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據(jù)《吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄大全》統(tǒng)計，她是人類史上最暢銷的小說作家；她被《紐約時報》稱為“神秘的第一夫人”，著作數(shù)量之豐僅次于莎士比亞，法國已故總統(tǒng)戴高樂、英國瑪麗王太后等都是她的“粉絲”；她被譽(yù)為“偵探小說女王”——她就是阿加莎·克里斯蒂。

During a conversation with her sister Madge, a young Agatha Christie mentioned that she wanted to try her hand at1. try one’s hand at: 嘗試做（從未做過的事），小試牛刀。writing her own detective novel. Madge replied “well I bet you couldn’t” and the rest is history.2. I bet: 我確信，我敢打賭；the rest is history: 其他的都眾所周知了。Or rather, the rest continues to live on today, Agatha Christie remains the world’s most published novelist of all time, and she’s only been topped by copies of The Bible and the plays of William Shakespeare.3. 更確切地說，后面的故事今天還在上演，阿加莎是世界上最暢銷的小說家，只有《圣經(jīng)》和威廉·莎士比亞的作品銷量在其之上。live on: 繼續(xù)存在，繼續(xù)活著；top: 超越，超過。

Reflecting on the sisterly conversation that led to the publication of 82 Agatha Christie books and hundreds of short stories, the queen of crime said “from that moment on I was fired by the determination that I should write a detective story” and so it all began.4. reflect on: 回憶； fire: 激起，使充滿熱情。

There are many facts about Agatha Christie that have been well documented, such as her Guinness Book of World Records status as the of ficial bestselling author to have ever lived, but who was the woman behind the mysteries?5. 阿加莎的事情許多都有據(jù)可查，例如她已經(jīng)作為人類史上最暢銷的作家被《吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄大全》收錄，然而這許多謎團(tuán)背后的女人到底是個什么人物？document: 記錄，記載；Guinness Book of World Records:《吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄大全》，1955年其第一版裝訂成書，當(dāng)年圣誕節(jié)前即榮登英國暢銷書榜首，迄今《吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄大全》已翻譯成37種語言，在全球一百多個國家累計銷量已達(dá)一億冊；bestselling: 暢銷的，搶手的。How did she see the world? And what inspired characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple whose names became synonymous with her own?6. inspire: 啟發(fā)，使產(chǎn)生靈感；Hercule Poirot:赫爾克里·波洛，阿加莎筆下的比利時籍偵探，主要出場作品有《羅杰疑案》、《東方快車謀殺案》、《尼羅河上的慘案》等；Miss Marple: 馬普爾小姐，阿加莎小說中的鄉(xiāng)村偵探，阿加莎筆下的第二號偵探，終身未婚，有人說她是個“奇怪的老姑娘”、“有點(diǎn)兒神經(jīng)質(zhì)”，但破獲了不少疑案，人們又對她十分欽佩；synonymous with: 同義的，有緊密聯(lián)系的。

南德文郡風(fēng)景

What Inspired Agatha Christie?

There’s only one place to start if you want to understand what inspired Agatha Christie’s books and plays and that’s in the very picturesque South Devon.7. picturesque: 風(fēng)景如畫的；South Devon: 南德文郡，德文郡有很多海岸度假區(qū)及一些歷史古城，氣候溫和，旅游業(yè)在其經(jīng)濟(jì)中占重要地位。Agatha was born in Torquay8. Torquay: 托基，英格蘭西南部原德文郡南部城市，1968年與托貝合并，是著名的沖浪圣地。in 1890, and although she moved to London in 1918 the Torquay area of Devon remained her favourite part of the world.

Agatha and her husband Max bought Greenway House in nearby Galmpton in 1938 and the pair spent their summers on the estate for the rest of their lives.9. Greenway House: 綠廊之家，阿加莎的假日休閑別墅；estate: 莊園，地產(chǎn)。By the way, the couple’s grandson donated Greenway House to the National Trust,complete with all of their belongings,10. donate: 捐贈，贈送；National Trust: 國民托管組織，是英國一個獨(dú)立于政府的、旨在保護(hù)名勝古跡的私人組織；belongings: 所有物，財物。and it welcomes thousands of Agatha Christie fans every year.

