Watermelons are one of the most popular fruits in China. It's said that Chinese people1 nearly 70% of the watermelons on the earth. As we enjoy the sweet (甜的) watermelons, we have to2 a great woman Wu Mingzhu. This 92-year-old3 has devoted (致力) her life to growing melons in China.
Wu grew up in Wuhan. In the eyes of others, Wu should have worked as a teacher after finishing university in 1953, but she4 to go to Xinjiang. She thought Xinjiang was a good place for her to do something5 . In 1955, Wu went to Xinjiang to study melons.6 it was hard to live and work there at the time, she didn't give up (放弃). She spent three years7 Xinjiang and found 44 kinds of melons.
In the 1990s, Wu and her team cultivated (培育) "8424", a great kind of watermelon in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Then Wu brought it to the north of China.8 , Wu went to more places to study melons.
Thanks to her, most places in China grow melons now. The yield (产量) is high and the9 is naturally low (低), so people can eat melons as they wish. Wu's work has made a great difference to the growing of melons in China. "My life is to grow a few melons and10 the sweetness of melons to people," Wu always says.
