我们都知道魔术师并不是靠魔力来表演，而是靠有很快表演速度的能力。虽然我们知道是假的，但是还是爱看…
We all know that a magician does not really depend on "magic"
to perform his tricks, but on his ability to act at great speed.
___ 1, this does not prevent us from enjoying watching a
magician ___ 2 rabbits from a hat. ___ 3 the greatest magician
of all time was Harry Houdini who died in 1926. Houdini
mastered the art of___ 4. He could free himself from the
tightest knots or the most complicated locks in seconds. ___5
no one really knows how he did this, there is no doubt ___ 6
he had made a close study of every type of lock ever invented.
He liked to carry a small steel needle like tool strapped to his
leg and he used this in place of a key. Houdini once asked the
Chicago police to lock him in prison. They ___ 7 him in chains
and locked him up, but he freed himself___8 an instant. The
police___ 9 him of having used a tool and locked him up again.
This time he wore no clothes and there were chains round his
neck, waist, wrists, and legs; but he again escaped in a few
minutes. Houdini had probably hidden his "needle" in a wax
like ___ 10 and dropped it on the floor in the passage. ___ 11
he went past, he stepped on it so that it stuck to the bottom of
his foot. His most famous escape, however, was ___ 12
astonishing. He was heavily chained up and enclosed in an
empty wooden chest, the lid of ___13 was nailed down. The
___ 14 was dropped into the sea in New York harbor. In one
minute Houdini had swum to the surface. When the chest was
___ 15, it was opened and the chains were found inside.
1. A. Generally B. However C. Possibly D. Likewise
2. A. to produce B. who produces
C. produce D. how to produce
3. A. Out of the question B. Though C. Probably D. Undoubted
4. A. escaping B. locking C. opening D. dropping
5. A. Surprisingly B. Obviously C. Perhaps D. Although
6. A. if B. whether C. as to D. that
7. A. involved B. closed C. connected D. bound
8. A. at B. by C. in D. for
9. A. rid B. charged C. accused D. deprived
10. A. candle B. mud C. something D. substance
11. A. As B. Usually C. Maybe D. Then
12. A. overall B. all but C. no longer D. altogether
13. A. it B. which C. that D. him
14. A. chest B. body C. lid D. chain
15. A. brought up B. sunk C. broken apart D. snapped
