★★★★★Leonardo da Vinci 1 列奥纳多·达·芬奇  

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest geniuses/ˈdʒinjəsɪz/ of all time.  79

       geniu-geniuses(复数)天才；all time 有史以来；

He was a painter, an architect/architect/, an engineer and a scientist.

He was born in Vinci, Italy in 1452.

Vinci is a town just outside of the great Italian city, Florence.

His name, da Vinci, means "of Vinci".

       同位词：一个名词(或其他形式)对另一个名词或代词进行解释或补充说明。

Leonardo's father was a lawyer and landowner/ˈlændoʊnər/, and his mother was a peasant. 

Leonardo's parents were never married to each other.  79

       marry 结婚 →be married to 与…结婚 → e.g. Tom married Lucy last year.

                         → marry sb. → e.g. Will you marry me？

译文：列奥纳多·达·芬奇是有史以来最伟大的天才之一。他是一位画家、建筑师、工程师和科学家。1452年，他出生在意大利的芬奇镇。达芬奇是意大利佛罗伦萨城外的一个小镇。他的名字达·芬奇的意思是“达芬奇的”。列奥纳多的父亲是律师和地主，妈妈是一位农民。列奥纳多的父母从未结过婚。

When he was born? - He was born in 1452.

What was his father's profession? - Leonardo's father was a lawyer and landowner.

Leonardo lived with his mother until he was around 5 years old.   80

When he was 5, he moved into the home of his father.  79

       move into 搬到…；

By then his father had married a 16-year-old girl.

Leonardo's mother married another man and moved to another town. 

She had many more children after that, with several different men. 

       many more 更多的；after that 在那以后；

 In the end, Leonardo had more than 15 half-sisters and brothers. 80

       in the end 最终；half-sisters 同父异母或者同母异父的姐妹；half-brothers 同父异母或者同母异父的兄弟；

译文：列奥纳多和他的妈妈生活在一起，直到他5岁左右。当他5岁的时候，他搬到了父亲的家里。那时，他的父亲已经和一个16岁的女孩结婚了。列奥纳多的妈妈也跟另一个男人结婚了，搬到了另一个城镇。自那之后，她和几个不同的男人生了更多的孩子。最后，列奥纳多有超过15个同父异母的兄弟姐妹。

With whom did he live until he was five? - Leonardo lived with his mother until he was around 5 years old.

As a young man, Da Vinci didn't go to school.

He was educated at home in reading, writing and mathematics/ˌmæθəˈmætɪks/.

       educate 教育 →be educated in+具体学习内容；

In other subjects, he was mostly self-educated.

       self-educated 自学的；

He had access/ˈækses/(使用权) to books at his father's home.

       access 使用某物的权利或机会 →have access to 有机会见到或者使用某样东西  

       → e.g. Online learning increases access to education.  在线学习增加了受教育的机会

Leonardo spent a lot of time outdoors and developed/dɪˈveləpt/(发达的) a strong interest in nature.

       outdoors 在户外；develop 发展,形成 →develop an interest in sth. 对某事产生兴趣；

He loved to observe/əbˈzɜːrv/(观察) things, especially birds.  80

       observe 观察 → observe sth. 观察某物；especially 尤其,特别；

He was also interested in the properties/'prɔpɚtɪz/(性能) of water.

       be interested in 对…感兴趣；property 特性,特质 →properties of water 水的性质

译文：作为一位年轻的男士，达芬奇没有去上过学。他在家接受教育，学习阅读、写作和数学。在其他学科上，他大多是自学的。在父亲家里，他有机会可以读到很多书。列奥纳多花了很多时间在户外，并对自然产生了浓厚的兴趣。他喜欢观察事物，尤其是鸟类。他也对水的性质感兴趣。

In what did he develop a strong interest? - He developed a strong interest in nature.

跟读：He developed a strong interest in nature.  84