The research carried out by the University of Bari in Italy could help prove hos

The research carried out by the Universityof Bari in Italy could help prove hospitals who are accused of wasting money onart and decoration as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients easediscomfort and pain.

A team headed by Professor Marina deTommaso at the Neurophysiopathology Pain Unit asked a group of men and women topick the 20 paintings they considered most ugly and most beautiful from aselection of 300 works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and SandroBotticelli. They were then asked to look at either the beautiful paintings, orthe ugly painting, or a blank panel while the team zapped(照射) a short laser pulse at theirhand, creating a sensation as if they had been stuck by a pin. The subjectsrated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing thebeautiful paintings, compared with when looking at the ugly paintings or theblank panel. Electrodes measuring the brain's electrical activity alsoconfirmed a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautifulpaintings.

While distractions, such as music, areknown to reduce pain in hospital patients, Prof de Tommaso says this is thefirst 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 healingprocess.

"Hospitals have been designed to befunctional, but we think that their artistic aspects should be taken intoaccount too," said the neurologist. "Beauty obviously offers adistraction that ugly paintings do not. But at least there is no suggestionthat ugly surroundings make the pain worse. " "I think these resultsshow that more research is needed into the field how a beautiful environmentcan alleviate suffering."

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

1.The underlined word “alleviate” in thefifth paragraph probably means “_________”.

A.cure                B.ease                         C.improve              D.kill

2.How many artists have been mentioned inthe passage?

  A. 4.                     B.5.                              C.6.                                       D.7.

3.Which of the following is TURE about theview of Prof de Tommaso’s?

  A. Beautiful surroundings could helpto heal sufferings completely .

  B. Hospitals must take theirartistic aspects into consideration first.

  C. Ugly surroundings will surelymake the pain worse.

D. Both musicand beauty can reduce pain in hospital patients.

4.Which of the following is the suitabletitle for the passage?

  A. Beautiful surroundings can easepain.             

B. Uglypaintings could be masterpieces.

  C. More research should be done in thefield.          

D. Latestenvironmental research.  

试题答案

【答案】

 B

 C

 D

 A

【解析】