中級閱讀模擬測驗　第三十六回

Modern agriculture still follows the seasons, however powerful the machines become. In early spring farmers 11 seeds in fields that have rested all winter, hoping the soil is 12 enough to feed them. If it is not, they add 13, though too much can harm the river nearby. Summer brings weeks of waiting and worrying about rain. Then comes the 14, the busiest month of all, when the whole family works from dawn until dark. Afterwards the grain is dried and stored in the 15 behind the house, and the quiet season begins again for a few short weeks.

A hundred years ago most people in this valley were 16 who owned no land of their own. They worked from sunrise to sunset and lived on the edge of 17, yet the village still held festivals every autumn. Families 18 a few pigs and chickens behind the house, while the older boys took the 19 up the hill each morning. Today only three farms remain, and the young are 20 to stay. The school has closed, but a small museum now tells visitors how the valley once fed a whole town.