1、most famous scientists, Yuan Longping considers himself a farmer, for he works the land to do his research. Indeed, his sunburnt face and arms and his slim, strong body are just like those of millions of Chinese farmers, for whom he has struggled for the past fice decades. Dr Yuan Longping grows wha
2、t is called super hybrid rice. In 1974, he became the first agricultural pioneer in the world to grow Rick that has a high output. This special strain of Rick makes it possible to produce one-third more of the crop in the same fields. Now more than 60% of the rice produced in China each year is from
3、 this hybrid strain. Born into a poor farmers family in 1930, Dr Yuan graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953. Since then, finding ways to grow more rice has been his life goal. As a young man, he saw the great need for incresing the rice output. At that time, hunger was a disturbing p
4、roblem in many parts of the countryside. Dr Yuan searched for a way to increase rice harvests without expanding the area of the fields. In 1950, Chinese farmers could produce only fifty million tons of rice. In a recent harvest, however, nearly two hundred million tons of rice was produced. These in
5、creased harvests mean that 22% of thwart worlds people are fed from just 7% of the farmland in China. Dr Yuan is now circulating his knowledge in India, Vietnam and many other less developed countries to increase their rice harvests. Thanks to his research, farmers are producing harvests twice as la
6、rge as before. Dr Yuan is quite satisfied with his life. However, he doesnt care about being famous. He feels it gives him less freedom to do his research. He would rather keep time for his hobbies. He enjoys listening to volin music, playing mah-jong, swimming and reading. Spending money on himself
7、 or leading a comfortable life also means very little to him. Indeed, he believes that a person with to much money has more rather than fewer troubls. He therefore gives millions of Yuan to equip others for their research in agriculture. Just dreaming for things, however, costs nothing. Long ago Dr
8、Yuan had a dream about rice plants as tall as sorghum. Each ear of rice was as big as an ear of corn and each grain of rice was as huge as a peanut. Dr Yuan awoke from his dream with the hope of producing a kind of rice that could feed more people. Now, many years later, Dr Yuan has another dream: t
9、o export his rice so that it can be grown around the glboe. One dream is not always enough, especially for a person who loves and cares for his people. Chemical or organic farming? Over the past half century, using chemical fertilizers has vecome very common in farming. Many farmers welcomed them as
10、 great way to stop crop disease and increase production. Recently, however, scientists have been finding that long-term use of these fertilizers can cause damage to the land and, even more dangerous, to peoples health. What are some of the problems caused by chemical fertilizers? First, they damage
11、the land by killing the helpful bacteria and pests as well as the harmful ones. Chemicals also stay in the ground and underground water for a lonog time. This affects crops and, therefore, animals and humans, since chemicals get inside the crops and cannot just be washed off. These chemicals in the
12、food supply build up in peoples bodies over time. Many of these chemicals can lead to cancer or other illnesses. In addition, fruit, vegetables and other food grown with chemical fertilizers usually grow too fast to be full of much nutrition. They may look beautiful, but inside there is usually more
13、 water than vitamins and minerals. With these discoveries, some farmers and many customers are beginning to turn to organic farming. Organic farming is simply farming without using any chemicals. They focus on keeping their soil rich and free of disease. A healthy soil reduces disease and helps crop
14、s grow strong and healthy. Organic farmers, therefore, often prefer using natural waste from animals as fertilizer. They feel that this makes the soil in their fields richer in minerals and so more fertile. This also keeps the air, soil, water and crops free from chemicals. Organic farmers also use
15、many other methods to keep the soil fertile. They often change the knd of crop in each field every few years, for example, growing corn or wheat and then the next year peas or soybeans. Crops such as peas or soybeans put important minerals back into the soil, making it ready for crops such as wheat
16、or corn that need rich and fertile soil. Organic farmers also plant crops to use different levels of soil, for example, planting peanuts that use the grounds surface followed by vegetables that put down deep roots. Some organic farmers prefer planting grass between crops to prevent wind or water fro
17、m carrying away the soil, and then leaving it in the ground to become a natural fertilizer for the next years crop. These many different organic farming methods have the same goal: to grow good food and avoid damaging the environment or peoples health. An early farmer pioneer Some people thought Jia
18、 Sixie 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 Sixie, however, had other plans. He had always been interested in agriculture and intended to do something to make Chinese farming even better. Jia Sixie lived in the six century A
19、D. He was born in Yidu in Shandong province and worked in Gaoyang, which is also in Shangdong. As he rode through the countryside on his journeys for his work he looked out at the fields. Some of them were greener and had more crops than others. Some cows and sheep looked healthier than others too.
