【導(dǎo)讀】increasericeharvestswithoutexpandingtheareaofthefields.In1950,Chinesefarmerscouldproduceonlyfiftymiliontonsofrice.Inarecentharvest,however,nearlytwohundredmiliontonsofricewasproduced.Theseincreasedharvestsmeanthat22%ofthwartworld’speoplearefedfromjust7%ofthefarmlandinChina.DrYuanisnowcirculatinghisknowledgeinIndia,Vietnamandmanyotherlessdevelopedcountriestoincreasetheirriceharvests.Thankstohisrese

　　

【正文】 l ook beautiful , but i nside there is usual y m ore water than vitamins and mi neral s. Wi th these di scoveries, som e farmers and many custom ers are begi ning to turn to anic farmi ng. O rgani c farm i ng i s sim pl y farm ing without usi ng any chemi cals. They focus on keping their soil ri ch and fre of disease. A healthy soil reduces di sease and hel ps crops grow strong and healthy. Organic farm ers, therefore, often prefer using natural waste from anim als as ferti li zer. They fel that thi s m akes the soil in thei r fi el ds ri cher in mi neral s and so more ferti le. Thi s al so keeps the ai r, soil, water and crops free from chemi cals. O rgani c farm ers al so use m any other methods to keep the soi l ferti le. They often change the knd of crop i n each fiel 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 m inerals back i nto the soil , m aki ng i t ready for crops such as wheat or corn that need ri ch and fertil e soil . O rgani c farmers al so pl nt cops to use di fferent l evel s of soil , forexam pl e, pl at ng peanuts th t use the round’ surfacefol lowed by ve etabl es tht put down deproots. Som anc farm ers preferpl antinggrss between cropsto prv t wi nd orwaterfrom carrying awy e soil , ndthen l avi ng i t i n thegroud to be ea natural ferti li zerfor thenext year’s crop. Thsem ny dfferntani cfarm ngm thods ave the sam egoal: togow good food and avoi d dam agngthe environment r peopl ’s healt. An earl y frm e pi oneer Som peopl e ought Ji a Si xi e wasa luckym an. H ehad wrkd for th em peror and when he got ol , he wasabl to g hi s hom town to relax. Ji aSi xie, however, ad other plans. H ehad al wy been i nterested i n agicul tureand i ntended o do som ethi ngt m ak Chnese farmi ng even better. Ji a Sixi e l ivedinthe si x cetury was bornin Yi du i n Shandongprovi nce and worked i n Gaoyang, whi ch is also in Shangdong. As he rode through the countrysi de on his journeys for hi s work he looked out at the fi el ds. Som e of them were greener and had m ore crops than others. Som e cows and shep 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 hi s fi el ds? Surel y there m ust be rul es that would help them. He thought he coul d use hi s knowledge to find out the best ways for farm ers to grow crops and then wri te a bok to hel p them . In doing so he col ected i nform 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 chose seedheads which had the best col or. Then he told them to hang them to dry al wi nter. The next spri ng the seds shoul d be knocked out of thei r seedheads and planted. H e studi ed how to im prove the soi l. H e advi sed farmers to clear weeds from the ground before planti ng crops. They coul d ei ther l et the anim al s eat the weds or turn the soi l over so that the weeds were covered and would rot. Then he gave advice on Turing over the soil . The fi rst tim e each year, farm ers shoul d di g deply, but the second time shoul d be l ess deep. Therefore the autumn pl oughi ng of the soil shoul d be deper thant the spring pl oughing. H e suggested changing crops in the fi el d every year: ri ve one year and wheat the next so that they would al ways get good harvests. They should al so grow di ferent pl ants next to each other i n the field. H e al so gave adi ve on how to fi sh, keep a garden and even m ake wi ne. H e wrote down hi s i n a book cal ed Qi Mi n Yao Shu, whi ch was consi dered an important summary of the knowl edge of farmi ng. For centuries after Ji a Sixi e di ed, it was studi ed by Chinese farmers and students of agriculture. Unit 3 A MASTER OF NON 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. He brightened the li ves of Ameri cans and British through two worl d wars and the hard years i n between. H e m ade peopl e laugh at a tim e when they fel t depresed, so they coul d fel m ore content wi th thei r li ves. Not that Charl ie’s own life was easy! H e was born i n a poor fami l y i n 1889. H is parents were both poor musi c hal l perform ers. You may fi nd it astoni shi ng that Charl i e was taught to si ng as son as he could speak and dance as soon as he coul d wal k. Such training was mon in acti ng fam il es at that tim e, especial y when the fam il y ine was often uncertain. Unfortunatel y hi s father di ed, leavi ng the fami ly even worse of, so Charli e spent hi s chi ldhood l ooking after hi s si ck m other and his brother. By hi s teens, Charli e had, through hi s hum our, be e one of the m ost popular chi ld actors i n Engl and. H e could mim e and act the fool doi ng ordinary everyday tasks. N o one was ever bored watchi ng him hi s subtl e acting made everythi ng entertai ni ng. As ti me went by, he began m aki ng film s. He grew m ore and m ore popular as hi s charm ing character, the li ttl e tram p, became known throughout the worl d. The tramp, a por, hom el es man with a moustache, wore large trousers, wornout shoes and a sm al round bl ack hat. H e wal ked around sti fly carying a wal ki ng sti ck. Thi s character was a social fail ure but was l oved for hi s opti mi sm and determi nati on to over e al diffi cul ti es. H e was the underdog who was ki nd even when others were unki nd to him. H ow did the li tle tramp make a sad si tuati on entertai ni ng? Here is an example from one of his m ost famous film s, The Gold Rush. It is the m idni eenth century and gold has just ben discovered i n Cali forni a. Li ke so many others, the li tle tram p and his fri end have rushed there i n search of gol d, but without suces. Instead they are hi di ng