A
Holmes had taken out his watch, and as minute followed minute without result, an expression of the utmost annoyance and disappointment appeared upon his features. He bit his lip, drummed his fingers upon the table, and showed every other symptom of acute intolerance.
So great was his emotion that I felt sincerely sorry for him, while the two detectives smiled derisively (嘲弄地), by no means displeased at this check which he had met.
“It can't be a coincidence,” he cried, at last springing from his chair and pacing wildly up and down the room. “It is impossible that it should be a mere coincidence. The very pills which I suspected in the case of Drebber are actually found after the death of Stangerson. And yet they are inert (惰性的). What can it mean? Surely my whole chain of reasoning cannot have been false. It is impossible! And yet this wretched dog is none the worse. Ah, I have it! I have it!” With a perfect shriek of delight he rushed to the box, cut the other pill in two, dissolved it, added milk, and presented it to the terrier (梗犬). The unfortunate creature's tongue seemed hardly to have been moistened in it before it gave a convulsive shiver in every limb, and lay as rigid and lifeless as if it had been struck by lightning.
Sherlock Holmes drew a long breath, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.“I should have more faith,”he said,“I ought to know by this time that when a fact appears to be opposed to a long train of deductions, it uncertainly proves to be capable of bearing some other interpretation. Of the two pills in that box, one was of the most deadly poison, and the other was entirely harmless. I ought to have known that before ever I saw the box at all.”
This last statement appeared to me to be so startling that I could hardly believe that he was in his sober senses. There was the dead dog, however, to prove that his conjecture (推测) had been correct. It seemed to me that the mists in my own mind were gradually clearing away, and I began to have a dim, vague perception of the truth.
21. Judging by Holmes’ facial expressions from the first paragraph, he appeared to be _______.
A. impatient B. worried
C. amazed D. satisfied
22. When are the very pills actually found according to the third paragraph?
A. On arriving on the spot. B. When testing the dog.
C. After the death of Stangerson. D. After Holmes’ thinking for so long.
23. How did Holmes prove his own conjecture from the third and fourth paragraphs?
A. By taking the pills. B. By sending for others to test the pills.
C. By testing himself. D. By doing the experiment with the dog.
【答案】21. A 22. C 23. D
【解析】
【分析】这是一篇小说节选。文章讲述了Holmes用猎犬来做实验从而证明自己的猜想的小说片段。
【详解】1.推理判断题。根据第一段第一句“Holmes had taken out his watch, and as minute followed minute without result, an expression of the utmost annoyance and disappointment appeared upon his features. ”（Holmes掏出了表，时间一分钟一分钟地过去，没有结果，他的脸上显出一种极度烦恼和失望的表情。）可知，Holmes的表情是极度烦恼和失望的，并且看了很多次手表，说明他很没有耐心。故选A。
2.细节理解题。根据第三段第三句“The very pills which I suspected in the case of Drebber are actually found after the death of Stangerson. ”（我怀疑Drebber身上的那些药丸，实际上是在Stangerson死后找到的。）可知，那些药丸实际上是在Stangerson死后找到的。故选C。
3.细节理解题。根据第三段最后两句“With a perfect shriek of delight he rushed to the box, cut the other pill in two, dissolved it, added milk, and presented it to the terrier (梗犬). The unfortunate creature's tongue seemed hardly to have been moistened in it before it gave a convulsive shiver in every limb, and lay as rigid and lifeless as if it had been struck by lightning.”（他高兴地尖叫了一声，冲到盒子前，把另一粒药切成两半，溶解了它，加了牛奶，递给了小猎狗。这不幸的家伙的舌头似乎还没浸湿，就四肢抽搐地颤抖起来，僵硬地躺在那里，像被闪电击中了一样，毫无生气。）可知，Holmes是通过用小猎犬做实验来证明他的猜想的。故选D。
