【正文】 off the l eather top of the shoes as if i t were the fi nest steak. Final ly he tri es cutti ng and chewi ng the bottom of the shoe. H e eats each mouthful with great enjoym ent. The acting i s so convi ncing that i t m akes you beli eve that it i s one of the best m eal s he has ever tasted! Charli e Chapli n wrote, directed 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 in film s. He li ved i n Engl and and the USA but spend his l ast years in Swi tzerl and, where he was buri ed i n 1977. H e is l oved and rem em bered 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 , i s known i n m any countri es as a day for playi ng jokes on others. It is usual y a tim e when chil dren m ake fun of each other, but sometim es other peopl e can get caught i n the fun to. O ne of the m ost fam ous jokes in Engl and took pl ace on Bri ti sh tel evision i n 1957. It was a Monday ni ght when there were al ways many seri ous programm es on the tel evision. One of them was cal led Panorama, thi s show expl ored probl em s and progres al over the world, so nobody was surpri sed when i t began with a report on the excel ent noodle harvest i n the south Swi tzerl and. The programm e m enti oned two reasons for the good crop: an unusual l y warm wi nter and the di sappearance of the i nsect that attacked the nodl e crop every year. The reporter showed many noodl e trees wi th the farm ers pul ing noodles off them and putti ng them i nto baskets. The peopl e watchi ng were tol d that they m ay not have heard of noodl es from this part of the worl d because nodles were grown as part of sm al fam il y busineses. The programm e m akers m akers reali zed that peopl e mi ght wonder why noodles were al ways the sam e si ze so that they explai ned that “it was the result of many years’ patient research with the tree to produce noodl es of exactly the same l ength. ” But even so they expl ained, the l ife of a nodl e farmer was not easy. “The last two weeks of March are an anxious tim e for noodl e farm ers. There i s al ways a chance of very col d weather spoil ing their crop. Then it is dificult for them to get top prices on the markets. ” Many peopl e in Engl and beli eved thi s story. They rang the BBC to fi nd out hoe to grow thei r own nodl e tre. They were told to “pl ace a piece of noodl e in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best. ” This may sem very sil ly, but in the 1950s very few British peopl e travel ed aboard for thei r holi days and even fewer of them ate noodl es. So it seem ed posi bl e to im agi ne that noodl es grew on tree li ke appl es, pears and nuts. Peopl e also trusted the Panoram a programm e for i ts careful research and serious i nform ati on. So they were shocked to find the next day that they had al believed an April Fool’s joke. Even today the report of the noodl e harvest is remembered as one of the best April Fool ’s jokes ever! Unit 4 Comm uni cati on: No Pr oblem ? Yesterday, another student and I, representing our university’s student association, went to the Capital International Airport to met this year’s international students. They were i ng to study at Bei ji ng University. We should take them fi rst to thei r dormi tori es and then to the student cantee. After an hour of wai ti ng for thei r fli ght to arive, I saw several young people enter the wai ti ng area l ooking around curi ousl y. I stood for a mi nute watchi ng them and then went to greet them . The first person to arive was Tony Garcia from Col um bi a, cl osel y fol owed by Jul ia Smi th from Bri tai n. After I m et them and then introduced them to each other, I was very surprised. Tony approached Jul ia, touched her shoul der and ki ssed her on the chek! She stepped back appearing surpri sed and put up her hands, as i f in defence. I guessed that there was probably a m ajor mi sunderstandi ng. Then Akira Nagata from Japan cam e in sm il ing, together wi th Gee Cook from Canada. As they were i ntroduced, Gee reached his hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that moment, however, Akira bowed so his nose touched Gee’s moving hand. he canoe races. Fi ve or si x men padle each canoe across the partl yfrozen St Lawrence Ri ver. The ri ver i s ful of big pi eces of i ce, and i f you were to fal l in, you woul d freeze i n less than two mi nutes. O n of the favouri te events is the dogsl ed race, i n whi ch teams of about six husky dogs pl l ong sl eds at great speds al ong a snowy track. One person runs behi nd the sl ed, shouti ng to the dogs to encoutage them. The sound of the dogs barki ng, the cal ls of the drivers and the shouts of crowd m ake an exci ti ng N othern experi ence. The dogs are beauti ful strong animals, wi th l ong, thi ck fur and many with bl ue eyes. Whi le adm iring the i ce scul ptures ecerywhere in the ci ty, m uch l ike those in Harbi n in China, you can stop wi th other tourists i n an igloo for hot tea or cofee. It is am azi ng how warm these ice howses can be! Late i n the eveni ng, you can go to the snow pal ace, where Bonhomm e the snowman i s ki ng, and joi n the crowd. You can dance outsi de to the musi c of a band, who are al l dresed in heavy clothes – even som e their i nstrum ents are dresed up for winter. Fi nal ly, you wil probably want to sit down i n a cafe wo warm up an to plan tom orrow. You mi ght joi n the snowm obil e races – or maybe you should just sl ep in! Uni t 2 COME AND EAT H ERE (1) Wang Peng sat i n hi s em pty restaurant feeli ng very frustrated. It had ben a very strange morni ng. Usual y he got up early and prepared hi s m enu of barbecued mutton kebabs, roast pork, sti rfri ed vegetabl es and fri ed ri ce. Then by l unchtim e they woul d al l be sol d. By now hi s restaurant ought to be ful l of peopl e. But not today! Why was that? What cou