The Man of Many Secretsharry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes form 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 a club in New York. they called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry¹ married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician² 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 publicity³ that came from this the started Hayyr 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 unlocked⁴ the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luckand a small skeleton⁶ 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 jail⁷ 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.

1. According to the passage, houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on ________.

A. his magic tricks and unhuman powers

B. his special tricks and a skeleton key

C. his unusual ability and a skeleton key

D. his unhuman talents and magic tricks

2. In the fourth paragraph, the world “this” refers to ________.

A. the previous sentence

B. “the publicity”

C. the place, Chicago

D. the time, 1898

3. According to the passage, how did Houdini get the key which helped him unlock⁵ prison doors?

A. He took the key from his wife’s mouth.

B. His wife passed it to his hand while kissing him.

C. His wife gave it to him by a magic trick.

D. He got it in his mouth through a kiss by the wife.

4. It can be inferred⁸ from the passage that Houdini became famous _________.

A. when he was about 24

B. when he was about 17

C. after the year 1894

D. before the year 1898

5. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A. Houdini used to be a famous magician in the USA.

B. Houdini was first recognized widely in Chicago.

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

D. Houdini owed his great success to his small skeleton key.

Keys: 1-5 CADAB