Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign(生肖). 2019 is the year of the pig, so let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.

Do pigs live in a zoo? No, of course not! Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago. And they are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat - almost every part of the animal is used. The bones and shin are used for glue and footballs. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. Amazingly, their heart valves (瓣膜) can be used to replace human ones.

 Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. Peppa Pig is a children’s television program. The show includes Peppa Pig, a talking pig as its main character, and her family and friends. They take part in everyday activities such as going swimming, visiting their grandparents, cousins going to the palyground or riding their bikes.

In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!

(1)____________. To say that something is unlikely to happen you can say "Pigs might fly!"Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. If you do not believe what someone is saying “In a pig’s eye” could be a good expression in spoken English.

(2)____________. There are 12 Chinese zodiac animals (生肖). The Pig was the last to arrive when the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) called for the great meeting. The expression “lazy pig” is due here as the Pig got hungry during the race, stopped for a big meal and then fell asleep. After that, the Pig continued the race and was named the 12^th.

Pig is not thought to be a smart animal in China. It likes sleeping and eating and becomes fat. Thus it usually features(象征）laziness. However, it behaves itself, has no plan to harm others, and it has been regarded as wealth and the year of the pig is filled with good luck. If you, or anybody around you were born in the year of the pig, then you are said to be brave, honest and gentle.

Most of us probably live without vegetables, but a world without chocolate? Now that would be hard! According to chocolate makers, it could happen if we don’t act soon.

There are two main causes of the chocolate shortage(短缺)- chocolate’s growing popularity and less production of cocoa, the plant from which chocolate is made. With more and more people in India and China loving chocolate, not much can be done about the first cause.

Therefore, the only thing we can do is to increase cocoa production. However, new plant diseases and little rain in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s largest producers, have reduced cocoa production by 40 percent in the past 10 years. What’s worse, many cocoa farmers in Africa and other cocoa-producing countries like Indonesia and Venezuela are changing to easier-to-grow crops such as corn of rubber. This way, the farmers can make more money.

To prevent more farmers from changing, researchers at the newly opened International Cocoa Control Centre, in the UK, are trying to create new cocoa plants that are stronger and faster growing. But first they must make sure the new plants are safe to grow. This takes a long time.

First, each new plant is stored at the Control Centre for six months to make sure it is healthy. It is then planted in the Centre’s fields, studied and tested for another two years. Only after scientists are certain that they’re disease-free, will the plants be sent to farmers in West Africa or wherever else they are needed.

To create new stronger types of cocoa, scientists at the Control Centre are combing (结合) the best parts from different cocoa plants. Though the world is facing a serious chocolate shortage, there is now hope!