The research carried out by the University of...

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.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

The research carried out by the University of Bari in Italy could help clarify hospitals who are charged with wasting money on art and decoration as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients overcome 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 Lenoardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. They were then asked to watch either the beautiful paintings, or the ugly paintings, or a blank panel while the team struck a short laser pulse at their hand, creating a sensation as if they had been hurt by a pin. The subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with when considering the ugly paintings or the blank panel.

Electrodes (电极) measuring the brain’s electrical activity also confirmed a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings. While distractions(娱乐), such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital, 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 aesthetic(审美能力) 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 how a beautiful environment can reduce suffering.”

Pictures they liked included Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticellis’ Birth of Venus. Pictures they found ugly included works by Pablo Picasso, the Italian 20th century artist Anonino 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.According to the first paragraph, people didn’t approve_______________.

A. hospitals spend money on medical equipment

B. hospitals decorate their rooms with works of art

C. hospitals make their environment pleasant to patients

D. hospitals treat patients with works of art

2.How did the researchers make the research?

A. By asking the subjects to listen to music.

B. By requiring the subjects to draw paintings.

C. By ordering the subjects to choose which picture is beautiful and ugly.

D. By aching the subjects’ hands while they are watching paintings.

3.According to the research, when designing a hospital, we should consider its____________.

A. convenient facilities

B. functional operating room

C. pleasing environment

D. bright waiting room

4.The best title for the passage may be__________.

A. Patients Don’t Like Pictures

B. Arts Can Be Used As a Medicine

C. Ugly Patients Feel Less Pain

D. Beautiful Art Can Ease Pain

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

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.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The research carried out by the University of Bad 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() 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 resoonse 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

beaufiful 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 boyiously 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 Botticellis 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.From the last paragraph, we know that_______.

A. some artists' paintings were beautiful, so they were masterpieces

B. only art experts could judge they were masterpieces or not, though ugly

C. the artists mentioned above were not really art masters.

D. some of them were art masters, while others were not.

5.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 he field.

D. Latest environmental research.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

In a research carried out in the UK, it was found that only one out of every five employees were happy to work. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the pay or the love for the work that made people happy. Instead, friendly, supportive colleagues and a sense of achievement have been found to be the primary causes of happiness at work. 1. Here are some suggestions.

Happiness is a state of mind, so staying happy at work is completely based on a positive attitude towards your job. 2.

Challenge yourself and take charge of your own growth in your career. Boredom is one of the primary factors that cause people to change jobs. 3.

Having co-workers you like and enjoy working with is a feature of happiness in the workplace. Talk to people, get to know them and try to get along well with them in the workplace, Meeting new people and getting fresh views can help you to keep yourself interested in your work.

Complete your tasks, 4. This gives you a sense of achievement and encourages you to work towards your goals in future.

Sitting and staring at your screen all day long isn’t going to help you. Instead, take breaks and go outside for some time. For example, 5. Eat your lunch outside or work for a few minutes during that hour, which helps you stay happy at work.

A.Smiling everyday is easy to do.

B.go out for a few minutes to feel the breeze.

C.So how do you develop a sense of joy on the job?

D.no matter how disagreeable or tough they might be.

E.Convince ourselves that tomorrow will be better than today.

F.Focus on the bright side of the work rather than keep talking about what makes you unhappy.

G.Find new challenges and it’s a great feeling to take control over what you do and see a task through.

高三英语七选五困难题查看答案及解析

A research was carried out by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It comes after a Chinese scientist claimed in November to have created the world’s first gene-edited human babies. More than 1,000 people were questioned in the study. The researchers said Americans value the medical promise of technology that could change the genetic qualities human parents pass on to their children. But they worry whether it will be used in a moral way.

Gene editing takes out a part of DNA to remove, replace or repair a gene. Changes to adult cells only affect the person being treated. But editing genes in eggs, sperm or embryos (胚胎) can change the resulting child in ways that can be passed to future generations. Because of its important effects, international science guidelines say gene-editing should not yet be tested in human pregnancies. Scientists say more laboratory research is needed to prove whether or not it is safe.

