单选题 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】词汇题。前后的大意是，作为在英国把艺术画廊带入公共场所的全国性努力的一部分，一些国家最著名的艺术家们被召集来改造老年医院和柔化棱角分明的现代建筑，即艺术家们想要改造这些传统的建筑，并且柔化这些医院建筑的现代元素。后面又提到将近100幅画挂进了医院。可知柔化边角的意思是用艺术收藏品来装饰医院。故选B。

单选题 What can we say about Peter Senior?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】细节题。文章在介绍Peter Senior时说，“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.”意为这些首创都得益于一个艺术家，他在曼彻斯特医院开设了自己的工作室。这与A相符。

单选题 According to Peter Senior, ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】推断题。本题考查的是对文章内容的推断。文中虽然提到“He felt the artist had lost his place in modern society, and that art should be enjoyed by a wider audience.”艺术家在现代社会中失去了地位，但是他认为更广大的观众应该欣赏到艺术，故艺术并没有失去观众，A错误；B和C没有提及；D更符合文章意思，Peter之所以把艺术引进医院就是在鼓励艺术应该进入医院。

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

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节题。相关的内容在文章的最后一段，“The quality of the environment may reduce the need for expensive drugs when a patient is recovering from an illness.”，即环境的质量可以减少在恢复过程中对昂贵药物的需求。A和C都与文章不符。而D中，病人的止痛药需要量会减少而非增加。故B正确。

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

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】细节题。第四段中“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.”意为Senior被认为是英国的第一个医院艺术家，他非常被需要，以至于很快就有6个年轻的艺术系毕业生加入了他。可见是别人看见了医院艺术的需求性强，别人想加入他。故选D。