B
Agatha Christie was born in Devon, England in 1890. As a shy child, she was taught by teachers at home and unable to properly express her feelings. So she turned to music as a way of expression and, later in life, to writing.
In 1914, at the age of 24, she married Archie Christie, a World War I fighter pilot. While he was off at war, she worked as a nurse. It was while working in a hospital during the war that Christie first came up with the idea of writing a detective novel. Although it was completed in a year, it wasn't published until 1920, five years later.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles gave the world the impressive Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer who was to become one of the most important and popular characters in all fiction. He was a tidy little man, always careful, orderly and a bit funny.
Christie wrote more than 30 novels with Poirot as the main character. Among the most popular were The Murder of Roger Ackroyd(1926), Murder on the Orient Express (1934) and Death on the Nile(1937).
Another of Christie's most well-known characters was introduced in Murder at the Vicarage in 1930. Miss Jane Marple, an elderly single in the old-fashioned English village of St. Mary Mead, solved all kinds of mysteries with full attention and a sharp sense of feeling.
Christie finally became the accepted Queen of the Golden Age. In all, she wrote over 66 novels, countless short stories and screenplays, and a series of romantic novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott. Several of her works were made into successful films, the most famous being Murder on the Orient Express(1974). In short, she is the single most popular mystery writer of all time. In 1971 she was awarded the high honour of becoming a Dame(女爵士) of Britain.
() 5. When was Agatha Christie's first detective novel completed?
A. In 1914. B. In 1915.
C. In 1920. D. In 1925.
() 6. Which of the following is the CORRECT order in which the events happened?
a. The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published.
b. Agatha became a Dame of Britain.
c. Death on the Nile was published.
d. Murder on the Orient Express was filmed.
A. a-c-d-b B. a-c-b-d C. d-a-c-b D. d-a-b-c
() 7. What does the writer use "66", "countless" and "a series of" to show?
A. Agatha Christie was a detective novel writer.
B. It was a good choice for Agatha to turn to music.
C. Agatha Christie wrote quite a lot of works in all.
D. Agatha was full of attention and had a sharp sense of feeling.
() 8. Which of the following can be the writer's opinion according to the passage?
A. A shy girl should be taught by teachers at home.
B. It was wrong of Agatha to give up music and turn to writing.
C. All of Agatha's works were made into films successfully.
D. Agatha Christie is a popular writer not only in the 1900s.