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For his 86th birthday, Cheng Xiangwen enjoyed a corn­shaped cake his colleagues had prepared for him£®“My birthday wish is to develop better corn varieties£¬”he says£®After the celebration, he began another journey to Sanya, in South China's Hainan Province, where he has worked most of his life£®Cheng is a scientist in agriculture and spends most of his life studying and cultivating (ÔÔÅà) corn£®He visits Sanya in November every year and stays there for six months to cultivate corn£®

Once, when he was conducting a field survey, a female farmer said to him in tears, “You graduated from college£®Could you please find a way to increase the corn output here? If the yields (²úÁ¿) are higher, our children will no longer suffer from hunger£®”Since then, Cheng has made developing high­yield corn varieties his life's mission£®

In 1964, he came to Hainan, where it was warmer, and started his work there£®He greatly shortened the cultivation period and created hybrid corn varieties for the first time£®With these new varieties, farmers in Xunxian County saw their average corn output was more than 3£¬750 kg per hectare per year£®

Despite the beautiful coastline, the environment where Cheng works used to be troubled by poverty and poor traffic£®Locals once described the area as having a large number of rats, mosquitoes, and poisonous snakes£®At that time, he did everything on his own£®He lived in a local villager's house and he frequently went to the mountains to chop firewood to cook£®His hard work, however, has paid off£®Now, authorities have approved 14 new, high­yield corn varieties Cheng helped develop£®

Cheng is dedicated to developing high­yield corn varieties with stronger resistance and they are easier to harvest with machines£®He still goes to the fields each day and observes and records the corn plants£®“Cultivating seeds is like raising kids£®Only by careful parenting can you become familiar with their strengths and weaknesses and help them to grow up healthily£¬”he says£®

1£®What can we infer about Cheng according to Paragraph 1?

A£®He was born in Hainan Province£®

B£®He works in Sanya for less than half a year£®

C£®He rested for a long time after his birthday£®

D£®He wants to develop higher­yield corn varieties£®

2£®In which paragraph can we know the cause of Cheng's life's mission?

A£®Paragraph 1£®                       B£®Paragraph 2£®

C£®Paragraph 3£®                       D£®Paragraph 4£®

3£®What kind of difficulty did Cheng meet with in Hainan?

A£®Unbearable hot weather£®

B£®Building a house without help£®

C£®Living on poisonous creatures£®

D£®The terrible living conditions and surroundings£®

4£®Which of the following can best describe Cheng?

A£®Hard­working and determined£®

B£®Calm and caring£®

C£®Fair and sympathetic£®

D£®Kind and generous£®