读写教程3新视野大学英语(第三版)翻译题

Unit 3

Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance, is perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived. A painter, sculptor, architect, mathematician, engineer, and inventor, he is famous for a wide range of accomplishments. His natural genius, which crossed multiple disciplines, won him the title of "Renaissance Master". Leonardo is renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the best known and The Last Supper the most reproduced religious painting of all time. What make Leonardo's drawings unique are mainly his innovative techniques and acute scientific mind. Perhaps only 15 of his painting shave survived, partly because his constant experimentation with new techniques made his total output quite small. Although not a prolific(多产的)painter, Leonardo was a most productive draftsman, keeping journals full of sketches, drawings, and diagrams. These notebooks, often referred to as da Vinci's manuscripts, recorded his inventions, observations, and theories about everything that captured his attention. Leonard's genius made him a pioneer in almost every field of study he undertook. His paintings, together with his notebooks, have contributed significantly to the history of art.

Ink and wash painting, one of the unique traditional art forms of China, is representative of Chinese painting. It began around the time of the Tang Dynasty, and then prospered in the Song and Yuan dynasties. With a history of over one thousand years, it has experienced constant development, improvement and perfection. The tools and materials used to create ink and wash painting, i.e. brushes, rice paper, and ink, are characteristic of Chinese culture and closely related to the features of the paintings. For example, the mixing of water and ink creates different shades of dryness, wetness, thickness and thinness. The integration and infiltration of water, ink, and rice paper enables such paintings to convey rich images, and hence to achieve unique aesthetic effects. Ink and wash painting holds a high status in the history of Chinese painting, and it is even regarded as the criterion to evaluate the artistic level of Oriental paintings.

Unit 4

Venice is the world's famous island city in northern Italy. Founded in the 5th century, Venice became a major maritime power in the 10th century. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Venice was a major center for commerce and trade, and became an extremely wealthy European city, a leader in political and economic affairs. After several hundred years in power, Venice began to decline in the 15th century. Nowadays, it is regarded as one of the world's most beautiful cities and one of the most important tourist destinations in the world. Venice has a rich and diverse architectural style, the most famous of which is the Gothic style. Venice is also known for several important artistic movements in history, especially the Renaissance period. The influence of Venice on the development of architecture and arts has been considerable. Today, it is still playing an important role in contemporary arts and popular cultures. In 1987, Venice was listed as a World Heritage Site. In March 1980, Venice became a sister city of China's Suzhou City.