【正文】 ong. As he rode through the countrysi de on his journeys for hi s work he looked out at the fi elds. Som e of them were greener and had more crops than others. Some cows and sheep l oked healthi er than others too. 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 woul d hel p them. H e thought he could use hi s knowl edge to fi nd out the best ways for farmers to grow crops and then write a book to hel p them. In doi ng so he col lected i nform ation from farm ers who di d wel l, studied i t and did experim ents to find the best way. For exam pl e, he studied ways of keepi ng seeds and advised farm ers to chose sedheads which had the best color. 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 studied how to im prove the soil. He advi sed farm ers to cl ear weeds from the ground before pl anti ng crops. They coul d either l et the animal s eat the weeds or turn the soi l 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 time each year, farm ers shoul d dig deepl y, but the second tim e should be l ess deep. Therefore the autum n ploughing of the soil should be deeper thant the spri ng pl oughi ng. H e suggested changi ng crops i n the fiel 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 plants next to each other i n the fi el d. He also gave adi ve on how to fish, keep a garden and even make wi ne. He wrote down hi s in a book cal ed Qi Min Yao Shu, which was consi dered an im portant summ ary of the knowl edge of farmi ng. For centuries after Ji a Si xi e di ed, it was studied by Chi nese farmers and students of agricul ture. Unit 3 A MASTER O F NON VERBAL H UMO UR 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 Chapl in. H e brightened the l ives of Americans and Bri ti sh through two world wars and the hard years i n between. H e m ade peopl e l augh at a tim e when they felt depressed, so they coul d fel m ore content wi th thei r li ves. Not that Charlie’s own life was easy! H e was born in a poor family in 189. His parents were both poor music hal performers. You may fi nd it astoni shi ng that Charl ie 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 acting famil ies at that tim e, especial y when the fam il y i ne was often uncertai n. Unfortunately his father di ed, l eavi ng the fami ly even worse off, so Charli e spent hi s chil dhood looki ng after his sick m other and hi s brother. By hi s teens, Charli e had, through his hum our, be e one of the most popul ar chil d actors in Engl and. H e coul d mim e and act the fool doi ng ordinary everyday tasks. No one was ever bored watchi ng himhis subtle acti ng made everything entertai ning. As tim e went by, he began maki ng fi lms. H e grew more and more popul ar as hi s charmi ng character, the li tl e tram p, becam e known throughout the worl d. The tram p, a poor, hom el ess m an with a m oustache, wore large trousers, wornout shoes and a sm al round black hat. H e wal ked around sti fly carrying a wal king sti ck. Thi s character was a soci al fail ure but was l oved for hi s optimi sm and determ inati on to overe al diffi cul ti es. H e was the underdog who was ki nd even when others were unki nd to him. 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 pl e from one of hi s m ost fam ous fi lms, The Gol d Rush. It i s the m i dni eenth century and gol d has just been discovered i n Cali fornia. Li ke so many others, the li ttl e tram p and hi s friend have rushed there i n search of gold, but wi thout suces. Instead they are hi di ng in a sm al hut on the edge of a m ountai n during a snowstorm wi th nothi ng to eat. They are so hungry that they try boi li ng a pair of l eather shoes for thei r dinner. Charl ie first pi cks out the l aces and eats them as i f they were spaghetti. Then he cuts of the leather top of the shoes as i f i t were the fi nest steak. Final y he tries cutti ng and chewi ng the botom of the shoe. H e eats each m outhful wi th great enjoym ent. The acti ng i s so convi nci ng that i t m akes you beli eve that i t i s one of the best meal 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 given a speci al Oscar for hi s outstandi ng work i n film s. H e l ived in Engl and and the USA but spend hi s l ast years in Swi tzerl and, where he was buri ed in 1977. He i s l oved and remem bered as a great actor who coul d inspi re peopl e wi th great confi dence. AN APRI L FOOL’S JOKE: THE NOODLE HARVEST April Fool’s day, or April 1st , is known i n many countri es as a day for pl ayi ng jokes on others. It i s usual ly a tim e when chi ldren m ake fun of each other, but som etim es other people can get caught in the fun too. One of the most fam ous jokes i n England tok pl ace on British tel evi si on i n 1957. It was a Monday night when there were al ways m any seri ous programm es on the televi si on. One of them was cal ed Panorama, this show expl ored probl em s and progress al l over the world, so nobody was surpri sed when i t began with a report on the excel ent nodle harvest i n the south Swi tzerl and. The programm 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 nodle crop every year. The reporter showed many nodl e tres with the farm ers pul li ng noodl es off them and putti ng them i nto baskets. The peopl e watchi ng were tol d that they may not have heard of noodl es from thi s part of