1.plants people grow for food

　　2.a very important discovery

　　3.to produce new plants or animals

　　4.to give help

　　5.to give food to

　　6.to make information known,for example,in a report or a book

　　7.someone who makes things or grows food

　　8.a type of plant or animal

9.the science of farming 　　First,read through the words in the box and have the students repeat them chorally and individually.Pay attention to those words where the stress is not on the first syllable,such as agriculture producer,support.Then ask them to complete the activity individually and check with their partners.At last,call back the answers from the whole class,having one student read the definition and another give the correct word.

　　Suggested answers:

　　1.crop 2.breakthrough 3.breed 4.support 5.feed 6.publish 7.producer 8.species 9.agriculture

　　T:So much for Activity 3,now let's come to Activity 4.We'll do another word exercise.Choose the correct meaning of the words in italics.

　　1.A staple food is one you eat__________.(a)rarely　(b)regularly

　　2.If you cross two plants you__________.(a)walk past them　(b)produce a new plant

　　3.A yield refers to__________.(a)quantity(eg of food)　(b)quality(eg of food)

　　4.A sterile plant is a plant which doesn't__________.

　　(a)grow quickly　(b)produce seeds

5.A hybrid is a plant which comes from__________.(a)one plant　(b)two different plants 　　Ask the students to complete the activity individually,then collect the answers from the whole class as complete sentences.

　　Suggested answers:

　　1.b　2.b　3.a　4.b　5.b

　　T:Everyone of you did a good job.I think you have had a better understanding of the passage,now we'll do some True(T)or False(F)questions.

　　1.China produces more rice than any other country.

　　2.Yuan Longping asked a lot of questions at school.

　　3.He developed a new kind of fast-growing rice.

　　4.The government helped him in his research.

　　5.The new rice replaced vegetables in 50 thousand square kilometers.

6.The new rice is now grown in other countries,such as Pakistan. 　　T:After you finish your questions individually,check them with their partners.If you have different answers,try to find adequate evidence from the text.

　　(Check the answers one by one.If the statement is false,try to ask the students to correct it.)

　　Suggested answers:

　　1.T　2.T　3.T　4.T　5.F　6.T

The correct statement for No.5:50 thousand square kilometers of rice fields were converted to growing vegetables and other cash crops. 　　 (Ask the students to think of a different title for the passage.If you like,write down their titles on the blackboard and ask the students to vote on which one they think is the best.)

　　Step 4 Consolidation

　　T:Now we have got a better understanding of the text.Let's see whether you have master the content of the passage.Try to fill in the blanks to finish the whole passage.

　　(Show the following on the screen.)

Yuan Longping is a 　1　 figure in the rice-growing world.He was born and　2　 in China.As a boy he was educated in many schools and interested in plants,so he was given the 　3　 "the student who asks questions".As a young teacher,he began experiments in crop 　4　.He thought there was only one way to have more rice quickly.That was to cross different 　5　 of rice plant.Then he began to search for a special type of rice plant.Finally,a naturally 　6　 male rice plant was discovered in 1970.This was a　7　.As a result of his discovery,China's rice production rose 　8　 47.5%in the 1990's.And 50 thousand square kilometres of rice fields were 　9　 to growing vegetables and other cash crops.Following this,the new hybrid rice was 　10　 to other countries.