1. The first requirement in the production of any crop is to see that soil conditions are as close to the optimum as possible. Barley prefers well-drained soils, light to medium in texture with a high pH

Vocabulary
Match the words (1-6) with the definitions (A-F).
_ agriculture
2 _ crop
3 _ cultivate
4 _ produce
5 _ domesticate
6 _ plant
A a large group of cultivated plants
B to put seeds in soil
C growing plants and raising animals
D to make something
E to raise a crop from seeding to harvest F to tame an animal
TASK 1. Before reading the passage, talk about these questions:
1. Have you ever planted the tree at home?
2. Do you plant the apple trees in your garden?
3. Where is there a fine tree?
TASK 2. Read , translate and discuss the text. Make up questions and answer them.
The farmer and the Apples
A rich farmer in England once had a friend who grew very good apples. One day this friend gave the farmer a fine tree and told him to take it home and plant it. The farmer was pleased with the present but when he came home he did not know where to plant the tree. He thought if I plant it near the road, strangers will steal the apples. If I plant it in my field, my neighbors will come at night and rob it. If I plant near my house, my children will take the apples.
At last he planted the tree deep in a wood where nobody could see it. But the tree could not grow without sunlight and died. When the farmer’s friend heard of it , he got very angry and asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a bad place“ Where could I plant it?” said the farmer. If I had planted the tree near the road, strangers would have stolen the apples. “ If I had planted it in the field, my neighbors would have come at night and robbed me. If I had planted it near my house, my children would have taken the apples.” But then somebody would have enjoyed the apples,” said his friend and now nobody can have them and you have lost a fine tree.
TASK 3. Working with vocabularies .