阅读理解 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.

单选题 According to the passage, "to soften the hard edges of modern buildings" means______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】推断题。由题干中的“to soften the hard edges of modern buildings”可定位至文章第二段，该段提到一些艺术家被召集起来去改造医院，让医院坚硬的棱角变得柔和。结合全文可知“to soften the hard edges of modern buildings”是指用艺术家们的作品来装饰医院，D项是其字面意思。故本题选B。

单选题 What can we say of Peter Senior?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】细节题。根据第三、四段可知，艺术家Peter Senior在曼彻斯特的一家医院成立了自己的工作室，并在医院举办了画展，且这两段分别提到“These recent initiatives owe a great deal to one artist，Peter Senior…”和“Believed to be Britain’s first hospital artist，Senior…”，由此可知Peter Senior是一位将艺术引进医院的先驱艺术家。故本题选A。

单选题 According to Peter Senior,______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】细节题。文章第三段指出“He felt the artist had lost his place in modern society，and that an should be enjoyed by a wider audience”，即他认为艺术家在现代社会失去了其地位，而艺术应该被更多的人欣赏。第四段又接着指出“Senior held the first exhibition of his own paintings in the out-patients waiting area of the Manchester Royal Hospital”。由此可知，Peter Senior认为艺术品应该在医院被广泛展示。故本题选D。

单选题 After the improvement of the hospital environment,______.

单选题 The fact that six young art school graduates joined Peter shows that______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】推断题。第四段提到“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”，即Senior被认为是英国第一位医院艺术家，他很受欢迎，并且不久之后就有六位年轻的艺术学校毕业生加入他的团队。由此可知，人们开始认识到医院环境的重要性。故本题选D。