Who Was Leonardo da Vinci 达·芬奇

Some people are enormously¹ talented … and then there is Leonardo da Vinci. He lived at a time when there were many extremely talented people all around him. Even so, he stood out.

He could draw and paint better than anyone. One of his paintings, the Mona Lisa, is the most famous painting in the world. He was a scientist hoping to unlock² the secrets of the natural world. He was an engineer and inventor. He designed a bicycle that would have worked—three hundred years before the first bike was actually built.

He was an excellent athlete. A fine musician. And he was handsome. (Although there are no known paintings of him, whenever people of the day described him, they always mentioned his good looks.)

“I want to work miracles,” he stated. Yet he often met with failure. And while he could be charming³, he mistrusted almost everyone. He was a loner. He had no family of his own. For sixteen years, he didn’t even have a home of his own.

By his own standards, Leonardo was a disappointment. He never reached the goals he set for himself. His greatest works⁴ were left unfinished. Nevertheless, what he did achieve in sixty-seven years still sets the standard for human excellence⁵. It is hard to imagine someone doing better.

1 enormously   

adv.巨大地，庞大地；大大

参考例句：

• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His research has contributed enormously to our understanding of this disease. 他的研究对我们认识这一疾病贡献很大。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 unlock   

v.启示，揭示，开...的锁

参考例句：

• The border police required the traveler to unlock his luggage.边防警察要求旅客打开行李。
• We heard somebody unlock the door.我们听见有人开门锁。

3 charming   

adj.迷人的，可爱的

参考例句：

• She looked small and gentle and altogether charming.她看起来小巧文雅,十分迷人。
• She has charming manners.她具有媚人的风姿。

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

5 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。