Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Italy. He is best known as an artist today. One of his famous paintings is called Mona Lisa. However, Leonardo had many other natural abilities. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern day life.

    Although Leonardo hated war, he invented many different machines used for war. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war many years later.

    By watching the way birds fly, Leonardo tried to find out the secret of flying. Among his sketches(素描) we can see several objects. We consider them as modern flying machines.

    Leonardo spent many hours thinking about how to make good use of time. He developed ideas for labor-saving machines like cutting machines.

    Leonardo was a strange man. He didn't eat any meat, which was unusual in those times. He never published(发表) his ideas and scientific discoveries. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left.

    We have very little of his work today. Leonardo finished only a few of his paintings. He left many unfinished because he thought they were not perfect. No one in his life time knew how great Leonardo was. We now believe, however, that he was one of the cleverest men the world has ever known.

    Fifty-three years ago Barbie Millicent Roberts first appeared in the world of toys. Since then. Barbie, as everyone called, has become the most successful toy doll in history. Her parent, the Mattel Company, said that 90% of all American girls between 3 and 10 have at least one Barbie doll at home.

    However, Barbie is facing some trouble at present(现在). There are many similar dolls on the market in competition with her. Another doll named Bratz, for example, came to life thirteen years ago. She looks more like today's pop stars with heavy makeup(浓妆) and miniskirts. And her company offers more kinds of clothes too.

    It seems that Barbie has lost her magic among older girls. "For younger girls, playing with a Barbie doll is much fun. But when you get older, you want something smarter and more modern, "says Vera Shepherd, a shop assistant in a New York toy store.

    It is good news that on the international market. Barbie is still No. 1. Although Mattel is selling fewer Barbie dolls in the United States these years, sales in other countries are still going up. In January 2009, Mattel opened its first Barbie store in Shanghai, where girls can shop, eat, drink or even become fashion designers for their own Barbie dolls.

    Mattel is planning big celebrations for Barbie's 53rd birthday. Fashion designers from all over the world have been called to make new dresses for Barbie. How long will Barbie stay popular in the world of toy dolls? It is hard to say, but 53 is surely not the age to retire(退休).

—Yes. I have _______ locked them.

—For three days.

    In a small town in France, there was a farmer who lived alone. Every day, he 1 a pound of butter to his neighbour, who was a baker. One day the baker decided 2 the butter to see if he was getting a pound. After he weighed(称……的重量) it, he found that he wasn't. The baker then took 3 farmer to the judge(法官).

    The judge asked the farmer if he had any way to weigh the butter. The farmer answered, "I am so 4 that I do not have enough money to buy anything to weigh it, 5 I do have a kind of scale(天平)." The judge asked, "Then how do you weigh the butter?" The farmer answered, "Before the baker started buying butter from 6, I had bought bread from him. So every time when I bring home the bread from the baker, I put it on the scale and give him the butter of the same weight."

    We 7 what we give to others in life. Whenever you take action, ask yourself this 8."Am I honest?"

    Honesty or dishonesty can become a 9. Some dishonest people can lie(说谎) without a red face. Others lie so much that they do not even 10 what the truth is any more. But who is it bad for? As a matter of fact, those who lie will hurt themselves by their own dishonest behaviour(行为，举止).