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The changing colours of our crops

 

Read this newspaper article about Sunqiao Modern Agricultural Development Zone in Shanghai.

 

Agriculture                                                                                              Evening Post

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Recently, agriculture has become more colourful. 'Green agriculture' means traditional farming that grows plants in soil. 'Blue agriculture' farms fish or water plants in natural sources of water such as oceans or lakes. The newest of the colour is 'white agriculture'. It is practised at Sunqiao Modern Agricultural Development Zone in Shanghai.

 

With white agriculture, plants are grown in water. Sometimes sand or small stones are used to help hold up the plants. However, soil is not used. The plants are nourished only by a mixture of water and fertilizer. White agriculture is useful for places with poor soil quality since it makes the best use of both water and fertilizer.

 

Sunqiao is both an experimental research facility and a business enterprise. The research involves making green agriculture more profitable and finding farming techniques which do not use manmade chemicals. It also produces seeds which help farmers grow better crops. However, the most unusual aspect of Sunqiao is their research on white agriculture.

 

Through this new technology, Sunqiao Modern Agricultural Development Zone has proved to be one of the fastest developing areas in China.

 

Seeds and new varieties of plants from Sunqiao have brought economic benefits to more than 16,000 farming families. The farmers that it has helped now have bigger and better harvests. Their lives have been changed forever.

 

People who live in cities used to regard farming as boring and backward.

 

However, the introduction of modern technology has made Sunqiao famous. Every week, about 5,000 people visit Sunqiao. They appear amazed to see the vegetables which Sunqiao grows without using soil. Farming has become exciting and high-tech. This is a place where technology and nature work well together.

 

Strategy * Understanding and using suffixes

A suffix is something added to the ending of a word to change the meaning or use of a word. One common suffix is -al. It is used to change a noun into an adjective. For example, agricultural is the adjectival form of the noun agriculture. Note that the final -e in agriculture is dropped when -al is added. There are also many other suffixes, such as -tion, -able and -ive.

 

Grammar * Relative clauses with relative pronouns

We can use relative clauses to give information about people and things. Restrictive relative clauses usually start with relative pronouns (who, that, etc.). Who, that, whose and whom refer to people. Which and that refer to things.

--- Who, that and which can be used as the subjects of restrictive relative clauses.

--- Who, whom, that and which can be used as the objects of restrictive relative clauses.

Note: (1) Whom is seldom used in everyday English. We usually use who or that instead.

          (2) We can leave out relative pronouns that are the objects of restrictive relative clauses. We  

often do this, especially in speech. We cannot leave them out when they are the subjects of relative clauses, however.

 

Skills * Listening: Completing an order form

Many people cannot decide what they want quickly. They change their minds from time to time. So, it is important to listen for words like these below to find out what their final decisions are.

Can you change that to...?                          I'd rather...intstead.

On second thoughts...                                 Wait a minute!

 

Skills * Speaking: Ordering food in a restaurant

To have a complete meal at a restaurant, you may need to order three or four things from a menu. You may also need to decide what size you want and what will go with your food.

Here are some words you might use to order food:

May/Can I have...?

I'll have...

How about...?

I'd like...

To help a customer order, the waiter will ask these kinds of questions:

What would you like to eat?	What would you like for dessert?
What would you like to drink?	Would you like some...?

Read the dialogue below. Identify the expressions used by the customer to order food and those by the waiter to help the customer order. Then practise the conversation in pairs.

Waiter:	Hello. What would you like to eat?
Customer:	I'd like a hamburger.
Waiter:	Would you like some chips with that?
Customer:	Yes.
Waiter:	What would you like to drink?
Customer:	How about some Coke?
Waiter:	Small, medium or large?
Customer:	Large, please.
Waiter:	OK. And would you like anything for dessert?
Customer:	Can I have some apple pie?
Waiter:	No problem. I'll bring you your drink in just a minute.
Customer:	Thanks.

 

Skills * Writing: A recipe

Recipes are the instructions you need for cooking food. To write a recipe, you should use imperatives. You should also use words such as first, then, next and finally. Recipes are usually written clearly and simply in a step-by-step manner.

 

Cheese Baked Potatoes

You will need 2 large potatoes, butter, cheese, salt and pepper.

First, wash the potatoes.

Then, rub them with butter.

Now, chop the potatoes with pork.

Next, cook the potatoes in the oven for 1.5 hours at 175°.

Take the potatoes out of the oven and cut them in half.

Use a spoon to scoop out the insides of the potatoes.

Then, put the insides into a bowl and mash them with a fork.

Cut up the cheese and mix it with the mashed potatoes.

Add salt and pepper.

Return the mixture to the potato skins.

Then, put the potatoes back into the oven.

Finally, cook until the potatoes are golden brown.

 

More reading * Balancing world diets

How are Western and Asian diets different? Look at this article from a magazine about the trends to find out.

 

Today, in Western countries, weight problems, heart diseases and many forms of cancer are becoming more common. In Asia, such kinds of health problems are not as common as in Western countries. Asians appear to live longer as well. Their diets might account for these differences.

 

Asian diets generally have less meat and fewer dairy products. Eggs and chicken are eaten only a few times a week. Sweet food is eaten only in moderation. In contrast to westerners, Asians eat much rice or noodles. Leafy vegetables like cabbage are on the menu of most Asian meals. Fresh fruit is eaten many times a day. Soya products are often used in cooking. Eating such a variety of food help Asian people stay healthy. The methods of preparing meals are also different. Vegetable oils are commonly used in Asian cooking. In comparison, butter is used more often in Western cooking.

 

However, fast-food restaurants and Western-style eating patterns have become more common in Asia. This leaves fewer differences between Western and Asian diets. Asians whose diets are like westerners' experience more disease and weight problems. Fortunately, many Asians who are aware of this development are paying closer attention to their diets than ever before.

 

Words and expressons

agriculture  农业

farming  务农

farm  务农，饲养 (动词)

natural  自然的；天然的

zone  地区；地带

nourish  滋养（动词）

mixture  混合物

fertilizer  肥料

make the best use of  充分利用

experimental  实验性的

facility  （供特定用途的）场所

enterprise  公司；企业

involve  包括；包含

profitable  盈利的

chemical  化学品

prove  证明

economic  经济的

benefit  利益

used to  过去常常

backward  落后的

amazed  惊讶的

high-tech  高科技的

 

weight  重量

cancer  癌症

account for  解释；说明

moderation  适度；适中

in contrast to  相比之下

soya = soy (AE)  大豆食物

in comparison  与。。。相比

experience  经受（动词）

fortunately  幸运地

be aware of   意识到