The Renaissance，considered by modern scholars to have been the time between 1,300 and 1,600，was a period of European history when many new inventions and beliefs came into being.

    The Renaissance is traced back to rich Italian cities such as Florence，Milan，and Venice.In these cities businessmen started to spend their extra money on things like painting and education，and to consider new techniques of banking and systems of government.A new type of scholar，the humanist(人文主义者)arose.Humanism was concerned with humankind and culture.Latin and Greek，literature and philosophy，music and mathematics were among the subjects humanists studied.

    The Renaissance gave rise to new forms of painting and  sculpture.During  the  Renaissance，artists were no longer regarded as mere artisans(工匠)．Many artists drew on mathematics in order to become more accurate in their measurements(度量)and to make sure an object was presented in realistic proportions.They also studied the way light hits objects and the ways our eyes perceive it.A new kind of paint，called oil paint，was invented.

    The Renaissance affected all of the society.Many people became interested in politics，and the world outside their towns.They became explorers，businessmen，etc.The effect on religion was especially strong.In the Middle Ages people were primarily concerned with serving the church and getting to heaven.But the increase in arts  and education gave  people things to look forward to in life，and made them lose interest in the church.

    The  Renaissance  produced  many  great minds.Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest，although he was not regarded that way at the time.Among his many works of art were Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.He is also regarded as a great inventor，and is credited for coming up with the idea of the helicopter.

    In Washington, Virginia and Maryland, the final months of the year have many festivals. Whether you are into a theatre environment, medieval times or a book festival, there is an event for you.

1). Maryland Renaissance Festival

    The festival, now in its 38th season, features 12 stages and hundreds of costumed actors offering entertainment such as music and theatre performance, sword swallowing and a human chess match. Sept. 21 through Oct.19.

2). Baltimore Book Festival in Maryland

    This three-day fair features talks and book signings from more than 275 locally and nationally known authors, including Alice McDermott and Andre Dubus III. The festival also includes live music and literary hands-on projects for kids. Sept. 26-28.

3). Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia

    The festival offers a relaxed theatre environment, and the events include a dancing party, an orchestra performance of horror film music by Marco Beltrami, and a discussion with Colleen Atwood, who is a famous costume designer. Oct. 30 through Nov.2.

4). Temple Hall Corn Maize and Fall Festival in Virginia

    The 286-acre farm offers a lot of family-friendly entertainment, including pig races, farm animals and camel rides. Grab seasonal goods at the farmers' market, take part in the corn harvest, and hear live bluegrass and folk music. Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26 through Nov.2.

5). Kids Euro Festival in Washington

    Here is a chance to celebrate and experience European arts and Culture, no passports required. Twenty-eight European countries will be represented during the multicultural children's event, which features more than 200 performances and workshops. The festival is for children ages 2 through 12, librarians and educators. Activities include puppet shows, cooking and theatre workshops. “It really brings Europe to the children, ” said organizer Sandi Auman. Oct. 24 through Nov. 9

    As the weather costs you a loss on trains and flights, we look at your rights.

• Cancelled trains

    On a single ticket, a passenger will usually receive 25% of the fare if the train is delayed by 15 minutes. If the delay reaches 30 minutes, the compensation(补偿/补偿金) rises to 50%, and if it's over an hour you should be able to reclaim the whole cost. Clear arrangements vary according to train operator (运营商).

    If you were due to travel, to say Aberdeen from London, your train is cancelled and you decide not to travel, you can get a full compensation. If you had a non-cancelable ticket with one operator, and failed to make that train because the connecting train was delayed, you can take the next available train.

• Flights

    If your flight is cancelled because of the snow you have the right to a full compensation of the ticket, or to be rerouted home on a later flight.

    But you will have no right to get a delay or cancellation compensation under EU rules, because the snow is an extraordinary circumstance beyond the airline's control. If you don't take the compensation and choose to be rerouted, and It means you are stuck at the airport overnight, it's the airline's duty to pay for a reasonably priced hotel room and meals.

    The airline has to reroute you at the earliest opportunity, or at the passenger's free time, you are supposed to take the availability of seats.

    If you choose to be rerouted or if your departure is delayed by more than two hours, airlines also have to provide assistance such as food. The airlines keep this quiet and getting the money out of the low-cost operators can be a hard job. Keep evidence of cancellations, all receipts, and use your mobile to video any offer to pay by airline staff.

    Young people almost never get a good press(评论) these days. “Their outlook is centered on trashy books and films,” expressed one citizen in a letter I recently came across in the Daily Mail. It seems that people have been complaining about the young since ancient times. However, the young are probably no worse than they've ever been. And I think they're better. Teenagers today are brighter, more energetic, more outgoing, and more interesting than any generation before.

    The truth is, we hear plenty of bad news about youth, but we never hear about the majority. Surely they all want to be footballers or attractive models? Not a bit of it. When research company Britain-Thinks examined teenagers attitudes earlier this year, they found that the most popular goal (shared by some 70 percent) was to “have a job you love”, followed by having a university degree, owning your own home and being in a happy, long-term relationship. It tallies with another study by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, which found that what made teenagers happiest wasn't a new smart-phone or pair of shoes, but “the simple things in life” such as close friends, going swimming and spending time with their parents.

    Indeed, the more you look at the young, the more impressive they seem. They are, of course, more technologically knowledgeable and skillful than any generation before them. But the interesting thing is that they're not merely consumers; they're creators. Think of all those young people developing their own websites or machines.

    Seventeen-year-old Nick D'Aloisio is an example. He invented a news-summary app (应用程序)called Summly and sold it to Yahoo this year for a reported £18 million. The company offered him a job in California, but he turned it down. “I'll be staying in London,” he explained. “I want to finish my A levels and I couldn't really live on my own out there.”

    Of course they aren't perfect, and every generation has its fair share of bad apples. But I think our future is in safe hands.

    The first newspapers were written by hand and put up on walls in public place. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700's the world's first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn't have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.

    The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam in 1620.In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant (每日新闻).It came out in March 1702.

    In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started The Boston Newsletter (波士顿新闻通讯), the first newspaper published in the American colonies. By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.

    Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation (发行量) in the world. But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Dhimbun (朝日新闻).It sells more than 11 million copies every day.

    It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle.

As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade—or so we thought, as she didn't mention it again. We bought the latest fashionable Baby Sitter's Club dolls, a holiday dress and some beautiful story books. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd, she proudly announced that she "really wanted a bike more than anything else."

    It was just too late, what with all the details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying last-minute gifts. We could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. "What if I make a little bicycle out of clay and write a note that she could trade the clay model in for a real bike?" Her dad asked. The theory, of course, being that since that is a high-ticket item and she is "such a big girl", it would be much better for her to pick it out. So he spent the next five hours painstakingly working with clay to make a tiny bike.

    Three hours later, on Christmas morning, we were excited for Rose to open the little heart-shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud.

    She looked at me and then at her dad and said, "so does this mean that I trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?"

    Beaming, I said, "Yes."

    Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied, "I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I'd rather keep this than get a real bike."

    At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle on the planet!