【正文】 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 ferti li zer. They feel that thi s makes the soil i n thei r fi el ds ri cher i n m i neral s and so m ore fertil e. Thi s al so keeps the air, 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 m ineral s back i nto the soil , m aking i t ready for crops such as wheat or corn that need ri ch and ferti le soi l. O rganic farm ers al so plant crops to use di fferent l evel s of soil , for exam pl e, pl anti ng peanuts that use the ground’s surface fol lowed by vegetabl es that put down deep roots. Som e ani c farm ers prefer pl anti ng grass between crops to prevent wi nd or water from carryi ng away the soil , and then l eavi ng it i n the ground to be e a natural ferti li zer for the next year’s crop. These m any di fferent ani c farm i ng m ethods have the sam e goal: to grow good food and avoi d dam agi ng the envi ronment or peopl e’s health. An earl y farm er pioneer Som e peopl e thought Ji a Si xi e was a l ucky m an. H e had worked for the em peror and when he got ol d, he was abl e to go his hom etown to rel ax. Ji a Si xi e, however, had other pl ans. He had al ways ben i nterested i n agri culture and i ntended to do som ething to m ake Chi nese farmi ng even better. Ji a Si xi e l i ved i n the si x century AD. H e was born i n Yi du in Shandong provi nce and worked i n Gaoyang, whi ch is al so i n Shangdong. As he rode through the countrysi de on hi s journeys for hi s work he l oked out at the fi el ds. Som e of them were greener and had m ore crops than others. Som e cows and sheep l ooked healthi er than others too. H e was l ost i n though. What coul d a farm er do to get good 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 wri te a book to hel p them . In doi ng 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 ple, he studi ed ways of keepi ng seeds and advi sed farm ers to choose sedheads 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 seds shoul d be knocked out of thei r seedheads and pl anted. H e studi ed how to im prove the soil. H e advised farm ers to cl ear weeds from the ground before pl anti ng crops. They coul d ei ther l et 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 advi ce on Turing over the soil . 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 es 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 el d. H e al so gave adive on how to fi sh, kep a garden and even make wi ne. H e wrote down hi s i n a book cal l ed Qi Min Yao Shu, whi ch was consi dered an im portant summ ary of the knowledge of farmi ng. For centuri es after Ji a Si xie di ed, it was studi ed by Chi nese farm ers and students of agri cul ture. Unit 3 A MASTER O F 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 Charl i e Chapl i n. H e bri ghtened the li ves of Am eri cans and Briti 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 depresed, so they coul d feel m ore content wi th thei r li ves. Not that Charl ie’s own life was easy! He was born in a poor fam il y i n 1889. H i s parents were both poor m usi c hal perform ers. You m ay find i t astoni shi ng that Charli e was taught to si ng as soon as he coul d speak and dance as soon as he could wal k. Such trai ni ng was mon i n acting fami li es at that tim e, especial y when the fam il y i n e was often uncertain. Unfortunately hi s father di ed, l eavi ng the fam il y even worse off, so Charl i e 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 popul ar chi l d actors i n Engl and. H e coul d mi m e and act the fool doi ng ordi nary everyday tasks. N o one was ever bored watchi ng hi mhi s subtl e acti ng m ade everythi ng entertai ni ng. As tim e went by, he began m aki ng fi lm s. H e grew m ore and m ore popular as hi s charm i ng character, the l i tl e tram p, becam e known throughout the worl d. The tram p, a poor, hom el ess m an wi th a m oustache, wore large trousers, wornout shoes and a sm al l round black hat. H e wal ked around sti ffly carrying a wal ki ng sti ck. This character was a social fail ure but was l oved for his optim ism and determ ination to over e al l di fficul ti es. H e was the underdog who was kind even when others were unki nd to hi m. H ow di d the li ttl e tram p m ake a sad si tuati on entertai ni ng? H ere is an exam ple from one of hi s m ost fam ous fil m s, The Gol d Rush. It i s the mi dni eenth century and gol d has just been discovered in Cal i fornia. 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 l hut on the edge of a m ountai n duri ng a snowstorm wi th nothi ng to eat. They are so hungry that they try boil i ng a pai r of l