【正文】 nd cannot just be washed off. These chemi cals i n the fod supl y buil d up in people’s bodies over time. Many of these chemicals can lead to cancer or other ilnesses. In addition, fruit, vegetables and other food grown wi th chem i cal fertil i zers usual l y grow too fast to be ful of m uch nutri ti on. They m ay l ok beauti ful, but i nsi de there i s usual l y more water than vi tami ns and mi neral s. Wi th these discoveri es, som e farm ers and many custom ers are begi nni ng to turn to ani c farmi ng. O rgani c farm i ng is sim pl y farmi ng wi thout usi ng any chemi cal s. 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 ani m al s as ferti li zer. They feel that thi s m akes the soil i n their fi el ds ri cher in m i nerals and so more ferti l e. Thi s al so keeps the ai r, soi l, water and crops free from chemi cals. Organic farm ers al so use many other m ethods to kep the soi l fertil 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 soil, m aking 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 example, planting peanuts that use the ground’s surface followed by vegetables that put down deep roots. Some anic farm ers prefer pl anti ng grass between crops to prevent wind or water from carryi ng away the soil , and then l eavi ng it i n the ground to bee a natural fertilizer for the next year’s crop. These many different anic farming methods have the same goal: to grow good food and avoid damaging the environment or people’s health. An earl y farm er pi oneer Som e peopl e thought Ji a Si xi e was a l ucky man. 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 xie, 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 farm i ng even better. Ji a Si xi e l ived i n the si x century AD. H e was born in Yi du i n Shandong provi nce and worked i n Gaoyang, whi ch i s al so i n Shangdong. As he rode through the countrysi de 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. Some cows and sheep l oked heal thi er than others too. He was l ost i n though. What could a farm er do to get god crops from hi s fi el ds? Surely there m ust be rules 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, studied 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 tol d them to hang them to dry al l 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 im prove the soil . H e advi sed farm ers to cl ear weeds from the ground before pl anti ng crops. They coul d ei ther l et the anim als eat the weeds or turn the soil over so that the weeds were covered and woul d rot. Then he gave advi ce on Turi ng over the soi l. The fi rst ti m e each year, farm ers shoul d di g deepl y, but the second tim e shoul d be l ess deep. Therefore the autum n pl oughi ng of the soil shoul d be deeper thant the spri ng pl oughi ng. H e suggested changi ng crops i n the fi el d every year: ri ve one year and wheat the next so that they woul d al ways get good harvests. They shoul d al so grow di fferent pl ants next to each other i n the fi eld. H e al so gave adi ve on how to fi sh, keep a garden and even m ake wi ne. He wrote down his in a book cal ed Qi Min Yao Shu, whi ch was considered an i mportant summ ary of the knowledge of farm ing. For centuri es after Ji a Si xie died, i t was studied by Chinese farmers and students of agri culture. Unit 3 A MASTER OF NO NVERBAL HUMOUR 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 Chapl in. He bri ghtened the li ves of Am eri cans and British through two worl d wars and the hard years in between. He made people laugh at a ti me when they felt depressed, so they coul d feel more content with thei r li ves. Not that Charlie’s own life was easy! He was born in a poor family in 1889. His parents thi s way they abl e to m ake a l ittle m oney for them sel ves and gai n som e sel er li ndneshel ped her gai n the fri endshi pof pri soners and they began to try to im prove thei r condi ti ons for themsel ves. Later El izabeth was asked to go to the l eaders of Bri tai n to di scus how to im prove the condi tions for pri soners。 O f course she di d not do al the work on her ther Quaker wom en helped her and went around the country rai si ng m oney for her wprk. Som e peopl e di d not li ke her i deas and quarel ed wi th her. They sai d that she shoul d spend m ore tim e wi th her fam il ther peopl e sai d she enjoyed bei ng fam ous toom uch. However,her husband, Joseph, supported and encouraged her, so she conti nued worki ng to hel p im prove the l i ves of poor pri soners til l she di er i deas di d not di sappear after her death and her work was rem em bered i n 1947 when the Quakers were gi ven the N obl e Peace Pri ze. Unit 2 A pi oneer for al l peopl e Al though he is one of China’s most famous scientists, Yuan Longping considers himself a farmer, for he works the land to do his research. Indeed, hi s sunbur