Question

【题目】The research carried out by the University of Bari in Italy could help prove hospitals who are accused of wasting money on art and decoration as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients ease discomfort and pain.

A team headed by Professor Marina de Tommaso at the Neurophysiopathology Pain Unit asked a group of men and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered most ugly and most beautiful from a selection of 300 works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. They were then asked to look at either the beautiful paintings, or the ugly painting, or a blank panel while the team zapped(照射) a short laser pulse at their hand, creating a sensation as if they had been stuck by a pin. The subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with when looking at the ugly paintings or the blank panel. Electrodes measuring the brain's electrical activity also confirmed a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings.

While distractions, such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital patients, Prof de Tommaso says this is the first result to show that beauty plays a part.

The findings, reported in New Scientist, also go a long way to show that beautiful surroundings could aid the healing process.

"Hospitals have been designed to be functional, but we think that their artistic aspects should be taken into account too," said the neurologist. "Beauty obviously offers a distraction that ugly paintings do not. But at least there is no suggestion that ugly surroundings make the pain worse. " "I think these results show that more research is needed into the field how a beautiful environment can alleviate suffering."

Pictures they liked included Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. Pictures they found ugly included works by Pablo Picasso, the Italian 20th century artist Anonio Bueno and Columbian Fernando Botero. "These people were not art experts so some of the pictures they found ugly would be considered masterpieces by the art world," said Prof de Tommaso.

【1】 The underlined word "alleviate" in the fifth paragraph probably means "__________"

A. cure

B. ease

C. improve

D. kill

【2】 How many artists have been mentioned in the passage?

A. 4.

B. 5.

C. 6.

D. 7.

【3】 Which of the following is TURE about the view of Prof de Tommaso's?

A. Beautiful surroundings could help to heal sufferings completely.

B. Hospitals must take their artistic aspects into consideration first.

C. Ugly surroundings will surely make the pain worse.

D. Both music and beauty can reduce pain in hospital patients.

【4】 From the last paragraph, we know that __________.

A. some artists' paintings were beautiful, so they were masterpieces

B. only art experts could judge they were masterpieces or not, though ugly

C. the artists mentioned above were not really art masters

D. some of them were art masters, while others were not

【5】 Which of the following is the suitable title for the passage?

A. Beautiful Surroundings can Ease Pain.

B. Ugly Paintings could be Masterpieces.

C. More Research should be Done in the Field.

D. Latest Environmental Research.

Answer 1

【答案】【1】 B

【2】 C

【3】 D

【4】 B

【5】 A

【解析】【1】词义猜测题。根据文章的第一段最后一句as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients ease discomfort and pain. 可以得出本题的答案为ease“缓解，减轻”，而不是“治愈”“消灭”或“增加”。

【2】细节理解题。本文提到的艺术家有Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Anonio Bueno, Columbian Fernando Botero 六人。

【3】推理判断题。根据第三段内容可以知道D是正确的。A与第四段所叙述的内容不符合；B与第五段第一句所叙述的内容不一致；C与第五段中间部分的内容不同。

【4】推理判断题。本段的最后一句的意思为：托马索教授说：“这些人不是艺术家，所以一些他们认为难看的作品其实都是世界名作。”其言外之意就是只有艺术家才能知道这些看似难看的作品其实都是世界名作。

【5】主旨大意题。根据全文内容和研究结果可以知道本题答案为A。而B、C只是其中的一个研究结果中的一部分，不能概括全文。D范围太大，不能概括全文的主要叙述内容。