雅思阅读真题（Part 1）
侦探小说的兴衰：从爱伦·坡到福尔摩斯
本篇也叫：侦探小说兴衰、侦探小说的崛起与衰落、福尔摩斯侦探小说、侦探小说发展史、推理小说兴衰、侦探故事起落
Part 1 · 最近考试：2026.10.14深圳大学
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 1）《The rise and fall of detective stories》，共 13 题，2026.10.14深圳大学雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章讲述19至20世纪侦探小说的兴起与衰落。从爱伦·坡创造杜宾侦探开始，经法国作家加博里奥的勒科克，到柯南·道尔笔下的福尔摩斯成为英国侦探小说代表。文中分析福尔摩斯故事多聚焦上流社会，以及20世纪20-30年代黄金时代侦探小说在中产阶级中的流行，最终探讨社会变迁如何导致其衰落。
Detective stories became hugely popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. William D. Rubinstein looks at why social changes eventually led to their downfall
A
The detective story is normally said to have begun in the fertile brain of the great American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49), especially in his stories featuring the detective C. Auguste Dupin. From 1859, Dupin had a counterpart in Monsieur Lecoq, created by the French author Emile Gaboriau. Despite these American and French origins, it was to Britain that detective fiction migrated, where it took root and flourished, becoming a characteristically British genre.
B
This transition occurred because of one author and his great detective. The most famous of all fictional detectives, Sherlock Holmes, was introduced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in A Study in Scarlet, first published in 1887, and later became the subject of four novels and 56 short stories. Nearly all of the Holmes stories are narrated by his friend Dr Watson. Watson is constantly amazed and stupefied by Holmes' genius, but despite years of working with him, Watson is never able to produce these brilliant insights himself. Holmes is memorably eccentric, with a range of endearing and less endearing habits. He is a brilliant private detective, categorically better than the plodding and mediocre officials of Scotland Yard, who constantly turn to him when they are baffled. This in itself is pure fiction: in real life there were never any brilliant private detectives to whom Scotland Yard turned when they failed, and the Yard's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had a remarkable clear-up rate and was highly competent.
C
Most of the Holmes stories are set among the higher levels of 19th-century British society, a world inhabited by professional men, retired army officers and country gentlemen, as well as members of royalty and cabinet ministers. Few take place among the working classes or the very poor, whereas in fact much crime was a product of the poverty and gangs in London's underworld.
D
In the 20th century detective stories became increasingly popular. Reading these stories was one of the characteristic aspects of the British middle classes in the 'golden age' of British detective fiction the 1920s and 30s. Their emphasis on rationality, the inevitable triumph of justice. And the existence of an unofficial super-detective tells us much about the society of the time. So, too, do the stock characters and unstated prejudices in these works: country folk and domestic servants were almost always depicted as unintelligent, and women were often depicted in a simplistic, two-dimensional way, although a few female detective writers would present female characters in a more realistic manner.
E
Most of the well-known British authors of 'golden age' detective stories were drawn from the middle classes, like their audience. Conan Doyle was a doctor who turned to writing fiction while he awaited his patient; Freeman Wills Crofts was a railway engineer in Northern Ireland; Gilbert Keith Chesterton and Anthony Berkeley were journalists; Cecil Street was a career army officer. Apart from a few superstars such as Agatha Christie, financial rewards for these interwar authors were rather meagre; a few hundred pounds per book - a useful income, but nothing princely.
F
US writers such as Rex Stout and Ellery Queen attempted to recreate the 'golden age' of British detective fiction. For the most part their books were mere imitations of the British models, although they were seldom wholly successful. But in the 1920s and 1930s, America also saw the rise of the 'hard-boiled' genre and its detective type: the tough private cop who appeared in the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Apart from the violence that appeared throughout their works, Hammett's and Chandler's novels were often marked by a political agenda that sought to expose the inequality they saw at the heart of American life. Britain had no real parallel either to their outlook on the world or (until much later) to their violence, but upheld the belief that the authorities should punish criminals regardless of their circumstances.
G
By around 1960, the classic British detective story was in serious decline. It seemed that writers had simply run out of ingenious plots and puzzles for their detectives to solve. The best-known crime fiction writers, such as P. D. James, eschewed private detectives for police inspectors, and straightforward puzzles for stories that were full of unexpected twists.
H
Today the detective story no longer exists in Britain, at least in its old form. Arguably this mirrors the transformation of that society as a whole. The belief that scientific developments were invariably beneficial possibly reached its height during the period when the classic detective story flourished, as did the belief in putting rationality at the heart of Britain's education system. And finally, the central belief that evil-doers would inevitably get their just deserts through the incorruptibility of the judicial system was replaced by a questioning of some of the procedures and decisions associated with that system.
