The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainer

The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.

Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.

Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.

It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.

Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.

According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.

A. his special tricks and supernatural powers

B. his unusual ability and a skeleton key

C. his magic tricks and unhuman powers

D. his wisdom and magic tricks

In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.

A. his first prison escape                     B. the year 1898

C. the publicity                                  D. Harry Houdini’s success

It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.

A. in 1894                                         B. before he married

C. at the age of 17                       D. when he was about 24

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. A Skeleton Key                       B. A Man of Many Secrets

C. World-wild Fame                          D. Great Escape 

【小题1】B

【小题2】A

【小题3】D

【小题4】D

本文介绍了Harry Houdini特技成功的经历和方法。

【小题1】细节题。根据第4段第2句：Harry把手、脚都训练得很灵活来摆脱手链脚铐及第4句后半部分：妻子通过接吻传给他万能钥匙，可推知此题答案为B。

【小题2】单词理解题。根据语境，this指上文所表演的事情：第一次越狱成功。由此可推知此题答案为A。

【小题3】推断题。第3段第1句：他步入娱乐圈时是1891年，17岁；倒数第2句：第一次成功是1898年，时隔七年，应是24岁，可推知此题答案为D

【小题4】主旨题。由文章第1段第2句：He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water，可知Harry 因逃脱出名，后面列举的例子谈的是他从监狱成功地逃出，所以答案为D。