The Renaissance，considered by modern scholars to have been the time between 1,300 and 1,600，was a period of European history when many new inventions and beliefs came into being.
The Renaissance is traced back to rich Italian cities such as Florence，Milan，and Venice.In these cities businessmen started to spend their extra money on things like painting and education，and to consider new techniques of banking and systems of government.A new type of scholar，the humanist(人文主义者)arose.Humanism was concerned with humankind and culture.Latin and Greek，literature and philosophy，music and mathematics were among the subjects humanists studied.
The Renaissance gave rise to new forms of painting and sculpture.During the Renaissance，artists were no longer regarded as mere artisans(工匠)．Many artists drew on mathematics in order to become more accurate in their measurements(度量)and to make sure an object was presented in realistic proportions.They also studied the way light hits objects and the ways our eyes perceive it.A new kind of paint，called oil paint，was invented.
The Renaissance affected all of the society.Many people became interested in politics，and the world outside their towns.They became explorers，businessmen，etc.The effect on religion was especially strong.In the Middle Ages people were primarily concerned with serving the church and getting to heaven.But the increase in arts and education gave people things to look forward to in life，and made them lose interest in the church.
The Renaissance produced many great minds.Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest，although he was not regarded that way at the time.Among his many works of art were Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.He is also regarded as a great inventor，and is credited for coming up with the idea of the helicopter.
Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes (糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin (胰岛素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance.
After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he'd better find a way to fight back. He left Canton, Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar, and created diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones—a place where over 1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.
Jason Swencki's son, Kody, was diagnosed with type diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online children's forums (论坛) together most evenings. “Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over,” says Swencki, one of the site's volunteers. “They know what he's going through, so he doesn't feel alone.”
Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.
These days, Thomas's main focus is his charity (慈善机构), Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to people—225 to date—who can't afford a diabetic's huge expenses. Fight－it.org has raised about $23,000—in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in the Caribbean.
Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still doing his fulltime job waiting tables. “Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into finding a cure，” says Bentley Gubar, one of Rockstar's original members. “But Christopher is the only person I know saying people need help now.”
根据语境，用方框中所给短语的适当形式填空。（每个短语仅使用一次）
in particular; on earth; never mind; make it; now that; learn by heart; be supposed to; carry out |
be satisfactory.
She him because he always kept talking.
Stephen Hawking knew what he wanted to do by the time he was eight years old. His parents lived in London where his father was undertaking research into medicine. He did not want to follow his father as his parents hoped. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he did Physics instead. Stephen was interested in studying the universe.
But when he was 21, he was told that he had ALS—an incurable nerve disease, which affects walking, speaking, breathing, swallowing, etc. The doctors predicted that he had only a few years to live. “The doctors' grim prognosis made me determined to get the most from a life I had previously taken for granted and life was no longer boring for me,” Hawking says today, speaking from his wheelchair through a computerized voice synthesizer.
He didn't die. Instead, as his physical condition worsened, Hawking's reputation in scientific circles grew. Hawking himself acknowledges his disease as being a crucial factor in focusing his attention on what turned out to be his real strength: theoretical research.
In 1988, Stephen Hawking published a book called A Brief History of Time. The book tries to explain many of Hawking's physical and mathematical ideas and calculations without using maths. The book became a best seller and his later books are Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays and most recently in 2001,The Universe in a Nutshell. Of the three, the first one was made into a film in 1991.
Hawking says, “You have to be positive if you're to get much sympathy or help. Nowadays, muscle power is obsolete. What we need is mind power—and disabled people are as good at that as anyone else.”
When something goes wrong，it can be very satisfying to say, “Well, it's so-and-so's fault.” or “I know I'm late, but it's not my fault; the car broke down.” It is probably not your fault，but once you form the habit of blaming somebody or something else for a bad situation，you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However, you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop focusing on whom to blame and start focusing on how to remedy the situation. This is the winner's key to success.
Winners are great at overcoming problems. For example, if you were late because your car broke down, maybe you need to have your car examined more regularly. Or, you might start to carry along with you the useful phone numbers, so you could call for help when in need. For another example, if your colleague causes you problems on the job for lack of responsibility or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or don't rely on the person. You should accept that the person is not reliable and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your colleague fails to do his job well.
This is what being a winner is all about—creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don't have fewer problems in their lives; they have just as many difficult situations to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges and opportunities to develop their own talents. So, stop focusing on “whose fault it is”. Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stop on for success.
He wants to believe anything but .
