Leonardo da Vinci's(达·芬奇) mother may have been a Chinese slave(奴隶) according to a new research by an Italian -Angelo Paratico. He has spent the last 20 years living and working in Hong Kong, researching the links(联系) b【小题1】his homeland and China.

It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci's mother was named Caterina, who, according to some reports, was a local farmer. But Mr. Paratico's new work leads to a d【小题2】explanation.

Speaking to theSouth China Morning Post, Mr. Paratico said, “I am s【小题3】that Leonardo's mother was from the East, but to make her a Chinese, we need to use a deductive method (演绎法).”

Angerlo Paratico has s【小题4】many documents(文献). He found that one wealthy friend of Leonardo's father’s had a slave called Caterina. After Leonardo's date of b【小题5】, she disappeared from the documents. “She was no longer working there and could not be found,” Paratico a【小题6】. Supporting his opinion, he said, “During the period, countries like Italy and Spain were f【小题7】of slaves from the East.”

He said that there were certain aspects(方面) of Da Vinci's life and works which suggest a Chinese link. An e【小题8】is that he was writing with his left hand from left to right. And he was a vegetarian(素食者), which was not common. Mona Lisa(蒙娜丽莎) is probably a picture of his mother. On the back of Mona Lisa, there is a Chinese landscape and e【小题9】her face looks Chinese.

Mr. Paratico said the only way to s【小题10】the mystery is to extract(提取) some DNA. But he said he preferred to let the mystery remain mysterious.

Confucius was a wise man in ancient China. He is such 【小题1】 great thinker that many people still know about him and his ideas.

“Ren” was considered to be the 【小题2】 (important) among Confucius’ ideas. This special word means being kind and caring about 【小题3】 happens in the world. Confucius also talked about “Li”, which means knowing the way to act 【小题4】 (proper) in different situations.

Confucius started a school 【小题5】 (spread) his ideas and thoughts. He believed that everyone, whether rich or poor, should have a chance to learn. This idea changed the way people thought about education.

The book, The Analects (《论语》), records many of the things that Confucius said. His students wrote 【小题6】 (they) down so that other people could learn from him too. In modern times, The Analects 【小题7】 (use) almost every day by lots of people because it has wise advice that can help us in our lives.

One idea Confucius had about learning was that it never stops. He said that if people wanted to get improvement, they should check themselves three【小题8】 (time) a day. This is a very important idea, because the world is always changing and we need to keep up 【小题9】 it.

Confucius’ ideas 【小题10】 (be) around in people’s everyday lives since they appeared. They become more and more popular in Western countries and South Asia.

According to some old Chinese stories, there once was an ancient emperor named Shennong. At that time, there was no medicine to treat illnesses. Many s【小题1】 people could only wait for 【小题2】 （die）.

To save his people, Shennong decided to find and test out different plants. He and his men set out on a journey in s【小题3】 of medicinal（药用的） plants.

Each time the t【小题4】 found a new plant, Shennong would taste it himself. Some plants made him feel sleepy, some c【小题5】 him to have a stomachache, and some made him tremble（颤抖） all over.   After Shennong searched and tested over a long time, he and his men discovered lots of medicinal plants.

As they continued their search, the team found a plant 【小题6】 small yellow flowers. Shennong picked off one piece from the plant in o【小题7】 to taste it. He said,   “It 【小题8】 （look） like a medicinal plant. I have to test it, or some people may misuse it.”

Suddenly, Shennong’s face turned pale and he f【小题9】 on the ground heavily. Even after he was given the leaves from other medicinal plants, he still l【小题10】 his life. People covered him with thousands of flowers. From then on, they called him “the Emperor of Medicine”.