Question

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller in Devon, England in 1890, the youngest of three children in a conservative, well-to-do family. Taught at home by a governess and tutors, as a child Agatha Christie never attended school. She became skillful at creating games to keep herself occupied at a very young age. A bashful child, unable to adequately express her feelings, she first turned to music as a means of expression and, later in life, to writing.

In 1914, at the age of 24, she married Archie Christie, a World War I fighter pilot. While he was off at war, she worked as a nurse. It was while working in a hospital during the war that Christie first came up with the idea of writing a detective novel. Although it was completed in a year, it wasn’t published until 1920, five years later.

“The mysterious Affair at Styles” gave the world the unique Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer who was to become one of the most enduring characters in all of fiction. With his waxed moustache and his “l(fā)ittle grey cell,” he was “meticulous (careful to do things correctly), a tidy little man, always neat, orderly and a bit absurd.”

Christie wrote more than 30 novels featuring Poirot. Among the most popular were” The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”(1926), “Murder on the Orient Expredd”(1934), and “Death on the Nile” (1937).

Another of Christie’s most well-known and beloved characters was introduced in “Murder at the Vicarage” in 1930. Miss Jane Marple, an elderly single in the old- fashioned English village of St. Mary Mead, solved all manner of mysteries with intense concentration and instinct.

Christies ultimately (finally)became the acknowledged Queen of the Golden Age. In all, she wrote over 66 novel, numerous short stories and screenplays, and a series of romantic novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott. Several of her works were made into successful feature films, the most notable being Murder on the Orient Express (1974). In short, she is the single most popular mystery writer of all time. In 1971 she was awarded the high honor of becoming a Dame of the British Empire.

1.Which of the following is the correct order in which the events happened?

a. Agatha became a Dame of The British Empire.

b. Agatha worked as a nurse

c. The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published.

d. Murder on the Vicarage Express was published

e. Murder on the Orient Express was filmed

f. Archie Christie went to the front as a fighter pilot.

A. f-b-d-c-e-a B. f-b-c-d-a-e

C. f-d-b-c-a-e D. f-d-c-b-e-a

2.What does the underlined word “bashful” probably mean?

A. Shy B. Conservative C. Stupid D. Sensitive

3.Mary Westmacott is_________________.

A. Agatha’s governess

B. the name of Agatha’s novel

C. another name for Agatha

D. the heroine of Agatha’s novel

4.Which of the following is NOT true about Hercule Poirot?

A. He was once a policeman

B. He paid much attention to details

C. He sometimes seems rather foolish

D. He solved mysterious with a sixth sense

5.In Agatha Christie’s life, What were the most popular novels that she wrote?

A; biography B. detective novel

C. romantic fiction D. science fiction

Answer 1

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.D

5.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文介紹了英國的小說家和劇作家阿加莎克里斯蒂的生平和她的作品。阿加莎克里斯蒂以寫偵探小說而出名，被譽為“舉世公認的偵探小說女王”。

1.B 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段的最后一句可知a發(fā)生在1971年；根據(jù)第二段的第一句和第二句可知f和b發(fā)生在1914年；根據(jù)第二段的最后一句可知c發(fā)生在1920年；根據(jù)第五段的第一句可知d發(fā)生在1930年；根據(jù)第六段倒數(shù)第三句可知e發(fā)生在1974年，按照年代排列，這六個事件的順序是f-b-c-d-a-e，故選B。

2.A 猜測詞義題。A害羞的；B保守的，守舊的；C愚蠢的；D敏感的。根據(jù)劃線后面的句子“unable to adequately express her feelings, she first turned to music as a means of expression and, later in life, to writing”可知童年的阿加莎羞于表達自己的情感，劃線的bashful和shy的意思相近，故選A。

3.C 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段的第二句“and a series of romantic novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott”可知Mary Westmacott是阿加莎的筆名，故選C。

4.D 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段的“a retired Belgian police officer who was to become one of ......”可知A項表述符合文意；根據(jù)第三段的“meticulous (careful to do things correctly)”可B項表述符合文意；根據(jù)第三段的“a bit absurd”可知C項表述符合文意；D項表述文中沒有提及，故選D。

5.5】B 推理判斷題。通讀全文并結(jié)合最后一段的“In short, she is the single most popular mystery writer of all time.”可知阿加莎的偵探小說最受歡迎，故選B。

考點：考查人物傳記類短文閱讀