【正文】 ather top of the shoes as i f it were the fi nest steak. Fi nal l y he tri es cutti ng and chewi ng the botom of the shoe. H e eats each m outhful wi th great enjoym ent. The acti ng is so convi nci ng that i t m akes you beli eve that i t is one of the best m eal s he has ever tasted! Charli e Chapli n wrote, di rected and produced the film s the starred i n. In 1972 he was gi ven a speci al Oscar for hi s outstandi ng work i n fi lm s. H e li ved i n Engl and and the USA but spend his l ast years in Switzerland, where he was buri ed in 1977. H e i s loved and rem em bered as a great actor who coul d i nspire peopl e wi th great confi dence. AN APRI L FOOL’S JOKE: THE NOODLE HARVEST April Fool’s day, or April 1st, i s known i n m any countri es as a day for playi ng jokes on others. It is usual y a ti me when chil dren m ake fun of each other, but som eti m es other peopl e can get caught in the fun too. O ne of the m ost fam ous jokes i n England took pl ace on Briti sh tel evisi on in 1957. It was a Monday ni ght when there were al ways many serious programm es on the tel evi sion. One of them was cal ed Panoram a, thi s show expl ored probl em s and progress al l over the worl d, so nobody was surprised when it began wi th a report on the excel l ent noodl e harvest i n the south Swi tzerl and. The program m e m enti oned two reasons for the good crop: an unusual y warm wi nter and the di sappearance of the i nsect that attacked the noodl e crop every year. The reporter showed m any noodl e trees wi th the farmers pul ing noodles off them and putting them into baskets. The peopl e watching were tol d that they m ay not have heard of noodles from thi s part of the worl d because noodl es were grown as part of sm al fami ly businesses. The programm e makers makers real i zed that peopl e might wonder why noodl es were al ways the same size so that they expl ained that “it was the resul t of many years’ patient research with the tree to produce noodl es of exactl y the same l ength. ” But even so they expl ained, the l ife of a noodl e farm er was not easy. “The l ast two weeks of March are an anxious time for noodl e farmers. There is al ways a chance of very col d weather spoi l i ng thei r crop. Then heal th. What are som e of the probl ems caused by chemi cal fertil i zers? Fi rst, they damage the l and by ki l ing the hel pful bacteri a and pests as wel l as the harm ful ones. Chemi cal s al so stay i n the ground and underground water for a lonog tim e. Thi s affects crops and, therefore, ani m al s and humans, si nce chemi cal s get i nsi de the crops and cannot just be washed off. These chemi cals i n the food suppl y bui l d up i n peopl e’s bodi es over tim e. Many of these chem i cal s can l ead to cancer or other i l neses. In additi on, frui t, vegetabl es and other food grown with chemi cal fertil i zers usual y grow too fast to be ful of m uch nutri tion. They m ay look beautiful, but i nsi de there i s usual l y m ore water than vitam i ns and mi neral s. Wi th these di scoveri es, some farm ers and m any custom ers are begi nni ng to turn to ani c farm i ng. O rgani c farmi ng i s sim pl y farm i ng wi thout usi ng any chemi cals. They focus on keepi ng their soi l ri ch and free of di sease. A healthy soil reduces di sease and hel 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 zer. They feel that thi s makes the soil i n thei r fi el ds ri cher i n m i neral s and so m ore fertil e. This al so keeps the ai r, soil , water and crops fre from chem i cal s. O rgani c farm ers al so use m any other m ethods to keep the soi l ferti l e. They often change the knd of crop i n each fi el 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 mi neral s back i nto the soi l, m aki ng i t ready for crops such as wheat or corn that need rich and fertil e soil . Organi c farm ers al so pl ant crops to use di fferent l evel s of soil, for exam pl e, planting peanuts that use the ground’s surface fol lowed by vegetabl es that put down deep roots. Some ani c farm ers prefer pl anti ng gras between crops to prevent wi nd or water from carryi ng away the soi l, and then l eavi ng i t i n the ground to be e a natural fertil izer for the next year’s crop. These m any di fferent anic farmi ng m ethods have the sam e goal : to grow good food and avoi d damagi ng the envi ronm ent or peopl e’s heal th. An earl y farm er pi oneer Some peopl e thought Jia Si xi e was a lucky 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. Ji a Si xi e, however, had other plans. H e had al ways been i nterested i n agri cul ture and i ntended to do som ethi ng to m ake Chi nese farm i 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 i n Gaoyang, whi ch is al so i n Shangdong. As he rode through the countrysi de on his journeys for hi s work he l ooked out at the fi el ds. Som e of them were grener and had m ore crops than others. Som e cows and sheep looked heal thi er than others too. H e was lost i n though. What coul d a farm er do to get good crops from hi s fi el ds? Surely there m ust be rul es that woul d hel p them. H e thought he coul d use his 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 doing so he col l ected i nform ati on from farm ers who di d wel l, 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 told them to hang them to dry al wi nter. The next spri ng the seeds shoul d be knocked out of thei r seedheads and pl anted. H e studi ed how to i