She was known to millions as the "Queen of Crime" or the "Duchess (女公爵) of Death". But surprisingly, she hated violence and blood, and knew nothing of the weapons most often used in murder. "I don't think I dare look at a really horrible and damaged body," Agatha Christie once said. But her pen dared to travel where her eyes would not. In a 50-year writing career, Christie's murder stories made her the world's best-known mystery writer. She is outsold only by the Bible (《圣经》) and Shakespeare.

Her works have been turned into films and TV series, and a line of computer games is set to be released over the next six years.

"My grandmother liked to use new ways to reach people who wanted to enjoy her work," said Christie's grandson, Mathew Prichard. "Turning her stories into PC games allows us to introduce classic mysteries to new audiences."

Born in 1890 in England, Christie was educated at home and began her writing career while working as a nurse during World War I. She went on to produce 79 novels and numerous (大量的) short stories, dying at the age of 86. "With her knowledge of murder, Christie could have been a teacher at police academies," said one fan.

Her first novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (《斯泰尔斯庄园奇案》), also introduced Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian (比利时的) police officer who starred in 30 of her works. Among the most popular are "Murder on the Orient Express" (《东方快车谋杀案》) (1934), and "Death on the Nile" (《尼罗河上的惨案》) (1937).

Poirot is a tidy little man with a funny-looking moustache, an egg-shaped head, and a high opinion of himself. He draws conclusions from observing the behavior of those around him, always managing to spot patterns that others cannot see. Poirot has become so famous that someone has even written his biography (传记), "The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot".

Starring in 17 novels, another Christie character, Miss Marple, is nearly as well known as Poirot. But while the Belgian uses his powers of observation, the old Miss Marple relies on her knowledge of human nature to solve crimes. As she once said, "Human nature is the same everywhere."

1. Agatha Christie was a ________ woman.

A. rich B. kind C. bold D. outstanding

2. Christie's murder stories ranked the ________ in sale amount.

A. second B. first C. third D. fourth

3. Christie's stories have been turned into ________ other forms.

A. two B. three C. four D. five

4. Christie's knowledge of murder was ________ .

A. poor B. rich C. limited D. poor

5. Poirot's success lies in his power of ________ while Miss Marple's success belongs to her knowledge of ________ .

A. observation； human nature

B. murder； imagination

C. imagination； murder

D. human nature； observation

(D)篇

1. D。归纳综合题，可用综合归纳法来解。认真阅读分析原文不难发现，Christie一生写了79部小说和大量短篇小说，当然是一个很出色的人。

2. C。推理判断题，可用逻辑推断法来解。由原文第一节末句可推出答案。

3. B。细节判断题，可用直接就题找文法来解。原文第二节体现答案。

4. B。推理判断题，可用逻辑推断法来解。由原文第四节"With her knowledge of murder, Christie could have been a teacher at police academies,"said one fan.可以推出答案。

5. A。细节判断题，可用直接就题找文法来解。原文末节But while the Belgian uses his powers of observation, the old Miss Marple relies on her knowledge of human nature to solve crimes. 体现答案。

LONDON —A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake (假冒的）bomb detectors (探测器) to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn’t cared about potentially deadly consequences.

It is believed that James McCormick got about $77. 8 million from the sales of his detectors — which were based on a kind of golf ball finder — to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.

McCormick, 57，was convicted (判罪) of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.

“Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people,’’ Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. “You have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt.”

The detectors, sold for up to $ 42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they “lacked any grounding in science” and were of no use.

McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya，the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.

“I never had any bad results from customers,” he said.

39. Why was McCormick sentenced to prison?

A. He sold bombs.                              B. He caused death of people.

C. He made detectors.                              D. He cheated in business.

40. According to the judge, what McCormick had done ________ .

A. increased the cost of safeguarding

B. lowered people’s guard against danger

C. changed people’s idea of social security

D. caused innocent people to commit crimes

41. Which of the following is true of the detectors?

A. They have not been sold to Africa.

B. They have caused many serious problems.

C. They can find dangerous objects in water.

D. They don't function on the basis of science.

42. It can be inferred from the passage that McCormick _________ .

A. sold the equipment at a low price

B. was well-known in most countries

C. did not think he had committed the crime

D. had not got such huge profit as mentioned in the text

【语篇解读】本文是一篇记叙文，题材是新闻报道。本文报道了一条卖假冒炸弹探测器的商人被判10年徒刑的新闻。

【解析】

39. D。细节理解题。难度：中等。问题是“为什么McCormick被判刑入狱”。根据问题中的关键词sentenced to prison定位原文第一段。第一段说到McCormick是一位商人，生产了假冒的炸弹探测器，这是一种商业欺骗。选项D和其对应，为正确答案。

40. B。细节理解题。难度：难。问题是“根据法官的说法，McCormick的所为导致了什么样的结果”。根据问题中的关键词according to the judge定位第四段的第一句：your cheating conduct … promoted a false sense of security and … contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people（你的欺骗行为提高了人们虚假的安全感并助推给无辜百姓带来死亡和伤害）。由此可见，McCormick的行为让人们有了安全感，但这种安全并不真实。B “降低了人们防范危险的安全意识”符合此意，为正确答案。

