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。

第一节(共5小题；每小题1.5分，满分7.5分)

    听下面5段对话。每段对话后有一道小题，从题中所给的三个选项A、B、C中选出最佳选项。听完每段对话后，你都有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话仅读一遍。

1.What does the man think of Andy?

     A. He is a nice guy.        B. He is ill-tempered            C. He is hard to please.

2.What does the woman want to watch?

     A. News                 B. "Sports World"              C. Movie

3.What do we know about the woman?

     A. She spends less than 60% for clothing and entertainment.

     B. She has a tight budget.

     C. She spends more than she earns.

4.How much money was stolen from the cashbox?

     A. Almost 50 million yuan.

     B. Almost 15 million yuan.

     C. Almost 5 million yuan.

5.What is the woman's parking space?

     A. D406                 B. D407                    C. P407

第二节(共15小题；每小题1.5分，满分22.5分)

    听下面5段对话或独白。每段对话或独白后有几个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。听每段对话或独白前，你将有时间阅读各个小题，每小题5秒钟；听完后，各小题将给出5秒钟的作答时间。每段对话或独白读两遍。

    听第6段材料，回答第6至8题。

6.What is the woman's grade?

     A. A senior               B. A junior                   C. A freshman

7.When will the woman graduate?

     A. This year              B. Next year                  C. The year after next

8.What is her major possibly?

     A. English               B. Computer science            C. Medicine

听第7段材料，回答第9至11题。

9.What is the office time according to the talk?

     A. 8:30                  B. 9:00                      C. 9:30

10.What's wrong with the man's phone?

     A. It was broken          B. It was power off            C. It was lost.

11.What is the possible relationship between the two?

     A. Colleagues            B. Boss and employee          C. Teacher and student

听第8段材料，回答第12至14题。

12.What is the man's suggestion for the woman to improve her English?

    A. Writing more          B. Reading more              C. Listening more

13.How can man get opportunities spoken English according to the man?

     A. Go aboard           B. Sit and wait                C. create opportunities oneself

14.What can we learn from the talk?

     A. Good things will come to us.

     B. Practice makes perfect.

     C. Only reading can help you learn English well,

听第9段材料，回答第15至17题。

15.What is the woman's room number?

     A. 405                    B. 504                    C. 540

16.What is the woman's problem?

     A. Her sink was blocked.

     B. She didn't get any hot water.

     C. Her TV set was broken.

17.Which statement of the following is NOT true according to the text?

     A. The woman didn't turn the handle all the way to the right.

     B. An engine will be sent to the woman's room.

     C. The woman is now having an appointment.

第三节(共3小题，每小题l.5分，满分4.5分)

听下面一段独白，用所听到的独白中的词或数填空，每空限填一个词或一个数。填入的内容要写在答题卡相应的位置上。在听本段独白前，你将有时间阅读各个小题，每小题5秒钟；听完后，各小题将给出5秒钟的作答时间。本段独白读两遍。

    听第10段材料，回答第18至20题。