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  1    the cause of her illness，so she  2  to London and admitted to Hammersmith Hospital，where specialist help was  3  ．She was then only half-conscious（半昏迷）and on the“Dangerously Ill”list．A team of doctors hurried to  4    the baby only to discover that they，5  ，were puzzled by the very unusual symptoms．While they were discussing the baby’s case，a nurse asked to  6   to them.

    “Excuse me，”said Nurse Marsha Maitland，“   7   I think the baby is  8  from thallium poisoning．”

    “  9  makes you think that?”Dr．Brown asked．“Thallium poisoning is extremely  10  ．”

    “A few days ago，I was reading a novel called A Pale Horse    11   Agatha Christie，”Nurse Maitland explained．“In the book，somebody uses thallium poison，and  12   the symptoms are   13  ．They are exactly the same as the baby’s．”

    “You’re every observant and you may be right，”another doctor said．“We’ll  14   some tests and find out  15  it’s thallium or not．”

      The  16  showed that the baby had  17  been poisoned by thallium，a rare metal used in making optical（光学的）glass．   18  they knew the cause of illness, the doctors were able to give the correct treatment．The baby soon 19    and was sent back to Qatar．1nquiries（调查）showed that the poison  20 from an insecticide（杀虫剂）used in Qatar．

1．A．describe              B．diagnose           C．discover             D．discuss

2．A．flew                  B．sent                 C．went                  D．was flown

3．A．inexpensive          B．important          C．available          D．impossible

4．A．examine             B．see                   C．look after            D．cure

5．A．too                    B．either               C．often                  D．never

6．A．refer                  B．turn                 C．speak                  D．belong

7．A．and                    B．so                    C．as                      D．but

8．A．coming              B．suffering          C．tired                   D．dying

9．A．Who                  B．How                C．What                  D．Which

10．A．rare                 B．serious             C．clear                  D．dangerous

11．A．in                     B．on                    C．by                      D．about

12．A．all                    B．some of            C．one of                 D．both

13．A．drawn              B．broadcast         C．announced          D．described

14．A．make up           B．carry out          C．get through         D．deal with

15．A．that                  B．how                 C．what                  D．whether

16．A．words              B．tests                 C．examination        D．book

17．A．indeed              B．actually            C．probably             D．never

18．A．As long as        B．As far as          C．Once                  D．If

19．A．died                 B．got injured        C．recovered           D．got ill

20．A．must come         B．should come       C．might have come  D．can’t have come