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.

Jim comes from America．He has lots of good friends in his class，and Su Ling is one of them．Today is Ling's birthday．She has a birthday dinner at home，and she asks Jim and other classmates to her house．Ling's mother cooks Chinese food for them．The food is so delicious，and Jim likes it very much．

In America，Jim usually has hamburgers，potato chips，bread and ice-cream like many Americans．Some people think that's why Americans are so fat．After he comes to China，he knows about Chinese food．At first，he really doesn't like Chinese food．It is different from American food．But later，he loves it! Now he usually has porridge and eggs for breakfast，some vegetables，rice and chicken for lunch，and noodles and fruit for dinner．His favorite Chinese food is dumplings．He thinks they are really delicious．“People in America don't eat them．What a pity!”Jim says．But Jim doesn't eat meat often．He doesn't want to be fat．

    I arrived at my mother's home for our Saturday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. My mother was pulling out quilt after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. I knew they were all made herself. She was preparing for a quilt show on TV. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out.

    "What's this?" I asked.

    "Oh?" Mom said, "That's Mama's quilt."

    I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had made the pieces together. "Grandmother made this?" I asked in surprise. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn't look like any of the quilts she had made.

    "Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes," Mom said, "I'm still working on it. See, this is what I've done so far."

    I looked at it more closely. She had made a line straight. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched a piece of cloth with these words: "My mother made many quilts. She didn't get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt."

    "Oh, this is so nice, Mom." I said. I was sure now that by completing my grandmother's quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.

D

    Night after night，she came to help me sleep，even long after my childhood years．

    I don't remember when it first started making me a little angry-my mom's hands pushing my hair that way．But it really made me uncomfortable，for they felt rough against my young skin．Finally, one night，I shouted at her．"Don't do that anymore．Your hands are too rough!" She didn't say anything, but she never did it again．

    Years later, I missed my mother's hands and her goodnight kiss on my face. I was not a little girl anymore. My mom was in her mid—seventies, and her rough hands were still doing things for my family and me．   

    Now my own children have grown up．It was late on Thanksgiving Eve．As I slept in my bedroom，a familiar hand ran across my face to push the hair from my head. Then a kiss，ever so softly, touched my forehead．

    Taking my mom's hand，I told her how sorry I was for that night I shouted at her．But my mom didn't know what I was talking about．She had forgotten it for long．

    That night，I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my mother's caring hands. And the guilt that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found．

    Valentine's Day is a very old holiday. It goes back to the times of Ancient Rome (古罗马). One of the characters we often see on Valentine's Day is Cupid. He was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. He shoots people with arrows (箭) of love. When a man and a woman are hit by his arrows, they will fall in love.

Today people celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14. If a man and a woman are in love, they will give each other gifts. The most popular gifts are flowers (especially roses) and chocolates. Couples may also go to a restaurant for a very nice dinner or plan something else romantic.

    In the United States, Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. Children make special Valentine's cards for their classmates. Families and friends may give candy or other small gifts to each other. It can be a fun day.