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.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.  

【小題1】B

【小題2】C

【小題3】D

【小題4】A

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科目：高中英語 來源：皇冠優(yōu)化名題　高中英語 題型：050

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According to the text,there exists a lot of ________ in sweet potatoes．

[　　]

A．

fiber,beta carotene,other earotenoids,vitamin E and C

B．

beta carotene,other carotenoids,fiber,vitamin A and E

C．

vitamin A,beta carotene,fiber,vitamin E and C

D．

beta carotent,other carotenoids,vitamin A and E

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A．

cut your risk of stroke and heart disease

B．

protect against breast,lung and stomach cancers

C．

protect against ailments ranging from cataracts to cancer

D．

you stay healthy and reduce your risk of life shortening diseases

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“This vitamin pill in an orange jacket”in the passage refers to ________

[　　]

A．

sweet potato

B．

vitamin C pill

C．

vitamin E pill

D．

beta carotene

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The best title of this passage might be ________

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A．

The Vitamin Superstar

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On Sweet Potatoes

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Beta Carotene and Vitamins

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Diet and Disease

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　Can trees talk? Yes——but not in words． Scientists have reason to believe that trees do communicate (互通信息) with each other． Not long ago, resear- chers learned some surprising things． First a willow tree(柳樹)attacked in the woods by caterpillars(毛毛蟲)changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that the caterpillars got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them． Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special vapour — a signal causing its neighbours to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty．

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[　　]

A． changing its leaves’chemistry

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