For most Chinese people, rice is an important part of almost every meal. But for Yuan Longping, rice was more than that. It was his life-long work. Yuan, known as China’s “father of hybrid rice (杂交水稻)”, created hybrid rice that helps feed the world. On May 22, Yuan died at 91. People around the world were sad to hear of his passing. 

How did he begin? In the 1960s, people in China didn’t have enough food to eat. Many people even died because of this. Yuan was sad to see this. He decided to work on a kind of hybrid rice. He thought this rice could feed more people. 

In 1973, he grew the world’s first hybrid rice. It could reach a yield of over 500 kg per mu, higher than the 300-kg yields of other kinds of rice. Farmers can grow it on many different kinds of land. It can fight bad weather and disease, too. This kind of hybrid rice has been grown all over China since then. It has helped China feed nearly one-fifth of the world’s population with only about 7 percent of the world’s farmland.   

Yuan was a famous scientist. But he called himself a farmer. He spent most of his time in the field (田野). Even In March this year, he was working in a field in Hainan. Yuan himself also said, “If I am not at home, I must be on the farmland; if I am not on the farmland, I must be on my way to the farmland.” Kenneth M. Quinn, leader of the World Food Prize Foundation, said Yuan was a “down-to-earth” scientist. “He always seemed more at home in a field than an office, and was most comfortable in his working clothes.” Quinn told China Daily. 

Yuan once said he had two dreams. One was to enjoy the shade under rice crops that were taller than men. The other was that hybrid rice would be grown all over the world. One day his dreams might come true.

Imagine that your body is like a factory. It takes in “materials (材料)” and puts out “goods (商品)”. If you start with poor materials, it’s likely that your goods won’t be very high-quality (高质量的). But if you use better materials, your goods will come out much better.

What does this mean in real life? It means getting the right amount of sleep, eating food that is good for you, and exercising. You might not think about this much as a student, but believe me – as you get older, it becomes very important.

It’s good to start building a better “factory” at a young age. Getting into the habit of living healthy can help you in many ways. If you get enough sleep (not too little, not too much), you’ll be able to focus better on your studies. Eating healthy food helps your body grow strong and fight off sickness. And exercise can help you stay fit both physically and mentally (精神上).

This sounds like a lot to do. So start small—try to go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at the same time as well. Find time to eat a single apple each day— they say “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Try to exercise just a little bit each day, even if it’s only for 10 minutes. Doing these little things will help you build a great “factory”.

Nowadays, many people leave the countryside to search for work in the cities. But some people still l    56     in their hometowns. Mr. Zhang is among them. He has lived in his village since last century. He is working in a car factory     57     (几乎，接近) a railway station. As an engineer, Mr. Zhang is a hard-working man and always e    58     others to work harder.

Last week, Mr. Zhang held     59     yard sale. He     60     (清理，丢掉) many old things from his bedroom, such as soft toys, a scarf, a bread maker, a toy bear, a board game and many old things he o    61    . To be honest, Mr. Zhang felt sad to     62     with certain old things. He r    63     them as his favorite. He thought they could give him some sweet m    64    ，especially his childhood. So he       65     them     66     (查看，观察) again and again before selling.

    67     (根据) him, his home is not far from a junior high school. It’s a shame that he couldn’t read or count because he had no money     68     go to school when he was young. So he     69     [kənˈsɪdə(r)z] holding the yard sale and he wants to     70     (赠送，捐赠) all the money to the school. He wants to help others to     71     (实现他们的梦想).

What a kind man he is!