【導讀】health.Whataresomeoftheproblemscausedbychemicalfertilizers?First,theydamagethelandbykilingthehelpfulbacteriaandpestsaswellastheharmfulones.Chemicalsalsostayinthegroundandundergroundwaterforalonogtime.Thisaffectscropsand,therefore,animalsandhumans,sincechemicalsgetinsidethecropsandcannotjustbewashedoff.Thesechemicalsinthefoodsupplybuildupinpeople’sbodiesovertime.Manyofthesechemicalscanleadtocancero

　　

【正文】 wi ne. H e wrote down hi s i n a bok cal ed Qi Mi n Yao Shu, whi ch was consi dered an im portant sum mary of the knowl edge of farm i ng. For centuri es after Ji a Si xi e di ed, i t was studi ed by Chi nese farm ers and students of agricul 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 abl e to do thi s better than Charli e Chapli n. H e bri ghtened 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 depressed, so they coul d fel m ore content wi th thei r li ves. Not that Charl ie’s own life was easy! He was born in a poor famil y in 1889. H is 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 fam il i es at that tim e, especi al l y when the fami l y in e was often uncertai n. Unfortunatel y hi s father di ed, l eavi ng the fam il y even worse off, so Charl ie spent hi s chil dhood l ooki ng after hi s si ck m other and hi s brother. By hi s teens, Charli e had, through hi s humour, be e one of the m ost popular chil d actors i n Engl and. H e coul d m im e and act the fool doi ng ordi nary everyday tasks. N o one was ever bored watchi ng him hi s subtl e acti ng m ade everythi ng entertai ni ng. As tim e went by, he began m aking fi lm s. H e grew m ore and m ore popul ar as hi s charmi ng character, the li ttl e tram p, becam e known throughout the worl d. The tram p, a poor, homel es m an wi th a m oustache, wore l arge trousers, wornout shoes and a sm al round bl ack hat. H e walked around stiffl y caryi ng a wal ki ng sti ck. Thi s character was a soci al fai l ure but was l oved for hi s opti mi sm and determi nati on to over e al l di fi cul ti es. H e was the underdog who was kind even when others were unki nd to him . H ow di d the l i tl e tram p make a sad si tuati on entertai ni ng? H ere i s an exam pl e from one of hi s m ost famous fil ms, The Gol d Rush. It i s the mi dni enth century and gol d has just been di scovered i n Cal iforni a. Li ke so m any others, the l ittl e tram p and hi s fri end have rushed there i n search of gol d, but wi thout success. Instead they are hi di ng i n a sm al hut on the edge of a m ountai n duri ng a snowstorm with 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 l aces 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 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