In 1977, a dead author of detective stories saved the life of a 19-month-old baby in a most unusual way. The author was Agatha Christie, one of the most successful writers of detective stories in the world.

In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Qatar, near Saudi Arabia. Doctors were unable to find out the cause of her illness with confidence, so she was sent to Hammersmith Hospital in London. She was then only semi-conscious (半清醒状态) and on the "Dangerously Ill" list. A team of doctors hurried to examine the baby only to discover that they, too, were confused by the very unusual symptoms (症状). While they were discussing the baby's case, a nurse asked to speak to them.

"Excuse me," said Nurse Marsha Maitlan, "but I think the baby is suffering from thallium poisoning. (铊中毒)"

"What makes you think that?" Dr. Brown asked. "Thallium poisoning is extremely rare."

"A few days ago, I was reading a novel called A Pale Horse by Agatha Christie," Nurse Maitlan explained. "In the book, somebody uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are described. They're exactly the same as the baby's."

"You're very thoughtful and you may be right," another doctor said. "We'll carry out some tests and find out whether it's thallium or not."

Tests showed that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium, a rare metallic substance used in making special glass. Once they knew the cause of the illness, the doctors were able to give the baby the correct treatment. She soon recovered and was sent back to Qatar. Later it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (杀虫剂) used in Qatar.

The one who first suggested the correct cause of the baby's illness was _____.

A. a doctor in Qatar               B. Nurse Maitlan

C. Dr. Brown                    D. Agatha Christie

The baby was sent to London because _____.

A. she was born there

B. the hospitals in Qatar were full at that time

C. she was the daughter of a doctor in London

D. the Qatar doctors were not sure whether they could cure her

As far as we can tell from the passage, Agatha Christie _____.

A. had never met this baby

B. had spent a long time studying the baby's case

C. visited the baby in the hospital at Hammersmith

D. gave Nurse Maitlan some advice on the phone

It seems likely from the passage that the baby's illness had something to do with _____.

A. a dangerous pair of glasses

B. the water in Qatar

C. a harmful substance used to kill insects

D. a dead writer

When the baby was sent to the hospital in London, her case was considered to be _____.

A. an urgent one               B. quite a simple one

C. a usual one                 D. the result of thallium poisoning

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's stomach.
In time, the labor pains come. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With alarm in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days go by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric (儿科的) specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.”
Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby, but now they plan a funeral. Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.
She dresses him in an oversized suit and marches him into ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and shouts, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed. Never disturb patients here.” The mother rises up strongly and said," He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"
Karen leads Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray…" Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate begins to calm down and becomes steady.
“Keep on singing, Michael.”encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."
The next day, the very next day, the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song". The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of Gods love!
Never give up on the people you love.
【小题1】What may the underlined words "the infant" refer to?

第一节 完形填空 (共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分)

    阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21—30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

    Tales of the supernatural are common in all parts of Britain. In particular, there was (and perhaps still is) a belief in fairies(仙女). Not all of these   1   are the friendly, people-loving characters that appear in Disney films, and in some folktales they are   2   and cause much human suffering. This is true in the tales about the Changeling. These tell the story of a mother whose baby grows   3   and pale and has changed so much that it is almost   4   to the parents. It was then   5   that the fairies had come and stolen the baby away and   6   the human baby with a fairy Changeling. There were many ways to prevent this from happening: hanging a knife over the baby’s head while he slept or covering him with some of his father’s clothes were just two of the recommended   7  . However, hope was not lost even if the baby had been   8  . In those cases there was often a way to get the   9   baby back. You could   10 

the Changeling on the fire--then it would rise up the chimney, and you would hear the sound of fairies’ laughter and soon after you would find your own child safe and sound nearby.

A. babies                B. believers               C. fairies                     D. supermen

A. powerful    B. cruel                     C. frightened                D. extraordinary

A. sick             B. slim                      C. short                       D. small

A. uncomfortable      B. unbelievable          C. unacceptable            D. unrecognizable

A. feared                B. predicted               C. heard                             D. reported

A. covered              B. changed                C. replaced                  D. terrified

A. cases                  B. tools                     C. steps                        D. methods

A. missed                B. stolen                    C. found                      D. lost

A.1ittle            B. pale                      C. sad                          D. real

A. seize                 B. burn                     C. place                       D. hold

In Scandinavian countries it is common ____ for the husband to stay at home to look after the baby.

 A. use     B. sense     C. practice     D. idea

根据内容提示完成句子（共5小题；每小题1分，满分5分。不少于3个词，不超过5个词。）

1.To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners __________(被营救)the coal mines there.

2.__________(埋头工作) for so many years，the scientist succeeded at last.

3.I knew it would help us _____________(实现我们的梦想)making black and white people equal. 

4.She started singing to the baby and was__________(报以微笑). 

5.When he heard about the bad news he _________(大哭起来).