【正文】 ar and wheat the next so that they woul d al ways get god harvests. They shoul d also grow di fferent pl ants next to each other i n the fi el d. H e al so gave adi ve on how to fish, keep a garden and even m ake wi ne. H e wrote down hi s i n a book cal ed Qi Mi n Yao Shu, whi ch was consi dered an i m portant summ ary of the knowl edge of farm ing. For centuri es after Ji a Si xi e di ed, i t was studi ed by Chinese farm ers and students of agri cul ture. Uni t 3 A MASTER O F NON 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 abl e to do this better than Charlie Chaplin. H e brightened the l i ves of Am eri cans and Bri ti sh through two worl d wars and the hard years i n between. H e m ade peopl e l augh at a tim e when they fel t depresed, so they coul d feel m ore content wi th thei r l ives. Not that Charl ie’s own l ife was easy! H e was born in a poor family in 1889. His parents were both poor m usi c hal perform ers. You m ay fi nd i t astoni shing that Charli e was taught to si ng as soon as he coul d speak and dance as son as he coul d wal k. Such trai ni ng was m on i n acti ng fam il i es at that tim e, especi al l y when the fami ly i n e was often uncertai n. Unfortunatel y his father di ed, l eavi ng the fami ly even worse of, so Charli e spent hi s chi ldhood l ooki ng after hi s si ck mother and hi s brother. By hi s teens, Charli e had, through hi s hum our, be e one of the m ost popul ar chi l d actors i n England. H e coul d mim e and act the fol doi ng ordi nary everyday tasks. N o one was ever bored watchi ng him hi s subtle acti ng m ade everythi ng entertai ni ng. As ti m e went by, he began maki ng fi lm s. H e grew m ore and m ore popul ar as hi s charm ing character, the li ttl e tramp, becam e known throughout the worl d. The tram p, a poor, hom el ess man wi th a m oustache, wore large trousers, wornout shoes and a sm al l round bl ack hat. H e wal ked around sti ffl y carryi ng a wal ki ng sti ck. Thi s character was a social fail ure but was l oved for hi s optimi sm and determi nati on to over e al di ffi cul ti es. He was the underdog who was ki nd even when others were unki nd to him. H ow di d the li ttl e tramp m ake a sad si tuati on entertai ni ng? H ere is an exam ple from one of hi s m ost fam ous fil ms, The Gol d Rush. It i s the mi dni eenth century and gol d has just been di scovered i n Cali forni a. Li ke so m any others, the l i tl e tram p and hi s fri end have rushed there i n search of gol d, but wi thout succes. Instead they are hi di ng i n a sm al hut on the edge of a m ountain duri ng a snowstorm wi th nothi ng to eat. They are so hungry that they try boi li ng a pai r of l eather shoes for thei r di nner. Charli e fi rst pi cks out the laces and eats them as i f they were spaghetti . Then he cuts off the l eather top of the shoes as i f it were the fi nest steak. Fi nal ly he tri es cutti ng and chewi ng the bottom of the shoe. H e eats each m outhful wi th great enjoym ent. The acti ng i s so convi nci ng that i t m akes you beli eve that i t i s one of the best meals he has ever tasted! Charli e Chapli n wrote, directed and produced the fil ms the starred in. In 1972 he was gi ven a special Oscar for his outstanding work in fi lms. He li ved in England and the USA but spend his last years in Switzerland, where he was buri ed i n 1977. He i s l oved and remembered as a great actor who coul d i nspi re peopl e wi th great confi dence. AN APRI L FOOL’ S JOKE: THE NOODLE HARVEST April Fool ’s day, or April 1st, is known in many countri es as a day for playing jokes on others. It is usual y a ti me when children make fun of each other, but sometimes other people can get caught in the fun too. One of the most famous jokes i n England took pl ace on Briti sh televisi on in 1957. It was a Monday ni ght when there were al ways many serious programmes on the tel evision. One of them was cal led Panorama, this show expl ored problems and progress al over the worl d, so nobody was surpri sed when i thel ps crops grow strong and heal thy. O rgani c farm ers, therefore, often prefer usi ng natural waste from anim al s as fertil i zer. They feel that thi s m akes the soi l in thei r fi el ds richer i n mi neral s and so m ore fertil e. Thi s al so keeps the ai r, soil , water and crops free from chemi cal s. O rgani c farm ers also use m any other m ethods to keep the soil ferti l e. They often change the knd of crop i n each fiel d every few years, for exam pl e, growi ng corn or wheat and then the next year peas or soybeans. Crops such as peas or soybeans put im portant m inerals back i nto the soil , m aki ng i t ready for crops such as wheat or corn that need ri ch and ferti l e soi l. O rgani c farm ers al so pl ant crops to use di fferent l evel s of soil , for exam pl e, pl anti ng peanuts that use the ground’s surface fol owed by vegetabl es that put down deep roots. Som e anic farm ers prefer pl anti ng grass between crops to prevent wi nd or water from carryi ng away the soil , and then l eavi ng i t i n the ground to be e a natural ferti li zer for the next year’s crop. These m any di ferent ani c farm ing m ethods have the sam e goal: to grow good food and avoi d dam agi ng the environm ent or peopl e’s heal th. An early farm er pi oneer Som e peopl e thought Ji a Si xi e was a l ucky m an. H e had worked for the em peror and when he got ol d, he was abl e to go hi s hom etown to rel ax. Jia Si xi e, however, had other pl ans. H e had al ways been i nterested i n agri culture and i ntended to do som ethi ng to m ake Chi nese farmi ng even better. Ji a Si xi e l ived i n the si x century AD. H e was born i n Yi du in Shandong provi nce and worked in Gaoyang, whi ch is al so i n Shangdong. As he rode through the countrysi de on hi s journeys for hi s work he l oked out at the fi el ds. S