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-wide fame and a name remembered today.
【小题1】 According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.

I entered St Thoma’s Hospital as a medical student at the age of 18 and spent five years there. I was an unsatisfactory student, for my heart, as you might have guessed, was not in it. I wanted, I had always wanted to be a writer, and in the evening, after my high tea, I wrote and read. Before long, I wrote a novel, called “Liza of Lambeth”, which I sent to a publisher and was accepted. It appeared during my last year at the hospital and had something of a success. It was of course an accident, but naturally I did not know that. I felt I could afford to give up medicine and make writing my profession; so, three days after I graduated from the school of medicine, I set out for Spain to write another book. Looking back now and knowing as I do the terrible difficulties of making a living by writing, I realize I was taking a fearful risk. It never even occurred to me.
The next ten years were very hard, and I earned an average of £100 a year. Then I had a bit of luck. The manager of the Court Theatre put on a play that failed ; the next play he arranged to put on was not ready , and he was at his wits’ end. He read a play of mine and, though he did not much like it, he thought it might just run for the six weeks till the play he had in mind to follow it with could be produced. It ran for fifteen months. Within a short while I had four plays running in London at the same time. Nothing of the kind had ever happened before. I was the talk of the town. One of the students at St Thomas’s Hospital asked the famous surgeon with whom I had worked whether he remembered me. “Yes, I remember him quite well, “he said. “ One of our failures, I’m afraid. “
1. Which of the following statements is not true?
A. The author was very pleased to have his book published but he didn’t realize it was something of an accident.
B. The success of his first book led the author to think he could afford to make writing his profession.
C. The author knew he was running a terrible risk when he decided to become a writer.
D. The author became a writer after graduation but was not a successful one.
2. In the second paragraph, “… he was at his wits’ end “means ________.
A. he was having a nervous breakdown       B. he was out of his wisdom
C. he did not know what to do            D. he almost went mad
3. The manager of the Court Theatre agreed to put the author’s play on the stage because _____________.
A. he thought it would run for fifteen months
B. he knew it was one of the author’s best plays shown in London
C. he had just put on a play that failed
D. the play he had arranged to put on was not ready
4. The author became the talk of the town. The reason was that __________.
A. he talked with a great many people in London about his plays
B. the plays he wrote were excellently performed in London
C. his performances in the Court Theatre were unexpectedly
D. he was criticized by an eminent surgeon as one of their failures

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．
0f course，his secret was not magic，or supernatural powers．It was simply strength．He had ability to move his toes as well as to move 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 a New York club．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 successful．Then Harty 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 newspaperman to watch．It was the publicity(名声)that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success．
Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs(手铐)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 passed quickly from her mouth to his．
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame．He arranged to escape from the local jail 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．
【小题1】According to the passage，Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on   ．

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-wide 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 inhuman 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 

He arranged _______ a man to meet his uncle at the station because he was busy with work.

A. of                           B. for                          C./                              D. with