The AP-NORC study suggests that 71 percent of Americans approve of using gene editing to prevent deadly diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease. The study found that 65 percent of Americans would approve of using gene editing to prevent conditions such as blindness. There also was support for using the technology to reduce the risk of diseases that might develop later in life, such as cancer.

However, 66 percent of Americans oppose using gene editing to change qualities such as intelligence or athletic ability. They also oppose changing physical qualities such as eye color or height, the study found.

Dr. Robert Klitzman studies biological research rules. He noted that, if fertility clinics start to edit the genes of embryos, there will be hard choices to make about what conditions can be changed.

What if scientists could identify genes involved with depression or autism or high body weight? Would they be acceptable to edit? “It’s one thing to look at the extremes of fatal diseases versus cosmetic things, but in the middle are going to be these very different issues,” Klitzman said.

1.What can be learned about editing genes in embryos?

A.It can only affect the embryos being treated.

B.It will be completely safe to the embryos.

C.The effect can be passed to future generations.

D.It can be done without any laboratory research.

2.What did Klitzman worry about?

A.It’s difficult to decide what to change when editing genes.

B.It’ s hard for scientist to identify genes.

C.Gene editing will be used to prevent fatal diseases.

D.Gene editing is not supported by the government.

3.What can we conclude about the result of the research?

A.71% of Americans agree to use gene editing to prevent blindness.

B.Gene editing is a promising technology that should be widely used.

C.Americans approve of gene editing only for health purposes.

D.Most Americans are indifferent to the new technology.

4.What does the underlined word “autism” in the last paragraph refer to?

A.A kind of disease. B.An unhealthy baby.

C.A disabled person. D.A mood of happiness.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The Pew report—which was based on surveys carried out in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland and the Czech Republic—concluded that the European Union was “ the new sick man of Europe”.

The percentage of Europeans with a favorable view of the EU has plunged from 60 percent last year to 45 percent now.

The UK may be considered the most Eurosceptic（欧洲怀疑论者）country, but its support for the union has barely changed in the past 12 months, slipping only two points to 43 percent.

By contrast, France’s backing for the EU has slipped sharply, from 60 percent last year to 41 percent today.

On the question of whether to remain in the EU, 46 percent of the British want to leave the union and surprisingly, the same percentage want to stay.

The Pew report’s authors said, “The long-drawn economic crisis has created bad forces that are pulling European public opinion apart, separating the French from the Germans and Germans from everyone else.”

They added, “The effort over the past half century to create a more united Europe is now the main disaster of the euro crisis. The European project now stands in a bad reputation across much of Europe.”

The only European leader rated highly by their own voters was the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with 74 percent voters in favor of her.

Prime Minister David Cameron was the next highest with a positive score of 37 percent among the British public, although he can take some comfort from the fact that 58 percent of Poles（波兰人）and half of all French people think he is doing a good job.

In spite of the dark economic future and growing doubt of the EU, there were strong majorities of more than 60 percent in favor of keeping the euro in the five countries surveyed that use the single currency.

1.Which of the following is TRUE about the recent Pew report?

A. The UK has the smallest number of people against the EU.

B. There’s a slight change of the UK’s support for the EU.

C. More than half the Germans raise doubt about the EU.

D. A vast majority of French people are in favor of the EU.

2.As to whether to remain in the EU, ______.

A. The British are divided equally　　 B. few British want to stay

C. half British want to leave　　 D. many British don’t care about it

3.What’s the Pew report’s authors’ attitude towards the relation between France and

Germany?

A. Enthusiastic.　　 B. Optimistic.

C. Negative.　　 D. Neutral.

4.Why does Prime Minister David Cameron feel a little bit comfortable?

A. Only a score of 37 percent of Britons go against him.

B. Many of the Poles and French think well of him.

C. More than 60 percent of the Europeans are in favor of keeping the euro.

D. Angela Merkel has 74 percent voters supporting her.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

---What are you busy with ?

--- We are carrying out a research ____ the causes of cancer.

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Recently, researchers at the University of Toronto figured out a way with a quick video selfie to accurately measure blood pressure with your smartphone’s camera by developing a technology known as transdermal optical imaging (TOI)(透皮光学成像).