There’s barely a Torquay landmark or beauty spot that hasn’t found itself the scene of a fictional crime or part of a plot at the hands of the town’s most famous export, and although Agatha gave them different names she always made it perfectly clear just which location had inspired a setting.11. 托基的地標(biāo)或風(fēng)景區(qū)幾乎都可以在該鎮(zhèn)最著名的作家筆下的罪行或情節(jié)中找到。雖然阿加莎賦予了它們不同的名字，但是她總是很明確地暗示出故事發(fā)生地點(diǎn)的原型。landmark: 地標(biāo)；beauty spot: 風(fēng)景區(qū)； fictional: 虛構(gòu)的，小說的；setting:（事件發(fā)生的）背景，地點(diǎn)。

The Majestic Hotel featured in Peril at End House is in fact The Imperial Hotel that to this day remains a familiar sight on the Torquay coastline.12. feature: 起主要作用，作重要角色；Peril at End House: 《懸崖山莊奇案》，阿加莎的著名小說；sight: 名勝，風(fēng)景。Another famous example is Hampsly Cavern in The Man in the Brown Suit, which could only be based on Torquay’s prehistoric set of caves—actually called Kents Cavern.13. The Man in the Brown Suit:《褐衣男子》，是阿加莎唯一一次以生活里的人物為原型創(chuàng)作的一部作品，且為應(yīng)一位朋友的要求而作；prehistoric: 史前的，陳舊的。In some cases the names remained the same, and few Agatha Christie readers have arrived at Torquay Station without noting that Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot almost (but of course only almost!) met whilst in disguise at this quaint location.14. 有些小說里的名字保留了真實地名，因而很多阿加莎·克里斯蒂的讀者到達(dá)托基車站后，總會感覺喬裝了的馬普爾小姐和赫爾克里·波洛似乎（當(dāng)然只是似乎）會在這奇妙的地方相遇。whilst: 同時，同“while”；in disguise: 喬裝，偽裝；quaint: 離奇有趣的，古香古色的。

It wasn’t only her own past that ignited Agatha’s imagination though, as many of her novels reference her passion for archaeology and travel.15. ignite: 激起，點(diǎn)燃；reference: 提及，談到；archaeology: 考古學(xué)。Agatha’s Max was a leading archaeologist of the time—eventually knighted16. knight: 封……為爵士。for his work—and Agatha first met him when she visited Ur (now Iraq). The excavations captured Agatha’s imagination and she was a common sight on the trips to Syria and Iraq that forged her husband’s name.17. excavation: 發(fā)掘，挖掘（古物等）；capture: 吸引，激發(fā)；forge: 努力實現(xiàn)；name: 名聲，聲譽(yù)。

Greenway House is adorned with artefacts from the famous couple’s travels, and the many journeys formed the basis for their share of Agatha Christie books too.18. adorn: 裝飾，修飾；artefact:（尤指有歷史或文化價值的）手工藝品；share: 共享。Murder on the Orient Express was penned in an Istanbul hotel room, and Death on the Nile was largely the fruit of Agatha’s experiences abroad.19. Murder on the Orient Express:《東方快車謀殺案》； pen: 寫，書寫；Death on the Nile:《尼羅河上的慘案》。

Agatha and Max spent many years in London, and the capital shows its face in many a20. many a: 許多的。novel and play. After arriving in London, Poirot moves into Farraway Street and later Whitehaven Mansions in upmarket Mayfair,although the later television series was recorded at Florin Court because of its fitting 1930s architecture.21. upmarket: 高檔的，高端的；Mayfair: 梅菲爾區(qū)，倫敦上流住宅區(qū)； fit: 使適合，使與……相符。

Agatha lived in nine different houses during her time in London, but fans wishing to see one of them whilst in the city would be best to visit 58 Sheffield Terrace in W8 as it’s marked with a blue plaque on the outside, perhaps because it had a room dedicated to writing her work.22. mark: 標(biāo)記，做記號；plague: 匾額；dedicate to: 獻(xiàn)（身）于……，把（時間、精力等）用于……。