【正文】 or the good crop: an unusual y warm wi nter and the disappearance of the i nsect that atacked the noodl e crop every year. The reporter showed m any noodl e trees wi th the farmers puli ng noodl es off them and putti ng them into baskets. The peopl e watching were tol d that they m ay not have heard of noodl es from thi s part of the worl d because noodl es were grown as part of sm al l fam il y busi nesses. The programm e m akers m akers reali zed that peopl e mi ght wonder why noodl es were al ways the same size so that they expl ained that “it was the resul t of many years’ patient research with the tree to produce noodl es of exactl y the same l ength.” But even so they explained, the l ife of a noodl e farmer was not easy. “The l ast two weeks of March are an anxi ous tim e for noodle farm ers. There i s al ways a chance of very col d weather spoi li ng their crop. Then i t i s difficul t for them to get top prices on the markets. ” Many peopl e i n Engl and beli eved thi s story. They rang the BBC to fi nd out hoe to grow their own noodl e tree. They were tol d to “pl ace a piece of noodl e in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best. ” Thi s may seem very sil y, but i n the 1950s very few Bri ti sh people travel ed aboard for thei r holi days and even fewer of them ate noodl es. So i t seem ed possi bl e to im agine that noodl es grew on tree li ke apples, pears and nuts. Peopl e al so trusted the Panoram a programm e for i ts careful research and serious i nform ati on. So they were shocked to fi nd the next day that they had al l beli eved an April Fool’s joke. Even today the report of the noodl e harvest is remembered as one of the best April Fool’s jokes ever! Unit 4 Com municati on: No Problem? Yesterday, another student and I, representing our university’s student association, went to the Capital International Airport to meet this year’s international students. They were ing to study at Beijing University. We shoul d take them fi rst to thei r dormi tori es and then to the student cantee. After an hour of wai ti ng for their fl i ght to ari ve, I saw several young peopl e enter the waiti ng area l ooking around curiously. I stood for a m inute watchi ng them and then went to greet them. The fi rst person to arri ve was Tony Garci a from Col um bi a, cl osel y fol l owed by Jul i a Sm i th from Bri tai n. After I m et them and then i ntroduced them to each other, I was very surpri sed. Tony approached Jul i a, touched her shoul der and ki ssed her on the cheek! She stepped back appeari ng surpri sed and put up her hands, as i f i n defence. I guessed that there was probabl y a m ajor m i sunderstandi ng. Then Aki ra N agata from Japan cam e i n sm i l i ng, together wi th Gee Cook from Canada. As they were i ntroduced, Gee reached hi s hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that m om ent, however, Aki ra bowed so hi s nose touched Gee’s m ovi ng hand. 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 m akes the soil i n their fi el ds ri cher in m i nerals and so m ore ferti l e. Thi s al so keeps the ai r, soi l, water and crops free from chemi cal s. O rgani c farm ers al so use m any other m ethods to keep the soil fertil e. They often change the knd of crop i n each fi el d every few years, for exampl 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 soi l, m aki ng it 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 exam pl e, pl anti ng peanuts that use the ground’s surface fol l owed by vegetabl es that put down deep roots. Som e ani c farmers 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 ferent ani c farm ing m ethods have the sam e goal : to grow god food and avoi d dam agi ng the envi ronm ent or people’s heal th. An earl y farm er pi oneer Som e peopl e thought Ji a Si xi e was a lucky m an. H e had worked for the em peror and when he got ol d, he was abl e to go hi s hometown to rel ax. Ji a Si xi e, however, had other pl ans. H e had al ways been i nterested in agri cul ture and intended to do som ethi ng to m ake Chi nese farm ing even better. Ji a Si xi e li ved i n the si x century AD. H e was born i n Yi du i n Shandong provi nce and worked i n Gaoyang, whi ch i s also 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 ooked heal thi er than others too. H e was lost i n though. What coul d a farm er do to get god 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 coul d use hi s knowl edge to fi nd out the best ways for farmers to grow crops and then wri te a book to hel p them. In doi ng so he col l ected i nform ati on from farm ers who di d wel l, studi ed 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 advised farm ers to choose seedheads whi ch had the best col or. Then he tol d them to hang them to dry al winter. The next spri ng the seeds shoul d be knocked out of their 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 either l et the ani mal 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 ti m e each year, farm ers shoul d di g deeply, but the second tim e shoul d be less d