My father, Winston Churchill, began his love affair with painting in his 40s, amid disastrous circumstances, As First Lord of the Admiralty in 1915, he was deeply

(31)____  ,in the Dardanelles that could have shortened the course of a bloody world wart But when the mission failed, (32)____  , Churchill paid the price, both publicly and privately. He was removed from the Admiralty and effectively sidelined.

(33)____  ---"I thought he would die of grief," said his wife, Clementine he retired with his family to Hoe Farm, a county retreat in Surrey. There, as Churchill later recalll The muse of painting came to my rescue!".

(34)____ , he chanced upon his sister-in-law sketching with watercolors. He watched her for a few minutes, then borrowed her brush and tried his hand. The muse had cast her spell!

...

In painting, Churchill had discovered a companion with whom he was (35)____ that remained to him. After the war, painting would offer deep solace when, in 1921, the death of the mother was followed two months later by the loss of his and Clementine's beloved the-year-old daughter, Marigold Battered by grief, Winston took refuge at the home of friends in Scotland, (36)______ He wrote to Clementine, "I went out and painted a beautiful river in the afternoon light with crimson and golden hills in the background Alas,I keep feeling the hurt of the Duckadilly (Marigold's pet name).".

Historians have called the decade after 1929, (37)____ ,and Winston was out of office, his wildemess years. Politically he may have been wandering in barren places, a lonely fighter trying to (38)   but artistically that wildemess bore abundant fruit, During these years he often painted in the South of France. Of the 500-odd canvases extant, roughly 250 date from 1930to 1939.

(39)____ to the end of his life. "Happy are the painters," he had written in his book Painting as a Pastime, "for they shall not be lonely. Light and color, peace and hope, will(40)____ to the end of the day." And so it was for my father.

(From Winston Churchill: His Other Life)

[A] Wandering in the garden one day

[B] Painting remained a joy to Churchill

[C] Delighted with this distraction from his dark broodings

[D] Overwhelmed by the catastrophe

[E] awaken Britain to the menace of Hitler

[F] involved in a campaign

[G] keep them company

[H] to walk for the greater part of the years

[I] finding comfort in his painting

[J] when the Conservative government fell

[K] with great loss of life

[L] Churchill soon decided to experiment with oils

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