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．
(1)
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
(2)
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
(3)
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
(4)
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
(5)
When the baby was sent to the hospital in London, her case was considered to be ________．
Once people called them “flying saucers”．Now they usually have a 1 name, UFOs－Unidentified Flying Objects．There are hundreds of 2 and some photographs of these spaceships from other worlds and the “ 3 ” in them．
On February 4th, 1977, fourteen boys at a school in 4 all saw a silver object, as big as a bus, with a red light on top．“We saw something come out of it．It had a helmet．We ran and told our 5 but when we came back it wasn’t there．”Afterwards, the teachers put the children into different rooms and asked each one to 6 a picture of the spaceship．All the drawings showed the same object．
Pauline Coombs also lived in Wales．In April 1977 she was in her car with her children when she saw a light in the sky．she said, “It was in front of us．It was no bigger than a football and it was yellow．The object came nearer to the car and 7 us．The children began to cry．Near the farm where we lived, the car suddenly 8 ．I jumped out with the children and we ran up the road．The thing still followed us．When I got in the house I was so 9 that I couldn’t speak．”
One evening about two weeks after this, Pauline and Billy Coombs were at home． 10 they saw a man outside the window．He was more than two metres tall and dressed in silver-coloured clothes．On his head he wore a silver 11 with black glass at the front．
“He came very near us, ”said Pauline．“Billy and I were so afraid that we couldn’t move．The television in the room was on but there was no 12 , only a lot of white lines．The man just watched us through the window and then 13 ．We telephoned the police but I don’t think they believed us．”
Some people say they have not only seen men from other worlds but also been inside a UFO．One of these is an English man, Horatio Penrose．Not long before 14 on 13th May 1954, he was in his car on the road between Derby and Burton, in England．
“A bright light came along the road to me, ”he said．“I had to stop very suddenly and I hit my head on the window．I cannot remember very well what happened to me next but something 15 the car and put it on the side of the UFO．It was up in the air over us．He took me into a room where there was a bright light．There were five people in the room．They looked like 16 men and women, although they were smaller．I had a deep 17 on my head and a girl began to help me．She was pretty and had a very white face．She did not 18 but I understood her thinking and she answered my questions before I asked them．There was not much time for us to “talk” because I soon 19 ．I woke up in my car．”
Has anyone ever found an empty UFO? The governments of many countries do not like to talk about this, but scientists in Spitsbergen in Norway think that they found a UFO．They said, “We thought at first that it was a Russian plane but now we are sure that it is not．We have never seen the 20 of this object anywhere before．In fact, we have no idea at all what it is．”
(1)
[ ]
A．
different
B．
particular
C．
special
D．
usual
(2)
[ ]
A．
words
B．
mysteries
C．
stories
D．
reports
(3)
[ ]
A．
creatures
B．
animals
C．
men
D．
scientists
(4)
[ ]
A．
London
B．
Scotland
C．
Ireland
D．
Wales
(5)
[ ]
A．
parents
B．
teachers
C．
classmates
D．
friends
(6)
[ ]
A．
tell
B．
say
C．
draw
D．
describe
(7)
[ ]
A．
followed
B．
caught
C．
frightened
D．
observed
(8)
[ ]
A．
disappeared
B．
sped up
C．
broke
D．
stopped
(9)
[ ]
A．
excited
B．
afraid
C．
puzzled
D．
anxious
(10)
[ ]
A．
Luckily
B．
Happily
C．
Suddenly
D．
Immediately
(11)
[ ]
A．
hat
B．
suit
C．
helmet
D．
coat
(12)
[ ]
A．
sound
B．
picture
C．
voice
D．
programme
(13)
[ ]
A．
came in
B．
went away
C．
flew away
D．
rushed away
(14)
[ ]
A．
noon
B．
midnight
C．
early morning
D．
late afternoon
(15)
[ ]
A．
jumped into
B．
broke up
C．
picked up
D．
pushed up
(16)
[ ]
A．
strong
B．
nice
C．
ordinary
D．
normal
(17)
[ ]
A．
ache
B．
cut
C．
hole
D．
wound
(18)
[ ]
A．
move
B．
talk
C．
shout
D．
stand
(19)
[ ]
A．
left it
B．
worked in
C．
went to sleep
D．
made friends with them
(20)
[ ]
A．
metal
B．
shape
C．
size
D．
light
完形填空
When Sir Winston Churchill, the great British Prime Minister, reached his eightieth birthday in November, 1954, he was presented with his portrait by a well-known modem artist, Graham Sutherland．The painting had been ordered and paid for to 1 the Grand Old Man of World WarⅡ．
Sir Winston and Lady Churchill were deeply moved by this 2 of respect and affection． 3 of them, of course, allowed the others to see how much they both disliked the portrait．“It makes me look 4 , which I am not!” protested Churchill in private(私下)． 5 , he only remarked that it was fine example of modern art．His friends smiled．It was known that the Churchills didn't 6 modern art．
Churchill was so unhappy about the portrait that finally his wife had it 7 ．Churchill died at ninety in 1965．Lady Churchill 8 him in 1977．Shortly after her death, the public learned what had happened to the 9 , and a heated argument broke out．The painter was 10 sad．The artist community, shocked and 11 , said that the destruction of the picture had been a crime(罪行)．Historians said that they regretted the disappearance of a(n) 12 document．All agreed that the Churchills didn't have the 13 to do what they had done．
Graham Sutherland had told Churchill that he would 14 him “as he saw him”．Churchill never had a chance to see the work in 15 since the painter 16 to show it to him．He found out only 17 he received his present that Sutherland had seen him 18 a heavy, sick, tired old man．Since he hated old age, he was naturally 19 ．
Who has the right to a work of art, the owner, the donor, or the artist who created it?Was the portrait a good one, as many(including the painter)said?Or was it bad as others thought?None of these questions have been answered yet to everybody’s 20 ．
阅读快车系列答案