Passage Three
The medical world is gradually realizing that the quality of the environment in hospitals may play a significant role in the process of recovery from illness.
As part of a nationwide effort in Britain to bring art out of the galleries and into public places, some of the country’s most talented artists have been called in to transform older hospitals and to soften the hard edges of modern buildings. Of the 2,500 National Health Service hospitals in Britain, almost 100 now have significant collections of contemporary art in corridors, waiting areas and treatment rooms.
These recent initiatives owe a great deal to one artist, Peter Senior, who set up his studio at a Manchester hospital in northeastern England during the early 1970s. He felt the artist had lost his place in modern society, and that art should be enjoyed by a wider audience.
A typical hospital waiting room might have as many as 500 visitors each week. What better place to hold regular exhibitions of art? Senior held the first exhibition of his own paintings in the out-patients waiting area of the Manchester Royal Hospital in 1975. Believed to be Britain’s first hospital artist, Senior was so much in demand that he was soon joined by a team of six young art school graduates.
The effect is striking. Now in the corridors and waiting rooms the visitor experiences a full view of fresh colors, playful images and restful courtyards.
The quality of the environment may reduce the need for expensive drugs when a patient is recovering from an illness. A study has shown that patients who had a view onto a garden needed half the number of strong pain killers compared with patients who had no view at all or only a brick wall to look at.
According to the passage, “to soften the hard edges of modern buildings” means ________.
题干内容出现在文章第二段， 联系上下文“some of the country’s most talented artists have been called in to transform older hospitals”以及“…hospitals almost 100 now have significant collections of contemporary art ...”可知B符合题意。
What can we say of Peter Senior?
Peter Senior不是“对绘画感兴趣的医生”， 选项B错误； 也不能说他是“医院艺术的追随者”（选项D也排除） ； 文章也没有提到“他有大量的绘画作品”， C项也不能选； 只有A所说的“他是将艺术引进到医院的先驱者”最符合文章大意。
According to Peter Senior, ________.
根据文章第三段最后一句“He felt the artist had lost his place in modern society, and that art should be enjoyed by a wider audience.”可判断选项A为正确答案。
After the improvement of the hospital environment, ________.
从文章最后两段可知， 医院环境的改善对病人的康复是有益处的， 病人的康复不仅仅依赖药物的作用。因此选项B是正确的。
The fact that six young art school graduates joined Peter shows that ________.
六位艺术学校的毕业生加盟Peter Senior的事业说明了人们开始意识到改善医院环境的重要性， 即选项D说法正确。