【正文】 n Shangdong. As he rode through the countrysi de on hi s journeys for hi s work he looked out at the fi el ds. Som e of them were grener and had m ore crops than others. Som e cows and sheep l oked heal thi er than others to. H e was l ost i n though. What coul d a farm er do to get good crops from hi s fi el ds? Surel y there must be rul es that would hel p them. H e thought he coul d use hi s knowl edge to fi nd out the best ways for farm ers to grow crops and then write a book to hel p them . In doi ng so he col ected inform ati on from farm ers who di d wel , studi ed i t and di d experim ents to fi nd the best way. For exam pl e, he studi ed ways of keepi ng seeds and advi sed farm ers to choose seedheads whi ch had the best col or. Then he tol d them to hang them to dry al wi nter. The next spri ng the seds shoul d be knocked out of their seedheads and planted. H e studi ed how to im prove the soi l. H e advi sed farm ers to clear weeds from the ground before pl anti ng crops. They coul d either l et the ani m al s eat the weeds or turn the soil over so that the weeds were covered and woul d rot. Then he gave advi ce on Turing over the soil . The fi rst tim e each year, farm ers shoul d di g deepl y, but the second ti m e shoul d be l ess deep. Therefore the autum n pl oughi ng of the soil shoul d be deeper thant the spri ng ploughing. He suggested changi ng crops i n the fi el d every year: ri ve one year and wheat the next so that they woul d al ways get good harvests. They shoul d al so grow di fferent plants next to each other i n the fi el d. H e al so gave adi ve on how to fi sh, keep a garden and even m ake wi ne. H e wrote down his in a book cal l ed Qi Min Yao Shu, which was consi dered an im portant summ ary of the knowl edge of farmi ng. For centuri es after Ji a Si xi e di ed, it was studi ed by Chi nese farm ers and students of agri cul ture. Unit 3 A MASTER O F N ON VERBAL H UMO UR As Victor H ugo once said, “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face”, and up to now nobody has been able to do this better than Charlie Chaplin. H e brightened the lives of Am ericans and Bri ti sh through two worl d wars and the hard years i n between. H e m ade people l augh at a tim e when they fel t depressed, so they coul d feel m ore content wi th their l i ves. Not that Charlie’s own life was easy! H e was born in a poor family in 1889. His parents were both poor music hal performers. You m ay fi nd it astoni shi ng that Charli e was taught to si ng as soon as he coul d speak and dance as soon as he coul d wal k. Such trai ni ng was m on i n acti ng fami li es at that tim e, especi al ly when the fam il y i n e was often uncertai n. Unfortunately his father di ed, l eaving the fami ly even worse of, so Charl ie spent hi s chil dhod looking after hi s sick mother and his brother. By hi s teens, Charli e had, through hi s humour, be e one of the most popul ar chil d actors in Engl and. He could mim e and act the fool doing ordi nary everyday tasks. N o one was ever bored watching himhi s subtl e acting m ade everything entertaining. As ti me went by, he began maki ng fil ms. He grew m ore and more popular as his charmi ng character, the li tl e tramp, becam e known throughout the worl d. The tramp, a poor, hom eless man with a moustache, wore l arge trousers, wornout shoes and a smal round bl ack hat. H e walked around sti fl y carryi ng a wal king m ost fam ous sci enti sts, Yuan Longpi ng consi ders hi msel f a farm er, for he works the land to do his research. Indeed, his sunburnt face and arm s and hi s slim , strong body are just li ke those of mi l i ons of Chi nese farm ers, for whom he has struggl ed for the past fi ce decades. Dr Yuan Longpi ng grows what is cal ed super hybri d ri ce. In 1974, he becam e the fi rst agri cul tural pioneer i n the worl d to grow Ri ck that has a hi gh output. Thi s speci al strai n of Ri ck m akes i t possi bl e to produce onethi rd m ore of the crop in the sam e fi el ds. N ow m ore than 60% of the ri ce produced i n Chi na each year i s from this hybri d strai n. Born i nto a poor farm er’s fami ly i n 1930, Dr Yuan graduated from Southwest Agri cul tural Col l ege in 1953. Si nce then, fi ndi ng ways to grow m ore rice has been hi s l ife goal. As a young m an, he saw the great need for i ncresi ng the rice output. At that ti m e, hunger was a di sturbi ng probl em i n m any parts of the countrysi de. Dr Yuan searched for a way to i ncrease ri ce harvests wi thout expandi ng the area of the fi el ds. In 1950, Chi nese farm ers coul d produce onl y fi fty m il li on tons of ri ce. In a recent harvest, however, nearl y two hundred m il li on tons of ri ce was produced. These i ncreased harvests m ean that 22% of thwart worl d’s peopl e are fed from just 7% of the farm l and i n Chi na. Dr Yuan i s now ci rcul ati ng his knowl edge i n Indi a, Vi etnam and m any other l ess devel oped countri es to i ncrease thei r ri ce harvests. Thanks to hi s research, farm ers are producing harvests twi ce as l arge as before. Dr Yuan is qui te sati sfi ed wi th hi s li fe. H owever, he doesn39。t care about bei ng famous. H e feel s it gi ves him l es freedom to do hi s research. H e woul d rather keep ti m e for his hobbi es. H e enjoys l i steni ng to vol in m usi c, playi ng m ahjong, swi mmi ng and readi ng. Spendi ng m oney on him sel f or l eadi ng a fortabl e l i fe al so m eans very li ttl e to hi m. Indeed, he beli eves that a person with to m uch m oney has m ore rather than fewer troubl s. H e therefore gi ves mi l ions of Yuan to equi p others for thei r research i n agri cul ture. Just dream ing for thi ngs, however, costs nothi ng. Long ago Dr Yuan had a dream about ri ce pl ants as tal l as shum. Each ear of ri ce was as bi g as an ear of corn and each grai n of ri ce was as huge as a peanut. Dr Yuan awoke from hi s dream wi th the hope of pr