★★★★★★Leonardo da Vinci 2
Leonardo's early drawings and paintings demonstrated/ˈdemənstreɪtɪd/ a rare/rer/ talent/ˈtælənt/.
drawing 图画,画作；painting 图画(特指使用颜料的绘画) → oil painting 油画；demonstrate 限时,表明；rare 稀少的,罕见的；talent 天赋,天才；
His father and his father's friends recognized/ˈrekəɡnaɪzd/ his talent and encouraged/ɪnˈkɜːrɪdʒd/ him.
recognize 认识到,识别；encourage 鼓励；
When he was 15, he was sent to Florence. 89
In Florence, he became an apprentice/əˈprentɪs/(学徒) toa famous master painter.
apprentice 学徒,徒弟；master大师 → master painter大师级画家；
For the next few years, Leonardo worked at his master's workshop.
workshop 作坊,车间；
It wasn't long before his ability/əˈbɪləti/(能力) surpassed/sərˈpæst/(超越) that of his master.
It wasn't long before 没过多久 → e.g. It wasn't long before everyone knew what was happening. 没过多久所有人都知道发生了什么
Some people say that his master became jealous/ˈdʒeləs/ of Leonardo's great talent.
jealous 嫉妒的 → be jealous of；become jealous of 嫉妒…；
→ e.g. The Queen is jealous of Snow White's beauty. 皇后嫉妒白雪公主的美貌
They say that the master vowed(发誓的) to never paint again!
vow 发誓 → vow+句子；vow to do 发誓做某事；
In 1478, with his father's help, Leonardo set up his own workshop.
with someone's help 在某人的帮助下；set up 成立,建立 →set up one's own workshop 成立自己的工作室；
译文：列奥纳多早期的作品展现了他罕见的天赋。他的父亲和他父亲的朋友发现了他的天赋并且鼓励他。当他15岁的时候，他被送到佛罗伦萨。在佛罗伦萨，他成为一位著名的绘画大师的学徒。在接下来的几年里，列奥纳多在他师父的工作室里工作。没过多久他的能力就超过了他的师傅。有人说他的主人嫉妒列奥纳多的极高的天赋。从此他的师傅发誓再也不画画了!在1478年，在他父亲的帮助下，列奥纳多成立了自己的工作室。
What did his early drawings and paintings demonstrate? - Leonardo's early drawings and paintings demonstrated a rare talent in art.
In 1482, he entered the service of a powerful man in the city of Milan.
enter the service of 开始为…服务；
This man was the Duke of Milan.
For the next few years Leonardo designed buildings, machinery and weapons/ˈwɛpənz/of war.
design 设计；buildings 建筑；machinery 机器,机械(总称) → machine 机器(具体)；weapon 武器；
Weapons were important because Italy was constantly/ˈkɑːnstəntli/ at war during this period. 67
constantly 经常地,不断地；period 时期,阶段；at war 处于交战；
From 1485 to 1490, Leonardo produced designs for a variety/vəˈraɪəti/of weapons.
produce 生产；variety 不同种类,各种类型 → a variety of 各种各样的；
In his notes, he predicted/prɪˈdɪktɪd/ the development of advanced/ədˈvænst/ weapons such as submarines/ˈsʌbməˌrinz/(潜艇) and flying machines. 78
notes 笔记 → take notes 做笔记；predict 预测；advanced 高级的,先进的；submarine 潜艇；flying machines 飞行器；
In 1499, the French invaded/ɪnˈveɪdɪd/(侵略) Italy and Leonardo left Milan.
译文：1482年，他在米兰市为一个有权势的人服务。这个人就是米兰公爵。在接下来的几年里，列奥纳多设计了建筑、机械和战争武器。武器很重要，因为在这段时期意大利一直在打战。从1485年到1490年，达芬奇设计了各种各样的武器。在他的笔记中，他预测了很多高级武器的发展，如潜艇和飞行器。1499年，法国入侵意大利，列奥纳多离开了米兰。
Why weapons were important that time? -Weapons were important because Italy was constantly at war during this period.
