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。

单词拼写（共10小题；每小题   0.5分，满分5分）
【小题1】.Many people hoped to attend the Guangzhou Asian Games Opening C________?
【小题2】. It’s going to p          with rain. People in the street hurriedly run for shelters.
【小题3】. The Englishmen are d          that the 2012 Olympic Games will be held in London.
【小题4】. She is always o_____________, even when she has to face the failure in work and life.
【小题5】. Science and technology are c_______________ improving, so we must work hard to keep pace with the development. Otherwise, we may fall behind.
【小题6】. She doesn’t _____________(赞成)of my leaving school.
【小题7】.I cannot _______________(集中) on my work when I’m hungry.
【小题8】. Pictures of the suspect were _____________(公布)in all the daily papers.
【小题9】 My parents still __________________ (对待)me like a child.
【小题10】. I have been reliably __________________ (通知) that the couple will marry next year.

单词拼写（共10分）
【小题1】The shot which was i________for the president killed one of his soldiers.
【小题2】It is said that the governor is ill, but the news remains to be c_____.
【小题3】Thirty years have passed but I still remember the s ________ we got lost on a rainy night.
【小题4】The local people are now in charge of Hong Kong, which was once in the charge of The British for one and half a c______.
【小题5】I was about to leave the office w___an unexpected visitor came.
【小题6】With so much noises from the busy traffic in the street, I couldn’t s____down and do my work..
【小题7】The customs that the local people have are different from what we read about on the I________.
【小题8】They couldn’t agree with each other and finally a quarrel b____out between them .
【小题9】No one is sure w______ global warming can be solved in one hundred years.
【小题10】He was in d___ for a long time. How to support his family is a big problem.

If we were asked exactly what we were doing a year ago，we should probably have to say that we could not remember. But if we had kept a book and had written in it an account of what we did each day，we should be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history. Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them. Sometimes men did keep a record of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war．Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to write．For example，we know a good deal about the people who lived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them．But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa, because they had not learned to write．
Sometimes,of course，even if the people cannot write，they may know something of the past．They have heard about it from older people，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations .For most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past．This we may call ’remembered history’．Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us as written history is，because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing．But where there are no written records，such spoken stories are often very helpful．
【小题1】．We know very little about the central Africa 200 years ago because ___

单词考查 （共10小题，满分20分）
【小题1】He was found in ____________（拥有） of drugs and was accused.    
【小题2】To t_____________（改造）hills into fields is an extremely tough job. 
【小题3】It was a long journey, but we e____________ (最终) arrived at the small village before dark.
【小题4】He was b_______ from driving for three months owing to rushing red lights.
【小题5】The door opens and closes _____________（自动地）.
【小题6】Whatever you do, you’ve to take the possible c_____________.
【小题7】The rise in carbon dioxide is causing a s__________（持续）increase in global warming.
【小题8】Try to use e____________ friendly materials to consume less energy.
【小题9】There’s a lot of a__________（焦虑）among the staff about job losses.
【小题10】In autumn, the temperature in this city v_______ from 10c to 30c in a day.