ARLES, FRANCE－Andre Raffay has a problem．He needs a nice, large flat in the city of Arles, but he doesn’t have enough money to buy one．Every morning Andre sits in his neighborhood café(附近酒吧)and reads the flat ads in the newspaper．He draws a circle around each ad for a flat that looks good．Then he goes to the telephone to call the owner．
“Hello．I’m interested in the flat near the park that is in today’s paper,” he says．“How much is it?” When he hears the answer, he says, “Oh, my goodness! That’s too much!” The same thing happens every day．
One morning Andre sees a friend in the café．He tells him about his problem．“I have a good idea, Andre．I know a 90-year-old woman who has a beautiful flat．You can pay her something every month until she dies．Then you can move into the flat．It will be yours!”
Andre is excited．He thinks to himself, “How much longer can such an old lady live? We can probably have the flat in a few years．” He and his wife, Marie, go to visit Mrs．Calment．The flat is just what they want．It is large and sunny, and it is near the centre of town．It even has a view of the park．
Andre tells Mrs．Calment, “We will pay you ＄500 a month, and you can stay here for the rest of your life．” She is very happy．She says, “I really want to stay here．This is my home．Now I don’t have to move to my niece’s(侄女)house in the country．”
They sign a contract(签了份协议)that says that Andre and his wife will pay Mrs．Calment ＄500 every month．When she dies, the flat will belong to Andre and his wife．
More than thirty years go by．Jeanne Calment is still alive．She is 121 years old, the oldest person in the world．Poor Andre isn’t alive any more, but his widow(寡妇)still sends Mrs．Calment ＄500 every month．Their dream flat is a nightmare(恶梦)．
(1)
They have paid the old woman __________ dollars since they first met her．
Van Gogh(凡高)was born in Holland in 1853．He enjoyed drawing when he was a child．He worked for an art dealer(经营者)in London and Paris for four years, before he became a teacher in England for a short time．He moved back to France in 1877 and soon began to paint．He didn't stay long in Paris．He was attracted by the colors of the countryside and, in 1888, he moved to Arles, a small town in the south of France．There, he painted his most famous paintings．
He enjoyed painting people, farms, flowers, and other natural things．Some of his most famous paintings are The Potato Eaters, The Starry Night, and several different Sunflower paintings．The Starry Night is now kept in the Museum of Modern Art in New York．There is a quiet village and a tall black tree under an angry sky．Some people say that it is a true picture of the stars on that day．
He was poor most of his life．He made hundreds of paintings, but only sold one of them while he lived．He was a lonely, unhappy man who died at the early age of 37．
Today, people love Van Gogh's use of color and the emotional power(激情)of his work．Van Gogh's paintings are world famous and worth millions of dollars．Museums are around the world proudly show paintings by the great artist．
(1)
Van Gogh began to paint in ________．
[ ]
A．
Holland
B．
France
C．
London
D．
New York
(2)
Van Gogh moved to Arles because ________．
[ ]
A．
it was a famous small town
B．
it was in the south of France
C．
he liked teaching in the countryside
D．
he enjoyed the colors of the countryside
(3)
In Van Gogh's The Starry Night, we can see ________．
