Question

【题目】 Agatha Christie was one of the greatest British crime writers. She introduced the public to her literary character, the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot in her crime novel in 1920. In total she wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, a billion copies of which have been sold in English. Her books have been translated into many different languages ,including Chinese.

Each story she wrote involved a mystery that had to be solved, but perhaps the greatest mystery is where she went for those 11 days. At the time of the disappearance in 1926, she was 36 years old and married to Archibald Christie. Her mother had died in the beginning of that year and her husband had left her alone to deal with her mother’s death. So she was very lonely and it seemed as if she might not be coping well emotionally.

In the middle of that year, her latest book was published and the book reviews loved it! Unluckily, soon after her book was published, her husband told her he was having an affair with a young woman and was going away for the weekend to be with her. On Friday, the 3rd of December 1926, Agatha Christie kissed her daughter who was asleep upstairs and drove away from the house. Her car was later found abandoned(被遗弃的) on an empty road near a lake and so people began the search for the talented writer. It was 11days later before someone recognized Agatha at a spa hotel in Harrogate. She had been living there using another name all that time. On her return, she never said much about what had happened.

Over the years, many people guessed why she disappeared. Some people said that she was upset with her husband and lost her memory as he was having an affair. A few people even thought that it was a publicity(宣传) trick to make sure that her newly-published book would sell well.

To this day no one knows for sure what happened and why. While books and even a movie have been made about the mysterious 11 days, it would seem that even the great detective Hercule Poirot would not be able to solve this mystery!

【1】Who was Hercule Poirot?

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【2】What factor do we know that Agatha’s books have been known to the world?

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【3】Why did Agatha feel lonely in the beginning of 1926?

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【4】What was the date when Agatha drove away from her home?

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【5】People didn’t recognize Agatha when she had been at a spa hotel for 11days , did they?

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【6】Do you think Agatha’s missing was a publicity trick? Give your reason(s)!

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Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A famous Belgian detective

【2】Her books have been translated into many different languages.

【3】Because her mother had died in the beginning of that year and her husband had left her alone to deal with her mother’s death.

【4】3rd of December 1926

【5】No, they didn’t

【6】答案不唯一

【解析】

阿加莎克里斯蒂是一个著名的犯罪小说家，她写的很多作品在全世界都非常受欢迎。而在她的生活中，她曾神秘失踪过11天，谁也不知道这11天到底发生了什么，这是一个谜。

【1】根据第一段中She introduced the public to her literary character, the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot in her crime novel in 1920.可知，Hercule Poirot是一个著名的比利时的侦探。故回答A famous Belgian detective。

【2】根据短文第一段Her books have been translated into many different languages ,including Chinese.可知，阿加莎克里斯蒂的书被翻译成了很多种语言，包括汉语。所以她的书在世界上都很出名。

【3】根据短文第二段Her mother had died in the beginning of that year and her husband had left her alone to deal with her mother’s death. So she was very lonely可知，在1926年的年初她的母亲去世了，而她的丈夫让她一个人面对这个事实，所以阿加莎感到很孤独。由此可知答案。

【4】根据短文第三段On Friday, the 3rd of December 1926, Agatha Christie kissed her daughter who was asleep upstairs and drove away from the house可知，在1926年12月3日星期五的这一天，阿加莎开车离开了家。

【5】根据短文第三段中It was 11days later before someone recognized Agatha at a spa hotel in Harrogate.可知，在阿加莎在Harrogate酒店待了11天之后，才有人认出她。因此这里应回答No, they didn’t. 意为“是的，他们没有（认出阿加莎）。”

【6】I don’t think so. I think Agatha Christie was very famous. There were no need for her to do that.我不这样认为，我认为Agatha Christie已经非常出名了，没有必要那样做。

这篇短文讲述的是著名的犯罪小说家阿加莎克里斯蒂，在她的生活中，她曾神秘失踪了11天，没有人知道为什么。短文内容比较容易理解，题型是回答问题，考查的都是对文章细节的理解。做题时，应先通读短文，了解大意；然后阅读题目，根据题目所问，锁定相关段落或语句进行作答。例如第3小题，题目问的是Agatha感到孤独的原因，以lonely为关键词，我们可以定位到短文第二段，根据Her mother had died in the beginning of that year and her husband had left her alone to deal with her mother’s death. So she was very lonely可知答案。