Father of Hybrid Rice Hopes More Crop on Less Land

劉本龍

Professor Yuan Longping， the father of hybrid rice， expressed the hope that he would grow more crops on less farmland. The 90-year-old scientist is the pioneer of hybrid rice research and he has been carrying out his work since the 1960s. The scientist invented hybrid rice and was also the first to successfully change the self-pollinating characteristics of rice. His hard work and devotion made large-scale farming of hybrid rice possible， thus making the nation self-reliant on rice. Talking about farmers happiness and their strong response to hybrid rice， Professor Yuan recalled how an old farmer in Hunan Province became over-joyed during Phase I. “Thank you for teaching me how to plant the super hybrid rice. Ive never had such a good harvest in forty years of rice farming. I have the highest regard for you and your fellow scientists，” the professor said， recalling the words of the farmer.

Apart from being highly productive， the hybrid rice is also tasty. Recalling another incident， Professor Yuan said three years ago some reporters from Hong Kong and Shenzhen had a chance to taste the rice. A young female reporter had two bowls of rice. On another occasion， a rich businessman even had three bowls of rice and took home some of the rice for his family.

Under the super rice planting program， set up by Chinas Ministry of Agriculture， a total of 10.5 tons of hybrid rice per hectare was produced in PhaseⅠfrom 1996 to 2000.

At present， half of Chinas total rice fields grow Yuans hybrid rice species. Because of his hard work， Chinas total rice output rose from 5.69 billion tons in 1950 to 19.47 billion tons last year. The “Super Rice” Yuan is now testing yields 30 percent higher than those of common rice.

Professor Yuans achievements in hybrid rice research have won him a large number of international awards， like the UNESCO Science Prize.

Notes： self-pollinate v. 授粉;self-reliant adj. 自給自足的;phase n. 階段;hectare n. 公頃

【難句解析】

1. Professor Yuan Longping， the father of hybrid rice， expressed the hope that he would grow more crops on less farmland.

釋義：袁隆平教授，雜交水稻之父，表達了他將在更少的農田上種出更多莊稼的愿望。

點撥：在此句中，that引導he would grow more crops on less farmland整個句子作the hope的同位語從句，對the hope起到說明或解釋的作用。同位語從句和定語從句相似，都放在某一名詞或代詞后面，同位語從句的引導詞在從句中不作成分，而定語從句的引導詞在從句中作成分。例如：

The news that you told me last week is true. 上個星期你告訴我的那個消息是真實的。（that引導的是定語從句，它在從句中充當賓語）

The news that the leader will come here is true. 領導將要來這個消息是真實的。（that引導的是同位語從句，它在從句中不作成分 ）

2. The 90-year-old scientist is the pioneer of hybrid rice research and he has been carrying out his work since the 1960s.

釋義：這位90高齡的科學家是雜交水稻研究的先驅，自從二十世紀六十年代他就不斷地實施研究工作。

點撥：90-year-old屬于“數詞+名詞（單數）+形容詞”結構，構成復合形容詞作定語，大多相當于“介詞of + 名詞”構成的短語，表示被修飾詞的年齡、新舊、持續時間、地點、距離、面積、體積、長度、寬度、深度、速度、重量、字數、錢數或價格等。the 90-year-old scientist = the scientist of ninety years。he has been carrying out his work是現在完成進行時，強調動作的延續性，是現在完成時的強調形式。例如：

She has been talking to me since she saw me. 她自從見到我就一直和我說話。

3. His hard work and devotion made large-scale farming of hybrid rice possible， thus making the nation self-reliant on rice.

釋義：他的努力工作和貢獻使得大面積種植雜交水稻成為可能，因此保障了國家水稻自給自足。

點撥：在此句中，His hard work and devotion作主語，made作謂語，large-scale farming of hybrid rice作賓語，possible作賓語補足語，making the nation self-reliant on rice作結果狀語。例如：

She has won the game， which made her parents proud. 她贏得了比賽，這讓她的父母感到驕傲。

The hospital has recently obtained new medical equipment， allowing more patients to be treated. 這家醫院最近獲得了新醫療設備，從而使更多的病人能夠得到治療。

4. Apart from being highly productive， the hybrid rice is also tasty.

釋義：雜交水稻除了產量高，也好吃。

點撥：apart from在不同的上下文中，既有besides的含義，又有except和except for的含義，要根據上下文來判別。例如：

Apart from English， he has a good command of Russian and French. 除英語外，他還精通俄語和法語。（= besides）

He has no interests， apart from his work. 他除了自己的工作外，沒什么興趣愛好。（= except）

Its a good paper， apart from a few spelling mistakes. 這是一篇好論文，只是有幾處拼寫錯誤。（= except for）

【閱讀鏈接】

I. Choose the right answer.

1. The author thinks the hybrid rice is ____.

A. delicious as well as productive????? B. not delicious nor productive

C. difficult to be planted????????????????? D. the best rice in the world in the future

2. Professor Yuan Longping is regarded as the pioneer of hybrid rice research because ____.

A. he invented the hybrid rice for more output

B. he was an old scientist for the farmers

C. he knows how to change the self-pollinating of rice

D. he likes to talk with farmers

3. What does the underlined word “response” in the first paragraph mean？

A. Export.? ????? B. Expand.? ?????????? C. Reduce.? ?????????? D. Reaction.

4. Which is the main idea of this passage？

A. Talking about farmers loss for their rice output.

B. Professor Yuan devoted himself to hybrid rice research.

C. Professor Yuan is being reported by the media.

D. Professor Yuan has a fourth target.

II. Fill in the blanks.

1. Internet makes our lives ____ ____ ____ （容易和方便）.

2. ____ ____ ____ （還有一次） I answered the phone and the line went dead.

3. We ____ ____ ____ （待在） in a hotel since we came here.

4. What other sports do you like ____ ____ （除了） football？

5. ____ ____ （目前） he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.

6. The idea ____ we will visit Paris next week excites every one of us.