20、He was lost in though. What could a farmer do to get good crops from his fields? Surely there must be rules that would help them. He thought he could use his knowledge to find out the best ways for farmers to grow crops and then write a book to help them. In doing so he collected information from fa
21、rmers who did well, studied it and did experiments to find the best way. For example, he studied ways of keeping seeds and advised farmers to choose seed-heads which had the best color. Then he told them to hang them to dry all winter. The next spring the seeds should be knocked out of their seed-he
22、ads and planted. He studied how to improve the soil. He advised farmers to clear weeds from the ground before planting crops. They could either let the animals eat the weeds or turn the soil over so that the weeds were covered and would rot. Then he gave advice on Turing over the soil. The first tim
23、e each year, farmers should dig deeply, but the second time should be less deep. Therefore the autumn ploughing of the soil should be deeper thant the spring ploughing. He suggested changing crops in the field every year: rive one year and wheat the next so that they would always get good harvests.
24、They should also grow different plants next to each other in the field. He also gave adive on how to fish, keep a garden and even make wine. He wrote down his in a book called Qi Min Yao Shu, which was considered an important summary of the knowledge of farming. For centuries after Jia Sixie died, i
25、t was studied by Chinese farmers and students of agriculture. 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 able to do this better than Charlie Chaplin. He brightened the lives of Americans an
26、d British through two world wars and the hard years in between. He made people laugh at a time when they felt depressed, so they could feel more content with their lives. Not that Charlies own life was easy! He was born in a poor family in 1889. His parents were both poor music hall performers. You
27、may find it astonishing that Charlie was taught to sing as soon as he could speak and dance as soon as he could walk. Such training was common in acting families at that time, especially when the family income was often uncertain. Unfortunately his father died, leaving the family even worse off, so
28、Charlie spent his childhood looking after his sick mother and his brother. By his teens, Charlie had, through his humour, become one of the most popular child actors in England. He could mime and act the fool doing ordinary everyday tasks. No one was ever bored watching him-his subtle acting made ev
29、erything entertaining. As time went by, he began making films. He grew more and more popular as his charming character, the little tramp, became known throughout the world. The tramp, a poor, homeless man with a moustache, wore large trousers, worn-out shoes and a small round black hat. He walked ar
30、ound stiffly carrying a walkingmost famous scientists, Yuan Longping considers himself a farmer, for he works the land to do his research. Indeed, his sunburnt face and arms and his slim, strong body are just like those of millions of Chinese farmers, for whom he has struggled for the past fice deca
31、des. Dr Yuan Longping grows what is called super hybrid rice. In 1974, he became the first agricultural pioneer in the world to grow Rick that has a high output. This special strain of Rick makes it possible to produce one-third more of the crop in the same fields. Now more than 60% of the rice prod
32、uced in China each year is from this hybrid strain. Born into a poor farmers family in 1930, Dr Yuan graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953. Since then, finding ways to grow more rice has been his life goal. As a young man, he saw the great need for incresing the rice output. At that
33、time, hunger was a disturbing problem in many parts of the countryside. Dr Yuan searched for a way to increase rice harvests without expanding the area of the fields. In 1950, Chinese farmers could produce only fifty million tons of rice. In a recent harvest, however, nearly two hundred million tons
34、 of rice was produced. These increased harvests mean that 22% of thwart worlds people are fed from just 7% of the farmland in China. Dr Yuan is now circulating his knowledge in India, Vietnam and many other less developed countries to increase their rice harvests. Thanks to his research, farmers are
35、 producing harvests twice as large as before. Dr Yuan is quite satisfied with his life. However, he doesnt care about being famous. He feels it gives him less freedom to do his research. He would rather keep time for his hobbies. He enjoys listening to volin music, playing mah-jong, swimming and rea