What kinds of advanced weapons did he predict? -He predicted the development of advanced weapons such as submarines and flying machines.
Altogether(总共), Leonardo spent 17 years in Milan.
During this period, he spent much of his time studying nature. 81
spend time doing sth. 花时间做某事；
He dissected/dɪˈsektɪd/ bodies, both human and animal, to study and illustrate/ˈɪləstreɪt/ anatomy/əˈnætəmi/.79
dissect 解剖；body 尸体；illustrate 阐释,说明；anatomy 解剖学；
His detailed/ˈdiːteɪld/ illustrations/ˌɪləˈstreɪʃənz/ are masterpieces/ˈmæstərˌpisəz/. 78
detailed 详尽的,详细的(adj.)；illustration 说明,图解(n.)；masterpiece 杰作 → e.g. “Last Supper”is a masterpiece of Leonardo. 最后的 晚餐是达芬奇的一个杰作
Leonardo filled many notebooks with drawings and ideas.
fill sth. with sth. → fill the bucket with water 用水装满桶；
He wrote/roʊt/ backwards/ˈbækwərdz/ so you need a mirror to read them.
backwards 向后的 → write backwards 反着写；
译文：总共，列奥纳多在米兰生活了17年。在这期间，他大部分的时间都花在研究自然上面。他解剖人和动物的尸体，来研究和阐释解剖学。他的详细的说明图解都是杰作。列奥纳多在许多笔记本上写满了图画和想法。他是倒着写的，所以你需要一面镜子来读。
How did he spend much of jis time in Milan? - During this period he spent much of his time studying nature.
跟读：He left Milan because the Frenchinvaded Italy. 85
复述：You need a mirror to read his notebooks because he wrote backwards. 80
After 1500, Leonardo spent time in a number of Italian cities.
a number of 一些；
He worked very slowly, and the range(范围)of his interests was very wide(广泛的).
As aresult, Leonardo left many paintings and projects unfinished. 75
unfinished 未完成；project 工程；
One painting that he did finish was the Mona Lisa, one of the world's most famous paintings.
People are still interested in this painting, 500 years after he painted it. 79
Though there are many theories/ˈθɪriz/(理论), nobody knows who the woman in the painting really was. 84
译文：1500年后，列奥纳多在意大利的一些城市生活过一段时间。他工作很慢，兴趣范围很广泛。因此，达芬奇留下了许多未完成的画作和工程。他完成的一幅画是《蒙娜丽莎》，世界上最著名的画作之一。在他画完这幅画500年后，人们仍然对它很感兴趣。虽然有很多理论，但没有人知道画中的女人到底是谁。
What was one painting that he did finish? - One painting that he did finish was the Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings.
What are people still interested in? - People are still interested in this painting, 500 years after he painted it.
In 1516 Leonardo left Italy for good when the French King, Francis First, offered him a position/pəˈzɪʃn/.
for good 永远；offer sb. a position 给某人提供一个职位；
There, he had the freedom/ˈfriːdəm/ to paint and draw whatever he wanted.
freedom 自由；have the freedom to do something 有自由做某事；
Leonardo died in 1519, at the age of 67.
Some say that the French King,who had become a close friend, was with him when he died. 80
He was buried/ˈberid/ in a church/tʃɜːrtʃ/ which was destroyed during the French Revolution. 81
bury 埋葬；church 教堂；destroy 毁坏；revolution 革命 → the French Revolution 法国大革命
The exact location of his remains is unknown. 80
location 地点,位置；remain 人的遗体；unknown 未知的,不知道的；
译文：1516年，当法国国王弗朗西斯一世向列奥纳多提供一个职位时，他永远离开了意大利。在那里，他可以随心所欲地画画。列奥纳多于1519年去世，享年67岁。有人说，列奥纳多去世的时候，这位法国国王在他的身边。他被埋葬在一座在法国大革命中被毁坏的教堂里。他的遗体的确切位置尚不清楚。
Who offered Leonardo a position in 1516? - The King of France, Francis I, offered him a position.
Where was he buried? - He was buried in a church which was destroyed during the French Revolution.