41. D。判断题。难度：难。问题是“下面哪种说法对探测仪来说是正确的”。

解题思路：根据问题中的关键词detectors，把四个选项具体对应到原文中一处。A对应文章倒数第二段的最后一句he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya，the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand。该句中的Kenya是非洲的肯尼亚，否定了A的说法。B对应第一段第一句“the man hadn’t cared about potentially deadly consequences”，法官只说罪犯没有关注潜在的致命后果，而不是已经导致严重的问题。C对应第五段的第一句话“were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air”提示，探测仪的功能只是据说，而不一定真的具备找到水中危险物品的功能。选项D定位第五段的最后一句“in fact they ‘lacked any grounding in science’ and were of no use可知，这种探测仪没有科学根据，也毫无用途，和D“没有科学根据的工作原理”相吻合，故最佳答案是D。

42. D。推理判断题。难度：中等。

解题思路：返回原文，将选项与原文一一进行比较。

本题主要考查第四段和第七段。A“以低价销售设备”与原文第四段第一句不符，因为该句提到法官指控McCormick通过卖一些无用的设备来巨额利润。B“在大多数国家很有名”与文中提到的区区几个国家和地区Iraq，Belgium，Saudi Arabia，Kenya，Hong Kong，Egypt和Thailand购买他的探测仪不符。C“认为他没有犯罪”和第七段对应，其中他所说的“I never had any bad results from customers”和C符合，Ｃ是正确答案。Ｄ“他没有赚取文中提到的那么大利润”在原文没有语言根据。

My husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn’t hate the true meaning of ___36___, but the commercial aspects (方面) of it. Knowing he felt this ____37__, I decided one year to__38__the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so on. I reached for something __39_just for Mike. The idea came in an unusual way.
　　 Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was____40__at the junior level at the school he attended and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match___41____a team sponsored（资助） by a church.
　　 These youngsters from the church, dressed in shoes so____42___that shoestrings(鞋带) seemed to be the only thing holding them together,___43_____our son’s team were in their beautiful new wrestling shoes.
　　 As the match began, I was___44___to see that the other team was wrestling without a helmet(头盔) designed to___45____a wrestler’s head. They clearly could not____46___ them. Well, our son’s team ended up defeating them and took every weight class. But as the other team ____47__up from the mat(垫子), they walked around with a sense of pride that couldn’t admit___48____.
　　 Mike, seated beside me, shook his head___49___, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential(潜力), but___50___like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved__51____and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball. That’s when the __52____for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and ___53____some wrestling helmets and shoes and sent them to the church.
　　 On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his____54___from me. His smile was the____55___ thing about Christmas that year.

“We’ve been good friends for so many years. And I don’t think you meant to do that ...” I said to myself， looking at Jack， my friend who was running across the 　36　  field.
How I wish I could join them！ But it was impossible because of the pain in my left foot， caused by Jack.
I first met Jack in a football match in the elementary school. When my team looked as if we were 　37　， Jack， who was watching， volunteered to join us. He was so confident and skilled that we won. From then on， Jack and I often played together and became best friends.
But something happened before an important football match between Class Six and my class. My class had so many good players that we had to 　38　  the best ones. Jack and I were in  the same  team. The match was close in the first half. I saw my chance and was ready to score a goal. Suddenly， Jack 　39　  me. He slid to stop the ball， but collided  with my left foot. I knew I had lost the chance to score and was 　40　  the field. But what really hurt me was that Jack didn’t say sorry.  And when some of my teammates said he did it on purpose to 　41　  me from scoring， I felt even 　42　.
Now I stand here， with tears in my eyes. I don’t want to 　43　  those words but I don’t know how to persuade myself they are 　44　 . Then everything changes when Jack scores and wins！ How excited I am！
While I am still 　45　  in excitement， someone pats my shoulder. It is Jack， with a smile on his face. “I’m sorry that you can not join in because of my 　46　  . But you see， Jason， we beat them！ No matter whether you joined in or not， you’ve made a contribution. Come on， let’s celebrate！” Suddenly， I am 　47　  by the players. The sunshine is so bright that I close my eyes. Riding high above my teammates， I feel so happy. And I know the  friendship  between Jack and me will last forever.

By the third year of teaching I’d begun to expect Christmas break more for the school holiday and less for the excitement of the children. I was teaching fourth grade and my students had made me   16  . I just had to get through one of the hardest days of the school year.
　　The morning bell rang. I walked   17  through the cold into the overly heated school building. Twenty-two smiling faces  18  me at the school bus stop. I forced myself to   19  their smiles. Back into the classroom, they   20 , comparing plans for the   21  . I had to remove one student from each arm   22  I could take a seat at my desk for my morning duties. Before I could find my roll book（点名册） my desk was covered with   23  and gifts followed by a   24  of “Merry Christmas” wishes.
　“Oh, thank you,” I must have  25  a million times. Each gift was truly special to me, except my   26  mood. It was kind of them to  27  me. After a while, I heard a small nervous   28  say my name. I looked up to see Brandon standing   29  by my desk, holding a small, round gift. “This is for you.”
　 “Thank you, Sweetheart.” I laid it on my desk with the others.
　“Um, could you   30  it now?”
　I gently tore at the paper and tape. “  31  ,” he said, “it’s breakable.” Slowly I opened a small, green Christmas tree ornament（装饰物）, complete with a hook already 32 . It dawned on me what he had done. Then a nearby student said that he just pulled that off his own tree. I tried to keep my   33  back.
　Later that day, I sat   34  the ornament in my hands. Was I really so important to this child that he had searched for something to give me? Now every year as I   35  pull a green Christmas ball from my ornament box, I remember the deep influence my students have on me.
【小题1】.

A．eagerly

B．aimlessly

C．gently

D．heavily