【導讀】helpscropsgrowstrongandhealthy.Organicfarmers,therefore,oftenpreferusingnaturalwastefromanimalsasfertilizer.Theyfeelthatthismakesthesoilintheirfieldsricherinmineralsandsomorefertile.Thisalsokeepstheair,soil,waterandcropsfrefromchemicals.Organicfarmersalsousemanyothermethodstokeepthesoilfertile.Theyoftenchangethekndofcropineachfieldeveryfewyears,forexample,growingcornorwheatandthenthenextyearpeasor

　　

【正文】 y di ferent ani c farmi ng methods have the same goal: to grow god food and avoid damaging the environment or people’s health. An earl y farmer pioneer Some peopl e thought Jia Si xi e was a lucky man. He had worked for the emperor and when he got old, he was able to go his hometown to relax. Jia Si xie, however, had other plans. He had always been interested in agricul ture and intended to do something to make Chinese farmi ng even better. Ji a Sixie lived i n the six century AD. He was born in Yidu in Shandong province and worked i n Gaoyang, which is also i n Shangdong. As he rode through the countrysi de on his journeys for his work he looked out at the fi el ds. Some of them were greener and had more crops than others. Some cows and shep l oked heal thier than others too. He was lost in though. What coul d a farmer do to get good crops from hi s fields? Surely there must be rul es that woul d help them. He thought he could use his knowledge to fi nd out the best ways for farmers to grow crops and then write a book to hel p them. In doing so he col ected informati on from farmers who did wel l, studied it and did experi ments to find the best way. For exampl e, he studi ed ways of keepi ng seds and advised farmers to choose sedheads whi ch had the best col or. Then he tol d them to hang them to dry al winter. The next spring the seds should be knocked out of thei r seedheads and pl anted. He studied how to i mprove the soil . He advised farmers to clear weds from the ground before pl anting crops. They coul d either let the ani mal s eat the weeds or turn the soil over so that the weeds were covered and woul d rot. Then he gave advice on Turi ng over the soi l. The first time each year, farmers shoul d dig deepl y, but the second time shoul d be l ess deep. Therefore the autumn pl oughi ng of the soil shoul d be deeper thant the spri ng pl oughing. He suggested changi ng crops in the field every year: ri ve one year and wheat the next so that they would al ways get god harvests. They should also grow different pl ants next to each other i n the fi eld. He also gave adi ve on how to fish, kep a garden and even make wine. He wrote down his in a book cal ed Qi Mi n Yao Shu, which was consi dered an important summary of the knowledge of farming. For centuri es after Jia Si xie di ed, it was studi ed by Chinese farmers and students of agri culture. Unit 3 A MASTER OF NONVERBAL HUMOUR As Victor Hugo once said, “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face”, and up to now nobody has been abl e to do this beter than Charl ie Chaplin. He brightened the lives of Americans and British through two world wars and the hard years in between. He made people l augh 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 por famil y in 1889. Hi s parents were both poor music hal performers. You may find it astonishi ng that Charli e was taught to sing as son as he could speak and dance as soon as he coul d walk. Such training was mon in acti ng famil ies at that ti me, especial y when the famil y i ne was often uncertain. Unfortunately hi s father di ed, l eaving the fami ly even worse off, so Charl ie spent hi s chi ldhod looking after hi s sick mother and his brother. By hi s teens, Charlie had, through hi s humour, bee one of the most popular chil d actors in England. He could mime and act the fool doi ng ordinary everyday tasks. No one was ever bored watching himhis subtl e acting made everything entertai ni ng. As time went by, he began making fil ms. He grew more and more popul ar as his charming character, the l ittl e tramp, became known throughout the world. The tramp, a poor, homel es man wi th a moustache, wore large trousers, wornout shoes and a smal round black hat. He wal ked around stiffl y carryi ng a walking stick. This character was a social fai lure but was loved for his optimism and determinati on to overe al l di ficulties. He was the underdog who was kind even when others were unki nd to hi m. How did the l ittl e tramp make a sad situation entertai ni ng? Here i s an example from one of his most famous fi lms, The Gol d Rush. It i s the midnieenth century and gol d has just been discovered i n Cal ifornia. Like so many others, the li tle tramp and his friend have rushed there i n search of gold, but wi thout success. Instead they are hi di ng in a smal l hut on the edge of a mountain duri ng a snowstorm wi th nothing to eat. They are so hungry that they try boil ng a pair of l eather shoes for thei r dinner. Charli e first pi cks out the laces and eats them as if they were spaghetti . Then he cuts of the l eather top of the shoes as i f it were the finest steak. Finaly he tries cutti ng and chewing the bottom of the shoe. He eats each mouthful with great enjoyment. The acti ng is so convincing that it makes you beli eve that it is one of the best meals he has ever tasted! Charlie Chaplin wrote, di rected and produced the fi lms the starred in. In 1972 he was gi ven a speci al Oscar for hi s outstanding work in fil ms. He li ved i n Engl and and the USA but spend his l ast years i n Switzerland, where he was buri ed in 1977. He is loved and remembered as a great actor who could inspi re peopl e with great confi dence. AN APRIL FOOL’S JOKE: THE NOODLE HARVEST April Fool’s day, or April 1st, i s known in many countries as a day for playing jokes on others. It is usual y a time when chil dren make fun of each other, but someti mes other people can get caught in the fun too. One of the most famous jokes in England tok pl ace on British televi si on in 1957. It was a Monday night when there were al ways many seri ous programmes on the television. One of them was caled Panorama, this show expl ored probl ems and progres al l over the world, so nobody was surprised when it began wi th a report on the excelent noodle harvest i n