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 power　 B. his unusual ability and a skeleton key

　　C. his magic tricks and supernatural 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

People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or other historic remains. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. Most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.

Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money for the sun because they have so little of it. People of cities like London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam spend much of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain . This is the reason why the Mediterranean has always attracted them. Every summer many people travel to Mediterranean resorts（度假胜地）and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason: sun!

The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economics of Mediterranean countries. Italy's 30,000 hotels are booked  every  summer. And 13 million people camp put on French beaches, parks and roadsides. Spain's long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit there yearly, or one tourist for each person living in Spain.

But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can deal with. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. None of these,　however, is mining anyone's fun. Obviously, they don't go there for clean water. They allow traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don't even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it's still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo.

The writer seems so imply that Europeans travel mostly for the reason that ________.

A. they want to see historic remains

B. they wish to escape from cold, dark and rainy days

C. they would like to take pictures in front of famous places

D. they are interested in different cultural and social customs

According to the passage, which of the following countries attracts more tourists than the others?

A. Italy　　　　 B. Greece.　　　　 C. France.　　　　 D. Spain.

The underlined part  "one tourist for each person living in Spain" means ________.

A. all the 37 million people living in Spain are tourist

B. every person living in Spain has to take care of a tourist

C. every year almost as many tourists visit Spain as there are people living in that country

D. every family in Spain is visited by a tourist every year

According to the passage, which of the following might ruin the tourists' fun at Mediterranean resorts and beaches?

A. Polluted water　　　 B. Crowded buses. 　　C. Rainy weather.　　　 D. Traffic jams.

　 The holiday shopping season is once again upon us.The super malls and smaller shopping centers will all be packed as hurried Americans search for the perfect gift.The crooks and thieves that prey upon innocent shoppers are well aware of this fact.

　 Even if you don’t involve yourself with holiday gift buying，you could end up a victim of theft.Thieves do not distinguish the holiday shopper from the everyday shopper.Thieves only know that there are more potential targets of opportunity at this time of year.

　 They also know that many people are complacent (不以为然的) about personal safety issues year round.They’ll factor in the belief that many people take on added stress this time of year while running from store to store with so much to do and so little time to do it.Shoppers who might normally consider personal safety an afterthought push it back even further as they try to negotiate their way through the month of December.College students are not an exception to the rule!

　 As a member of our university community，you’re also easily influenced by the dangers of mall shopping this time of year.Take a minute and picture any of the local area malls.Close your eyes and think about the overflowing parking lots and the crowds moving around.The sights，sounds and distractions all can lull you into a state of personal safety complacency.

　 Aside from the shoplifters who steal merchandise from store shelves are the thieves who perpetrate (犯) snatch and grab crimes.And this is the sort of crime that you’re most vulnerable to，especially when you find yourself carrying a large number of shopping bags and packages.However，as is the case with most other types of criminal behavior，there are a number of crime prevention measures you can take to lessen or stop your chances of becoming a victim.So take the time to read and then put into practice the following holiday shopping tips.

1.The author is most probably　　　　 .

　 A.a newspaper reporter

　 B.a novelist

　 C.a member of university community

　 D.a police spokesman

　

2.What does the underlined word “They” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

　 A.Shoppers. 　　　　　　　　　 B.Thieves.

　 C.Personal safety issues.　　　　　　 D.College students.

　

3.Why is a person more likely to become a victim of theft during holiday shopping?

　 A.Because he often has much to buy.

　 B.Because he often does shopping in a hurry.

　 C.Because there are crowds of shoppers.

　 D.All of the above.

　

4.What is the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?

　 A.To tell readers different kinds of crimes.

　 B.To make readers aware of holiday shopping dangers.

　 C.To give advice on selecting the perfect gift.

　 D.To introduce American public security situation.

　

5.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

　 A.Holiday Shopping Safety

　 B.Suitable Shopping Places

　 C.Personal Safety During Holidays

　 D.How to Identify a Thief

 

　　It's 7 am Kyoto (东京), Japan, and the taxi company has just called a second time to say they can't find my house.　　1　　I tell him directions. even a blind person can　　2　 , look impatiently at my watch, and wait. Only two hours remain until my　　3　　leavesand it's an hour-and-a-half trip to Osaka airport.

　　The telephone rings　　4　 .“Terribly sorry,”begins the clerk. Then I　　5　　what's happened: flooded with　　6　 , the company is too busy. I've heard this happens when the weather gets　　7　 . I shout into the　　8　　that I have a plane to catchI must be in Seoul　　9　　and I'll meet the　　10　　a few hundred meters away on a bridge over the Kamo River.

　　Standing in the heavy　　11　 , I look up and down. No　　12　　From the other direction a white car comes up, then stops. A young man opens the door, signing to me to　　13　 . Shaking with cold and　　14　 , I climb inside.

　　In the most　　15　　Japanese, the man explains to me that he is the person with whom I have spoken　　16　　this morning. He apologizes again and again, but does not explain why a taxi could　　17　　except to say they are“very, very busy”this morning.

　　A few hours later, seated into my seat as the storm-delayed 727　　18　 , I open the　　19　 . My eyes wander to the headline (标题) of a short article:“Taxi Strike Begins this Morning in　　20　 .”

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