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。

完形填空：

阅读下面短文， 掌握其大意， 然后从1～25各题所给的四个选项中， 选出一个最佳答案．

(A)

　Everyone told me to make my travel preparations early， but I thought I had plenty of time． I had no idea how much there was to do and I waited too long before I began getting ready．

　First， I had to apply for a passport (护照) and visa (签证) because I was going to 　1　I had to get several inoculations (预防注射) at 2 office． Then I needed to drop by the bank and get some traveler's checks．(支票)

　　3　， there were many things 　4　at home． I had the phone disconnected (断开) and the dog 　5　the kennels (窝)， but I almost forgot to have the milk and newspaper deliveries stopped． The postman had to remind me to leave my forwarding address at 　6　office． I know it would have slipped my mind if he hadn't mentioned it．

　The day I was supposed to leave． I realized I still hadn't received my passport and visa． I simply couldn't believe the time 　7　to quickly． I was really afraid I would be left behind．

　Fortunately， the mail was delivered early and my passport arrived． 　8　I got to the airport， they were already calling my flight． I just barely had time to make it． As soon as I sat down 　9　， I remembered that I hadn't taken my camera， but it was too late to worry about that． I would have to buy another one if I wanted to take pictures．

　I did have a wonderful time during this trip, but the next time I plan to travel, I'm going to be sure to start preparing 　10　to avoid all the last minute problems．

(B)

　Rice was original (原来) a plant that only grew in warm areas． There was 　11　when it was considered to be very valuable food in cold areas． Now ice 　12　， and grows not only in warm areas but also in cold areas． Rice is one of 　13　foods of the human being． There are three groups of rice eaters in the world． The biggest group is that of those who 　14　rice． Most of them live in the Far East． These people number more than 1, 000 million—about one third of the world population． They usually grow their own rice． To them rice is even more important than wheat is 　15　of Europe and North America． China is the biggest of all the countries 　16　people live on rice． Well over 400 million of the Chinese are riceeaters． So are most of 　17　living in the Far East． They number more than 600 million． The next group is 　18　people who eat rice from time to time． They live in the towns and cities of West Africa, parts of Latin America，and Asia． To the third group 　19　the people who live in countries in Europe and North America, there rice is eaten only as a special dish． 　20　rice have grains that are from 1/5 to 2/5 of an inch long． Many people like the long grain rice better, and so its price is 21 than that of the short grain rice in the world market． Rice is often polished (磨光) before cooking so food may 　22　． But it loses much of its vitamins (维生素) through polishing． How to make 　23　richer is a very useful subject of study．

　People began to 　24　this problem in the early part of the twentieth century， when some scientists thought of adding vitamins to rice． 　25　we now have what is called “enriched rice” (营养米)．

For a 400-year-old art form, opera had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which were hard to understand in one of those romance languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as ＄ 145 a performance, opera goers also had a certain appearance in people’s mind: rich, well-dressed and old.

But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to keep opera alive and take it to a younger and not so wealthy audience.

Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to associate opera with common people. That means no formal suits, old-style theatre or bank breaking ticket prices. And because young people don’t or won’t come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such usual places as parks, libraries and public schools.

The Houston Grand Opera’s choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas”, shortened version of child-friendly operas. This summer’s production is Hansel ￡Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists’ Training Program.

72. Which of the following is the main idea of this passage?

A.　 Opera is famous for is history.　　　　　　　

B Opera is only for rich people.

C. Opera companies are trying to keep operas alive.

D. Young people are not interested in operas.

73．The underlined part in Paragraph 2 most probably means ________.

A. breaking up the old rules　　　　　 B. changing the dresses

C. making the audience at ease　　　　 D. advertising themselves

74. The San Francisco Opera employs young students in order to ________.

A. attract young people　　　　　　　　 B. reduce the cost

C. celebrate its 75^th anniversary　　　　　 D. make Cinderella popular

75．What can you infer from the passage?

A.　 The tickets for opera are very expensive at present.

B.　 Opera is performed in a language difficult to understand.

C.　 Opera is not so popular an art form today.

D.　 Students enjoy performing operas very much.

III 阅读（共两节，满分40分）

第一节 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Advertising in America offers some great advantages to consumers. For example, in order to keep prices low through mass production, companies must have a mass market for their products. Mass advertising creates mass markets. Producers cannot afford to develop new products, put them on the market and wait for customers to discover them. This would take too long. Demand for some products must be created. This is done through advertising.

　　But advertising sometimes makes it difficult for consumers to make wise decisions. The fact is that when people are constantly flooded with messages through the mass media persuading them to buy particular products, many respond by buying them.

