Question

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 power. 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 clubs 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 (宣傳) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains. 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. She passed it 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? Worldwide fame and a name remembered today.

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

A. his special tricks and supernatural powers

B. his unusual ability and skeleton key

C. his magic tricks and supernatural powers

D. his wisdom and magic tricks

2. 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 24

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?                          

A. Houdini was a famous American magician.  

B. Houdini was first recognized in Chicago.   

C. Houdini first entered the entertainment world together with his wife.   

D. Houdini was popular with people from Europe and America.

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

A. A Skeleton Key      B. A Secret Prisoner

C. Worldwide Fame   D. Great Escapes

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.D

【解析】

試題分析：文章介紹了一代魔術(shù)大師哈里·胡迪尼。他起初在娛樂界打拼，但是碌碌無為，后來在1898年他成功表演了監(jiān)獄逃脫后，媒體的大肆宣傳開啟了他事業(yè)成功的大門。為他贏得了“脫逃大師”稱號(hào)的是他特殊的身體技能和一把萬能鑰匙。

1.B細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第二段和文章倒數(shù)第二段Bess gave him a kiss for good luck and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks.可知他腳趾和手指一樣靈活，而且身體也可以弄成隨意的姿勢(shì)。就是因?yàn)樗�有著不同于常人的技能，再加上一把萬能鑰匙，他才可以每次都能成功越獄。故答案選B。

2.D根據(jù)文章第三段Then Harry performed his first prison escape in Chicago in 1898. 和第四段It was the publicity  that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success.可知他是1898年第一次成功越獄后成名，再由第三段第一句話when he was 17, in 1891.可知1898年他開始成名時(shí)是24歲，故答案選D。

3.C根據(jù)文章第三段前兩句話Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother T…..可知胡迪尼進(jìn)入娛樂界是在他17歲時(shí)，和他哥哥一起，所以C選項(xiàng)內(nèi)容錯(cuò)誤。

4.D文章講述了胡迪尼靠成功越獄獲得了聲譽(yù)，以此走上了成功的道路，而且在文中作者也詳細(xì)敘述了他之所以能夠成功越獄的技能和秘密，由此推斷D選項(xiàng)標(biāo)題更能反映文章中心，故答案選D。

考點(diǎn)：考查人物類短文閱讀。