Unit 24 The science of farming

扩展资料

1．Jia Sixie and His Qi Min Yao Shu

　　Jia Sixie, who was born in Yidu district (now Qingzhou) in Shandong Province, was an agriculturist(农学家) of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386—534 AD) . He once worked as the prefecture (太守) of Gaoyang in Shandong Province. After he returned home, he devoted (致力于) himself to agricultural studies. By collecting information on farming from documents (文献), gathering together the farmers’ farming experience and through his careful observation (观察), he wrote the book Qi Min Yen) Shu. It summarizes (总结) the rich farming experience of the middle and lower reaches (河段) of the Yellow River before the 6th century in China. It tells the way of growing vegetables and fruit trees, keeping cows and sheep. It is the best kept book on ancient farming in China.

2．Weather

　　Weather is the subject matter of Westerners whenever they meet.

　　Housewives, businessmen, factory workers as well as farmers all talk about the weather. It is everyday news, whether or not conditions change. Many newspapers carry a regular front page news story besides the full reports as the inside page provided by the weather service. Here are several different types of weather reports taken from the western papers:

　　No. 1

　　New Jersey

　　Today: Considerably cloudy with showers likely.

　　High: 75～79. Southwesterly winds 15 to 20m.p.h. Precipitation probability 70 percent.

　　Tonight: Warm and cloudy, rain likely. Low: 55～63. Southwesterly winds at 15- 20 m. p. h

　　No.2

　　Westchester, Rockland

　　Friday: Mostly fine to partly cloudy.

　　Saturday: Cloudy with some showers.

　　Sunday: Mostly fine.

　　Temperatures: Daytime highs will average in the upper 60's to 70's while overnight lows will average in the low to mid 50's throughout the period.

　　No.3

　　Bitter cold, high winds, sheets of ice and snow left by the winter's first major storm on highways throughout the area.

　　At least six deaths were blamed on the storm.

　　Hundreds of schools closed throughout the Upper Midwest yesterday and thousands of travelers waited outside at roadside shelters.

　　Temperatures dropped well below zero early today from the Northern Plains through the Western Great Lakes under clearing skies. A 25—below—zero reading was forecast.

　　Nearly a foot of snow fell on northern sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. And hardest hit were Duluth, Minn. And Superior, Wis, where 12 inches were recorded. Winds went up to 50 miles an hour.

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