【正文】 hen he tol d them to hang them to dry al l wi nter. The next spring the seeds shoul d be knocked out of their seedheads and pl anted. H e studi ed how to im prove the soi l. H e advi sed farm ers to cl ear weeds from the ground before pl anti ng crops. They coul d ei ther l et the anim als 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 soil. The fi rst tim e each year, farm ers shoul d dig deepl y, but the second tim e shoul d be l ess deep. Therefore the autum n pl oughi ng of the soil shoul d be deeper thant the spri ng ploughi ng. He sugested changi ng crops i n the fi el d every year: rive 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 adi ve on how to fi sh, kep a garden and even m ake wi ne. H e wrote down hi s i n a book cal l ed Qi Mi n Yao Shu, whi ch was consi dered an im portant sum mary of the knowl edge of farm i ng. For centuri es after Jia Si xi e di ed, i t was studied by Chi nese farm ers and students of agri cul ture. Uni t 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 able to do this beter than Charlie Chaplin. H e bri ghtened the l ives of Am eri cans and Bri ti 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 depressed, so they coul d feel m ore content wi th thei r l i ves. Not that Charlie’s own life was easy! H e was born in a poor famil y in 1889. His parents were both poor musi c hal l perform ers. You may fi nd i t astoni shi ng that Charl i e 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 acti ng fam il i es at that ti me, especi al y when the fami l y in e was often uncertai n. Unfortunatel y hi s father di ed, leaving the fami l y even worse off, so Charli e spent hi s chil dhood looki ng after hi s sick m other and his brother. By his teens, Charl i e had, through hi s hum our, be e one of the m ost popul ar chi l d actors i n England. H e coul d mim 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 everything entertai ning. As tim e went by, he began m aki ng fil m s. H e grew more and m ore popul ar as hi s charmi ng character, the li ttl e tram p, becam e known throughout the worl d. The tram p, a poor, hom el ess man wi th a m oustache, wore l arge trousers, wornout shoes and a sm al l round black hat. H e wal ked around sti ffly carryi ng a wal ki ng sti ck. Thi s character was a soci al fai lure but was l oved for hi s optim i sm and determ i nati on to overe al l 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 l ittl e tram p m ake a sad si tuati on entertaini ng? H ere i s an exam pl e from one of hi s most famous fil ms, The Gol d Rush. It i s the mi dni eenth century and gol d has just been di scovered i n Cal i forni a. Li ke so many others, the l i tl 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 during a snowstorm wi th nothing to eat. They are so hungry that they try boil ng a pai r of l eather shoes for thei r di nner. Charli e fi rst pi cks out the l aces and eats them as if they were spaghetti . Then he cuts off the l eather top of the shoes as i f it were the fi nest steak. Fi nal y he tri es cutti ng and chewi ng the bottom 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 bel i eve that i t i s one of the best m eal s he has ever tasted! Charl i e Chapl i n wrote, di rected and produced the fil m s the starred i n. In 1972 he was gi ven a speci al O scar for hi s outstandi ng work i n fi lm s. H e l ived i n Engl and and the USA but spend hi s l ast years i n Swi tzerl and, where he was buried i n 1977. H e is l oved and rem em bered as a great actor who coul d i nspi re people with great confi dence. AN APRI L FOOL’S JOKE: THE NOODLE HARVEST April Fool’s day, or April 1st, i s known i n many countri es as a day for playi ng jokes on others. It is usual y a tim e when chil dren m ake fun of each other, but som eti m es other peopl e can get caught in the fun too. O ne of the m ost fam ous jokes i n England took pl ace on Bri ti sh tel evisi on in 1957. It was a Monday ni ght when there were al ways many seri ous programm es on the tel evi si on. O ne of them was cal led Panoram a, thi s show expl ored probl em s and progress al over the worl d, so nobody was surpri sed when i t began with a report on the excel l ent noodl e harvest i n the south Swi tzerl and. The program m e m enti oned two reasons for the good crop: an unusual y warm winter and the di sappearance of the i nsect that attacked the noodl e crop every year. The reporter showed m any nodl e trees with the farm ers pul i ng noodl es off them and puti ng them i nto baskets. The peopl e watchi ng were tol d that they m ay not have heard of noodles from thi s part of the worl d because noodl es were grown as part of sm al l fam il y businesses. The programm e m akers makers real i zed that peopl e mi ght wonder why noodl es were al ways the sam e si ze so that they expl ai ned 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 expl ained, the life of a noodl e farmer was not easy. “The l ast two weeks of March are an anxious ti m e for noodl e farm ers. There i s al ways a chance of very cold weather spoil i ng thei r crop. Then heal th. What are som e of the probl ems caused by chem ical fertil i