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Almost no one can resist a good mystery novel or detective novel, so these novels sell thousands of copies each year. And many readers regard famous mystery author Agatha Christie as Queen of Crime, whose stories are known for their tense atmosphere and strong psychological suspense and have a great effect on the English mystery novels.
Christie was born in September 1890 in England. When she was growing up, her mother often told her stories. Christie loved these stories, which took her into a world of fantasy. Christie’s mother also encouraged her to write from a young age and also took her to travel a lot.
She married Archie Christie in 1914 at the beginning of World War Ⅰ. During the war, Christie wrote her first detective story: The Mysterious Affair at Styles. She chose the crime, and then invented a detective named Hercule Poirot, ranking second to Sherlock Holmes, to solve it. She sent the book to a publisher, but it was rejected.
After the war ended, Christie sent her book to more publishers, and finally, in 1920, one published it. She earned just $25 for it. Over the next few years, Christie wrote more books and short stories, gaining experience as a writer. In spite of her literary success, life was not going well at home. In 1928, Archie and Agatha got a divorce(离婚). A short time later, she met a young archaeologist, Max Mallowan. After getting married in 1930, they began to spend some time each year in the Middle East, which provided settings for some of Christie’s novels, such as Murder at the Vicarage(1930), Murder on the Orient Express (1934)and Death on the Nile(1939).
Christie continued writing for the rest of her life. When she died in January 1976, readers around the world mourned(哀悼)her death. But her tales of mystery continue to be loved by new generations of readers. They’ve been translated into hundreds of languages and are selling well today and outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare in Britain.
1.As a whole, this text .
A.is a biography of Agatha Christie
B. promotes Agatha Christie’s novels
C. explains how Agatha Christie became a writer
D.is a review of Agatha Christie’s novels
2.What do we know about Hercule Poirot?
A. He was better known than Sherlock Holmes.
B. He made Christie become famous.
C. He was good at catching criminals.
D. He was the only main character in the novel.
3.From the underlined part "outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare in Britain", we can learn that .
A. the Bible helps her works to sell in Britain
B. the sales of her works rank third in Britain
C. the works of Shakespeare don’t sell better than hers in Britain
D. they sell well equally in Britain
4.Which is the right order for what Agatha Christie experienced?
①She had her first detective novel published.
②She finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
③Her mother encouraged her to write.
④Her marriage to Archie ended in divorce.
⑤She wrote Murder on the Orient Express.
A.③②④①⑤ B.③①②⑤④
C.②①③⑤④ D.③②①④⑤
