It was a history-making moment at Miller & Miller’s Canadian & Discoveries Arts auction(拍卖)when the hammer finally came down for a rare Maud Lewis painting for $ 350,000.

Lewis was a Canadian artist who painted brightly colored scenes. She sold her paintings by the side of the road for $2 to $3. Painting wasn’t easy, since she suffered from a physical challenge that made moving painful. After reading an article about her, John Kinnear, also an artist mailed her boxes of painting supplies. At the time, Lewis lived in a one-room house with no electricity, using simple house paint to create. After receiving the supplies, Lewis wrote back insisting on repaying him with some of her paintings.

Kinnear sold some of them, sending part of the money back to Lewis and using the remainder to buy her more paint. Gradually, the two artists developed long-lasting friendship.

Kinnear was friends with Irene and Tony Demas, who owned a restaurant where he ate lunch every day. One day, Kinnear told them he had some paintings by an artist and wondered if they might consider buying one of them. “When we saw the paintings, our jaw almost dropped,” recalls Irene. “We had never seen anything like them. They were so childlike, with cats and cows.” They ended up agreeing to the trade, choosing a painting called Black Trunk.

Over 50 years later, they’re long retired and now considering travelling more. They hoped to sell the painting. In the years since Lewis died, her paintings have become famous. But it was recent scare that really urged them into action. After having non-glare glass added to the painting, the business street where the framer(装裱师)lived burned to the ground just days after they picked up their painting. “We saw that Miller &Miller’s had sold one not long ago. We trusted the Miller brothers.” says Irene.

【小题1】Why did John Kinnear send Lewis boxes of painting supplies?

A．To exchange for her paintings.	B．To offer her assistance.
C．To teach her painting techniques.	D．To befriend with her.

【小题2】How did Irene and Tony Demas feel when they first saw Lewis’s paintings?

A．Confused.	B．Panicked.
C．Shocked.	D．Embarrassed.

【小题3】What was the real reason for the Demas’ selling Black Truck?

A．They were eventually persuaded by the framer.

B．They were afraid the painting would lose value.

C．They fear something unexpected would happen.

D．They were in desperate need of money to travel.

【小题4】What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To recommend an auction house.	B．To introduce a painting artist.
C．To explain a trend in art collecting.	D．To tell the story of a painting.