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 daily 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 sketch (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 very 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.

    Mr. Brown is 75 years old. He lives in a small village(村庄). Mr. Brown has three sons, David, Jeff and Stefan. They work in big cities. And they don't come to see Mr Brown very often.

    The sons feel sorry for their father, so they built(建造) a big house for Mr. Brown. And they give him much money(钱). But it doesn't make Mr. Brown happy. He always feels lonely.

    There is a school next to Mr. Brown's house. Some students often come and visit Mr. Brown. He says, "I don't want money. I want love. And the students give it to me. Love is not money. Love is company(陪伴)."

    Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history？Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28.Although he lived over 2, 000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today, Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn't give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

    Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but (Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.

    Today, people still follow Confucius' lessons. He told us that we all have some advantages. "When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them."

    He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. "All study but no thinking makes people puzzled(困惑的).All thinking but no study makes people lazy."

    Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important theories are about kindness and good manners. "A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others," he said.

Dear Mom,

Today is Sunday. I don't go {#blank#}1{#/blank#} school. I stay at home. So I can {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (write) to you now. Every day, I go to school {#blank#}3{#/blank#} seven thirty in the morning. We have four {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (lesson) in the morning. We read {#blank#}5{#/blank#} write in Chinese at school.

There are fifty-five students in my class. Four of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (they) are Americans. The other students are {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (China). Chinese people are friendly. Now I have some Chinese {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (friend). My classmates {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) all my friends. They teach {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (I) Chinese. I can speak a little Chinese now. Please don't worry about me.

Yours,
Kate

Mr Smith works at the Lost and Found Office in No. 1 Middle School. He works very 1 and he likes to help others. Every day when he2 a lost thing, he takes detailed notes about it. When students are in a3 , they often lose things. They4 things in the playground, in the dining hall or in the library. That's5 Mr Smith usually gets lots of things in a school year. Students often come to the Lost and Found Office to6 their things, such as books, crayons, erasers, wallets, watches7 many other things. If you lose your things, it's easy8 you to ask Mr Smith for help. But you must9 him what the lost thing is, its colour and the time you lost it. 

When the new school year10 , Mr Smith would like to remind(提醒）everyone like this : First of all,11 and have a look at the lost and found box. Are these things12 ? Or do you13 whose things they are? From now on, please be14 with your things. If you are busy and can't come here, please15 us at 8311 ****, We can also help you.