　　Advertising is designed to influence an individual to buy a product. Sellers often study human behavior to discover what will convince consumers to buy a certain item. This reason for buying is called a buying motive.

　　Buying motives are usually broken down into two categories: rational and emotional. Rational buying motives include the desire to save money, the desire for comfort, or the desire for good workmanship. Emotional buying motives include buying out of fear, wanting to be liked, and wanting to have something better than your friends have.

　　Emotional appeals are found in most consumer advertising today. Certain cars promise to make the driver feel "younger" and " freer". Shoes promise to make the buyer's whole life "springier". Life insurance policies promise to take the "care out of living".

　　Most consumers believe that they are not easily influenced by emotional appeals. However, corporations that sell consumer products obviously think differently. They spend many millions of dollars every day on radio, television, newspaper and magazine ads that use these appeals.　　

1. It can be inferred from the passage that one of the advantages of advertising for consumers is that ________.

A. it can create a big demand for consumer goods

B. the mass market created by it leads to low prices

　C. producers can introduce new products to consumers

　D. it helps consumers discover new products

2. Consumers sometimes find it difficult to make a sensible decision when buying a particular product     because __________ .

　A. many advertisements are too difficult for them to understand

　B. they are afraid to be taken in by dishonest advertisements

　C. mass advertising offers them a range of good and cheap products

　D. they are confused by the quantity of advertisements promoting it

3. According to the passage, a toothpaste ad promising that people who use the product will make a lot of friends is an example of an ad that appeals to __________ .

　A. rational buying motives                              B. the consumer's commonsense

　C. emotional buying motives                         　D. the desire for a good product

4. The reason why companies spend enormous amounts of money on advertising is that ________ .

　A. they believe people can be influenced to buy a certain produce

B. it takes a lot of advertising to convince people to buy a certain product

　C. most consumers are not easily influenced by emotional appeals

　D. advertising based on emotional appeals are very effective

5. The best title for this passage would be ________ .

　A. Advertising can create demand                  　B. The advantages of advertising

　C. What effective advertising can do              　D. The role of advertising in selling products

III 阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Advertising in America offers some great advantages to consumers. For example, in order to keep prices low through mass production, companies must have a mass market for their products. Mass advertising creates mass markets. Producers cannot afford to develop new products, put them on the market and wait for customers to discover them. This would take too long. Demand for some products must be created. This is done through advertising.
　　But advertising sometimes makes it difficult for consumers to make wise decisions. The fact is that when people are constantly flooded with messages through the mass media persuading them to buy particular products, many respond by buying them.
　　Advertising is designed to influence an individual to buy a product. Sellers often study human behavior to discover what will convince consumers to buy a certain item. This reason for buying is called a buying motive.
　　Buying motives are usually broken down into two categories: rational and emotional. Rational buying motives include the desire to save money, the desire for comfort, or the desire for good workmanship. Emotional buying motives include buying out of fear, wanting to be liked, and wanting to have something better than your friends have.
　　Emotional appeals are found in most consumer advertising today. Certain cars promise to make the driver feel "younger" and " freer". Shoes promise to make the buyer's whole life "springier". Life insurance policies promise to take the "care out of living".
　　Most consumers believe that they are not easily influenced by emotional appeals. However, corporations that sell consumer products obviously think differently. They spend many millions of dollars every day on radio, television, newspaper and magazine ads that use these appeals.　　
1. It can be inferred from the passage that one of the advantages of advertising for consumers is that ________.
A. it can create a big demand for consumer goods
B. the mass market created by it leads to low prices
　C. producers can introduce new products to consumers
　D. it helps consumers discover new products
2. Consumers sometimes find it difficult to make a sensible decision when buying a particular product     because __________ .
　A. many advertisements are too difficult for them to understand
　B. they are afraid to be taken in by dishonest advertisements
　C. mass advertising offers them a range of good and cheap products
　D. they are confused by the quantity of advertisements promoting it
3. According to the passage, a toothpaste ad promising that people who use the product will make a lot of friends is an example of an ad that appeals to __________ .
　A. rational buying motives                              B. the consumer's commonsense
　C. emotional buying motives                         　D. the desire for a good product
4. The reason why companies spend enormous amounts of money on advertising is that ________ .
　A. they believe people can be influenced to buy a certain produce
B. it takes a lot of advertising to convince people to buy a certain product
　C. most consumers are not easily influenced by emotional appeals
　D. advertising based on emotional appeals are very effective
5. The best title for this passage would be ________ .
　A. Advertising can create demand                  　B. The advantages of advertising
　C. What effective advertising can do              　D. The role of advertising in selling products