【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 ld have happened? He thought of his muton, beef and bacon coked in the hottest, finest oil . His col a was sugary and cold, and hi s ice cream was made of mil k, cream and delicious fruit. “Nothing coul d be better,” he thought. Sudenly he saw his friend Li Chang hurrying by. “Helo, Lao Li,” he cal ed, “Your usual?” But Li Chang seemed not to hear. What was the matter? Something 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 izer. They feel that this makes the soil i n their fi el ds ri cher i n mi neral s and so m ore fertil e. This al so keeps the ai r, soi l, water and crops fre from chem i cals. O rgani c farm ers also use m any other m ethods to keep the soi l fertil e. They often change the knd of crop i n each field 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 ned rich and fertil e soi l. O rgani c farmers al so pl ant crops to use di fferent l evel s of soil , for example, pl anting peanuts that use the ground’s surface fol owed by vegetabl es that put down deep rots. Som e ani c farm ers prefer pl anti ng grass betwen crops to prevent wi nd or water from carryi ng away the soil, and then l eaving 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 farmi ng m ethods have the sam e goal: to grow good food and avoi d damagi ng the envi ronm ent or people’s heal th. An earl y farmer pioner Som e people thought Ji a Si xi e was a l ucky m an. H e had worked for the emperor and when he got ol d, he was abl e to go his hom etown to relax. Ji a Sixie, however, had other plans. H e had al ways been i nterested i n agriculture and intended to do som ethi ng to m ake Chi nese farmi ng even better. Ji a Sixie l ived in the si x century AD. H e was born in Yi du i n Shandong province and worked i n Gaoyang, whi ch i s al so i n Shangdong. As he rode through the countryside on hi s journeys for his work he l ooked out at the fi el ds. Som e of them were greener and had m ore crops than others. Som e cows and sheep looked heal thi er than others to. H e was l ost i n though. What coul d a farmer do to get good crops from his fiel ds? Surely there must be rules that woul d hel p them . H e thought he could use hi s knowl edge to fi nd out the best ways for farmers to grow crops and then wri te a bok to hel p them . In doing 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 studied ways of keepi ng seeds and advised farm ers to choose seedheads whi ch had the best col or. Then he tol d them to hang them to dry al winter. The next spring the seeds shoul d be knocked out of thei r seedheads and pl anted. H e studied how to im prove the soi l. H e advi sed farmers to cl ear weeds from the ground before planti ng crops. They coul d ei ther let the animals eat the weeds or turn the soil over so that the weds were covered and woul d rot. Then he gave advice on Turi ng over the soil . The fi rst tim e each year, farm ers should di g depl y, but the second tim e shoul d be l es deep. Therefore the autum n pl oughi ng of the soil shoul d be deper thant the spring pl oughing. H e suggested changing crops i n the fi el d every year: rive one year and wheat the next so that they woul d always get god harvests. They shoul d also grow different pl ants next to each other in the fi el d. H e al so gave adive on how to fish, keep a garden and even make wine. He wrote down hi s i n a book cal ed Qi Min Yao Shu, which was consi dered an i mportant summ ary of the knowl edge of farm ing. For centuries after Ji a Si xi e di ed, i t was studied by Chi nese farmers and students of agricul ture. Unit 3 A MASTER O F NO NVERBAL H UMO UR As Victor Hugo once said, “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face”, and up to now nobody has been able to do thi s better than Charl ie Chapli n. H e brightened the li ves of Ameri cans and Bri ti sh through two worl d wars and the hard years i n between. H e m ade peopl e laugh at a time when they fel t depresed, so they coul d feel more content wi th their l ives. Not that Charl ie’s own life was easy! H e was born in a poor famil y in 1889. H is parents were both poor musi c hal l perform ers. You may fi nd it astoni shi ng that Charl ie was taught to sing as son 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 fami l y i n e was often uncertai n. Unfortunately hi s father died, l eaving the fam il y even worse off, so Charl ie spent his chil dhood l ooki ng after his sick mother and hi s brother. By his teens, Charl ie had, through hi s humour, bee one of the m ost popul ar chil d actors i n England. H e coul d m ime and act the fol doi ng ordi nary everyday tasks. N o one was ever bored watchi ng himhis subtle acti ng m ade everythi ng entertai ni ng. As tim e went by, he began maki ng fi lms. H e grew more and more popul ar as hi s charmi ng character, the li tle tram p, becam e known throughout the worl d. The tramp, a por, hom el es m an wi th a m oustache, wore l arge trousers, wornout shoes and a sm al l round bl ack hat. H e wal ked around sti ffl y carrying a walking sti ck. Thi s character was a soci al fail ure but was l oved for hi s optimi sm and determ inati on to overe al diffi cul ti es. H e was the underdog who was ki nd even when others were unki nd to him. How di d the li tl e tram p m ake a sad si tuati on entertai ni ng? Here is an example from one of his most fam ous film s, The Gol d Rush. It i s the mi dni enth century and gol d has just been di scovered in Cali forni a. Like so m any others,