Cameras on smartphones can catch red light reflected from hemoglobin (血红素）under our skin, which permits TOI to visualize and measure blood flow changes. Researchers measured the blood pressure of 1,328 Canadian and Chinese adults by getting two-minute videos of their faces on an iPhone. “From the video got by the technology, you can see how the blood flows in different parts of the face and through this flow, you can get a lot of information,” said Kang Lee, lead author of the study.

Lee also helped create an app called Anura, which allows people to try out the TOI software for themselves, giving them the ability to record a 30-second video of their face and receive measurements for stress levels and resting heart rate. Lee said more research was needed to make sure that the measurements were as accurate as possible, explaining that the study didn’t test people with very dark or very fair skin.

“In order to improve our app to make it usable, particularly for people with hypertension (高血压)，we need to collect a lot of data from them, which is very hard because a lot of them are already taking medicine,” Lee explained. “We cannot tell them not to take medicine, but from time to time, we get participants who don’t take medicine so we can get hypertensive people this way.”

The scientists said there were many potential applications of the technology, including providing health services for those who lived in remote areas.

1.What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 2？

A.Information offered by TOI. B.New findings on hypertension.

C.How TOI is put into smart phones. D.How the TOI technology works.

2.What might people benefit from the new technology mentioned above?

A.Living a life free from stress. B.Improving the heart function gradually.

C.Accessing health services for free. D.Knowing abnormal blood pressure earlier.

3.What can be done for a better Anura?

A.Equipping phones with better cameras.

B.Allowing phones to record longer videos.

C.Collecting data from more diverse samples.

D.Persuading participants not to take medicine.

4.Why does the author write this text?

A.To predict future applications of TOI.

B.To introduce TOI and an app related.

C.To describe functions of cameras on phones.

D.To evaluate the quality of an app called Anura.

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

A recent study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found a clear link between the color of a taxi and its accident rate. An analysis of 36 months of detailed taxi, driver and accident data from two fleets of yellow and blue taxis in Singapore suggested that yellow taxis have fewer accidents than blue taxis. The higher visibility (能见度) of yellow makes it less difficult for drivers to avoid getting into　 accidents with yellow taxis, leading to a lower accident rate.

The study was led by Prof Ho. To test whether there was a relationship between the color of a taxi and the number of accidents the taxi had, the research team analysed data collected by the largest taxi company in Singapore. The researchers found that yellow taxis have about 6. 1 fewer accidents per 1,000 taxis per month.

They also studied the economic effect of changing the color of the entire fleet of taxis to yellow. The Singapore taxi company involved in the study owns about 16,700 taxis in a ratio(比例) of one yellow to three blue taxis. If a commercial decision is made to switch from blue to yellow taxis, 76.6 fewer accidents will occur per month or 917 fewer accidents per year.

Assuming an average repair cost of $1,000 per car and a downtime of six days, the color of all taxis to yellow could produce an annual saving of $ 2 million.

“We are eager to continue to validate (证实) the findings of our study by looking at the use of yellow in other types of public transport, such as school buses. For example, we hope to compare the accident rates of yellow school buses against those of other colors to find out if yellow is indeed a safer color for school buses. Besides, we’re also interested to look at private-hire vehicles and do a comparison of the accident rates of vehicles that are of different colors.” Explained Prof Ho.

1.Why do yellow taxis result in fewer accidents?

A. Because yellow can be seen more easily.

B. Because yellow signals a warning of danger.

C. Because drivers tend to be more careful in yellow taxis.

D. Because people act more quickly in yellow surroundings.

2.What’s Prof Ho’s study based on?

A. Physical risks taxi passengers experience.

B. The economic effect of changing taxi color.

C. Data from Singapore’s largest taxi company.

D. Personal reports from taxi drivers worldwide.

3.What do Prof Ho’s words in the last paragraph suggest?

A. School buses should be painted yellow.

B. Their findings are worth popularizing.

C. Their study will be furthered.

D. Yellow should be widely used in public transport.

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. Caution: yellow taxis ahead　　 B. Safer to ride in yellow taxis

C. Why are yellow taxis preferred?　　 D. How can colors help prevent accidents?

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析