitement.
他的双眼兴奋地闪耀着。
“I've got an important assignment for you,” he said, as he glanced back down at a newspaper.
“我有个重大任务让你干。”他说道，一面低头瞟了眼报纸。
“The leaders of our nation have just signed a bilateral travel treaty with the isolated country of Bandu on the African continent, and I want you to go down there right away to do research for a biography.”
“我国领导人刚刚同非洲到过班杜签署了一项双边旅游条约，我要你立刻去班杜，给一本传记做研究。”
The research my boss wanted was for a biography about Bob Boon.
老板制定的研究对象是关于鲍勃布恩的传记。
Boon was a brilliant biologist who was somewhat bigoted when it came to discussing politics or religion.
布恩是一名出色的生物学家，但谈起政治和宗教，他却有些顽固不化。
He was known for making blasphemous statements.
他以放些亵渎神灵的狂词著称。
He spent most of his adult years studying animals in the country of Bandu.
他壮年时大多时候都在班杜研究动物。
He was one of the first scientists to successfully track the migratory patterns of the bison.
他是最早追踪野牛迁徙习性的科学家之一，
Boon was also a strong advocate for maintaining biological diversity.
还是维持生物多样性的坚决拥护者。
My boss pays me quite well to do his bidding.
老板命令的任务酬金丰厚。
He owns a billion-dollar publishing company, and when he sets his mind on doing a story, he doesn't care about the bill.
老板拥有一家资产10亿的出版社，而且当他决意要搞到一个故事时，毫不在乎账单上的开资多寡。
So here I am in Bandu, surrounded by bizarre animals and bitter food.
于是我来到班杜，置身于奇珍异兽和苦涩的食物的包围中。
Frankly, I'd rather eat bland food.
说实话，我宁可吃淡而无味的食物。
It's freezing here at night and my blanket doesn't keeping me warm.
这里晚上冷得要死。我的毯子一点也不暖和。
During the day, it is as hot as a blast furnace.
白天，这里又热得像鼓风炉。
Last week, the blazing sun caused a fire that blazed out of control for several days.
上周，炽热的太阳导致了一场大火，火苗失控的烧了好几天。
I hate these assignments to remote areas.
我讨厌去偏远地带执行任务，
But I always end up accepting the job.
但到头来我还是会接下这些任务。
It's not as though I was blackmailed into coming here.
我好像并不是被讹诈而来这里的，
I have no one to blame but myself.
要怪只能怪我自己。
I just hope that my next assignment doesn't require that I blast off to the moon!
我只希望我的下一个任务不会要我飞上月球！