36、ding. Spending money on himself or leading a comfortable life also means very little to him. Indeed, he believes that a person with to much money has more rather than fewer troubls. He therefore gives millions of Yuan to equip others for their research in agriculture. Just dreaming for things, howev
37、er, costs nothing. Long ago Dr Yuan had a dream about rice plants as tall as sorghum. Each ear of rice was as big as an ear of corn and each grain of rice was as huge as a peanut. Dr Yuan awoke from his dream with the hope of producing a kind of rice that could feed more people. Now, many years late
38、r, Dr Yuan has another dream: to export his rice so that it can be grown around the glboe. One dream is not always enough, especially for a person who loves and cares for his people. Chemical or organic farming? Over the past half century, using chemical fertilizers has vecome very common in farming
39、. Many farmers welcomed them as great way to stop crop disease and increase production. Recently, however, scientists have been finding that long-term use of these fertilizers can cause damage to the land and, even more dangerous, to peoples health. What are some of the problems caused by chemical f
40、ertilizers? First, they damage the land by killing the helpful bacteria and pests as well as the harmful ones. Chemicals also stay in the ground and underground water for a lonog time. This affects crops and, therefore, animals and humans, since chemicals get inside the crops and cannot just be wash
41、ed off. These chemicals in the food supply build up in peoples bodies over time. Many of these chemicals can lead to cancer or other illnesses. In addition, fruit, vegetables and other food grown with chemical fertilizers usually grow too fast to be full of much nutrition. They may look beautiful, b
42、ut inside there is usually more water than vitamins and minerals. With these discoveries, some farmers and many customers are beginning to turn to organic farming. Organic farming is simply farming without using any chemicals. They focus on keeping their soil rich and free of disease. A healthy soil
43、 reduces disease and helps crops grow strong and healthy. Organic farmers, therefore, often prefer using natural waste from animals as fertilizer. They feel that this makes the soil in their fields richer in minerals and so more fertile. This also keeps the air, soil, water and crops free from chemi
44、cals. Organic farmers also use many other methods to keep the soil fertile. They often change the knd of crop in each field every few years, for example, growing corn or wheat and then the next year peas or soybeans. Crops such as peas or soybeans put important minerals back into the soil, making it
45、 ready for crops such as wheat or corn that need rich and fertile soil. Organic farmers also plant crops to use different levels of soil, for example, planting peanuts that use the grounds surface followed by vegetables that put down deep roots. Some organic farmers prefer planting grass between cro
46、ps to prevent wind or water from carrying away the soil, and then leaving it in the ground to become a natural fertilizer for the next years crop. These many different organic farming methods have the same goal: to grow good food and avoid damaging the environment or peoples health. An early farmer
47、pioneer Some people thought Jia Sixie 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 Sixie, however, had other plans. He had always been interested in agriculture and intended to do something to make Chinese farming even better. Jia S
48、ixie lived in the six century AD. He was born in Yidu in Shandong province and worked in Gaoyang, which is also in Shangdong. As he rode through the countryside on his journeys for his work he looked out at the fields. Some of them were greener and had more crops than others. Some cows and sheep loo
49、ked healthier than others too. He was lost in though. What could a farmer do to get good crops from his fields? Surely there must be rules that would help them. He thought he could use his knowledge to find out the best ways for farmers to grow crops and then write a book to help them. In doing so he collected information from farmers who did well, studied it and did experiments to find the best way. For example, he studied ways of keeping seeds and advised farmers to choose seed-heads which had the best color. Then he told them to hang them to dry all winter. The nex