想在线练习这套卷子？进入机考练习
答案：FALSE
原文定位：The detective story is normally said to have begun in the fertile brain of the great American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809‑49), especially in his stories featuring the detective C. Auguste Dupin. From 1859, Dupin had a counterpart in Monsieur Lecoq, created by the French author Emile Gaboriau
同义替换：「C. Auguste Dupin」↔「C. Auguste Dupin」，「Emile Gaboriau」↔「Emile Gaboriau」，「were both writers」↔「」
答案：violence
原文定位：But in the 1920s and 1930s, America also saw the rise of the 'hard‑boiled' genre and its detective type: the tough private cop who appeared in the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Apart from the violence that appeared throughout their works, Hammett's and Chandler's novels were often marked by a political agenda that sought to expose the inequality they saw at the heart of American life
同义替换：「Hammett and Chandler」↔「Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler」
答案：political
原文定位：Apart from the violence that appeared throughout their works, Hammett's and Chandler's novels were often marked by a political agenda that sought to expose the inequality they saw at the heart of American life
同义替换：「unfairness of society」↔「inequality」，「message」↔「agenda」
答案：twists
原文定位：The best‑known crime fiction writers, such as P. D. James, eschewed private detectives for police inspectors, and straightforward puzzles for stories that were full of unexpected twists
同义替换：「PD James」↔「P. D. James」，「stories」↔「stories」，「many」↔「full of」
答案：beneficial
原文定位：The belief that scientific developments were invariably beneficial possibly reached its height during the period when the classic detective story flourished
同义替换：「Scientific progress」↔「scientific developments」，「not always seen as」↔「were invariably beneficial」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：Despite these American and French origins, it was to Britain that detective fiction migrated, where it took root and flourished, becoming a characteristically British genre;This transition occurred because of one author and his great detective. The most famous of all fictional detectives, Sherlock Holmes, was introduced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in A Study in Scarlet, first published in 1887
同义替换：「Conan Doyle」↔「Sir Arthur Conan Doyle」，「Sherlock Holmes」↔「Sherlock Holmes」，「typically British genre」↔「characteristically British genre」
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：Holmes is memorably eccentric, with a range of endearing and less endearing habits
同义替换：「Sherlock Holmes」↔「Holmes」，「positive qualities」↔「endearing habits」，「negative qualities」↔「less endearing habits」，「outweigh」↔「」
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：He is a brilliant private detective, categorically better than the plodding and mediocre officials of Scotland Yard, who constantly turn to him when they are baffled. This in itself is pure fiction: in real life there were never any brilliant private detectives to whom Scotland Yard turned when they failed, and the Yard's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had a remarkable clear‑up rate and was highly competent
同义替换：「Officials at Scotland Yard」↔「Officials at Scotland Yard」，「were unhappy」↔「」
答案：FALSE
原文定位：This in itself is pure fiction: in real life there were never any brilliant private detectives to whom Scotland Yard turned when they failed, and the Yard's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had a remarkable clear‑up rate and was highly competent
同义替换：「real private detective」↔「brilliant private detectives」，「was consulted by Scotland Yard」↔「Scotland Yard turned to」，「is based on a real private detective」↔「pure fiction」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：Most of the Holmes stories are set among the higher levels of 19th‑century British society, a world inhabited by professional men, retired army officers and country gentlemen, as well as members of royalty and cabinet ministers. Few take place among the working classes or the very poor, whereas in fact much crime was a product of the poverty and gangs in London's underworld
同义替换：「Conan Doyle's work」↔「Most of the Holmes stories」，「19th‑century Britain」↔「19th‑century British society」，「reality of crime」↔「in fact much crime was a product of the poverty and gangs in London's underworld」，「fails to reflect」↔「」
答案：FALSE
原文定位：So, too, do the stock characters and unstated prejudices in these works: country folk and domestic servants were almost always depicted as unintelligent, and women were often depicted in a simplistic, two‑dimensional way, although a few female detective writers would present female characters in a more realistic manner
同义替换：「1920s and 30s」↔「the 1920s and 30s」，「most writers」↔「a few female detective writers」，「interesting female characters」↔「more realistic manner」
答案：FALSE
原文定位：Apart from a few superstars such as Agatha Christie, financial rewards for these interwar authors were rather meagre; a few hundred pounds per book - a useful income, but nothing princely
同义替换：「Agatha Christie」↔「Agatha Christie」，「a few hundred pounds」↔「a few hundred pounds per book」，「earned」↔「financial rewards」
答案：imitations
原文定位：US writers such as Rex Stout and Ellery Queen attempted to recreate the 'golden age' of British detective fiction. For the most part their books were mere imitations of the British models, although they were seldom wholly successful
同义替换：「Rex Stout and Ellery Queen」↔「Rex Stout and Ellery Queen」，「mainly」↔「For the most part」，「unsuccessful」↔「seldom wholly successful」，「British detective fiction」↔「British detective fiction」