Question

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 (半清醒狀態) 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 (癥狀). 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. (鉈中毒)"

"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 (殺蟲劑) 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

Answer 1

【小題1】B

【小題2】D

【小題3】A

【小題4】C

【小題5】A

解析:

【小題1】細節題。根據第二段最后提到的nurse asked to speak to them.

"Excuse me," said Nurse Marsha Maitlan, "but I think the baby is suffering from thallium poisoning. (鉈中毒)"可知，是B項是她提供的建議救了那個孩子。

【小題2】細節題。根據文章第二段Doctors were unable to find out the cause of her illness with confidence, so she was sent to Hammersmith Hospital in London.可知是因為無法確診孩子的疾病才送往倫敦的。

【小題3】細節理解題。根據文章開頭可知Agatha Christie一個偵探作家，本文發生的故事就和他筆下的一篇文章相似，是他救了孩子，確切的說是他寫的文章在這里被護士充分利用而拯救孩子的命。并且文章一開始已經交待a dead author，本故事發生時他已經死了，所以他永遠也不會看到過這個孩子。

【小題4】細節題。根據文章最后可知Later it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (殺蟲劑) used in Qatar.孩子的病跟殺蟲劑有關。

【小題5】推斷題。根據文章描述孩子的病情很嚴重，是半昏迷狀態，所以說不能確診立刻轉院，說明此種情況是緊急的。