閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項。

（一）

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 a club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894， he and his wife Bess worked together as a 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 that came from this started Hairy Houdinis 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， 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？ World-wide fame and a name remembered today.

1. According to the passage， Houdinis success in prison escapes depends on ________.

A. his magic tricks and inhuman powers

B. his special tricks and a skeleton key

C. his unusual ability and a skeleton key

D. his inhuman talents and magic tricks

2. In the fourth paragraph， the word “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 unlock prison doors？

A. He took the key from his wifes 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 inferred 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.

（二）

On May 29， 1973， Thomas Bradley， a black man， was selected mayor of the Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the third largest city in the United States， with a population of three million. About sixteen percent of the citys population are black.

News of this election appeared on the front pages of newspapers everywhere in the United States. Here is how one major newspaper reported the event：

LOS ANGELES ELECTES BRADLEY MAYOR UNSEATING YORTY

BLACKS WINS% OF VOTES

Bradley called this victory over Yorty “the fulfillment[實現(xiàn)] of a dream”. During his childhood and youth， people had kept telling him， “You cant do this， you cant go there， because you are a Negro.” Nevertheless he had won a decisive victory over a man who had been the citys mayor for three terms. Bradley had won 43. 7 percent.

Los Angeles voters have had many opportunities to judge. Thomas Bradley had to form an opinion of him. The son of a poor farmer in Texas， he joined the Los Angeles police force in 1940. During his twenty-one years on the police force he earned a law degree by attending school at night.

He was elected to the city council[市政廳] ten years ago. At the time of the Los Angeles election， three other American cities already had black mayors， but none of those cities had as large a population as Los Angeles. Besides， the percentage of blacks in those other cities was much larger. Cleveland， Ohio， had thirty-six percent black when Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967. In the same year Richard Hatcher was elected mayor of Gary， Indiana， which have fifty-five percent black. In Neward， New Jersey 60% of the population were black when Kenneth Gibson was elected in 1970. Thus election of a black mayor in those cities was not surprising.

In Los Angeles thousands of white citizens voted for Thomas Bradley because they believed he would be a better mayor than the white candidates. Bradley had spent 48 of his 55 years in Los Angeles. Four years ago Bradley lost mayoral election to Yorty. This time Bradley won.

1. In the authors opinion， it was surprising that _______.

A. the whites would vote for a black mayor

B. a black mayor would be elected in such a large city

C. a black from a poor farmers family could be elected mayor of Los Angeles

D. there would be so many black mayors

2. From the passage we can infer that people _______.

A. voted for Bradley because his black color

B. didnt care much about his color when they voted

C. voted for him to give him a chance to fulfill his dream

D. voted for Bradley because they trust him

3. Bradley hit the front page headline for _______.

A. he was the first black mayor in history

B. he was the first black mayor in the south of USA

C. he was the first black mayor of one of the largest cities in USA

D. a poor farmers son could also win an important election

4. From Bradleys victory in the election we can see that _______.

A. blacks had equal rights as whites in the USA

B. black peoples situation began to be improving much more than before

C. one can be successful through hard work in US no matter what color you are

D. it is sure that someday US will have a black president

（三）

A higher reading rate， with no loss of comprehension， will help you in other subjects as well as in English， and the general principles apply to any language. Naturally， you will not read every book at the same speed.

You would expect to read a newspaper， for example， much more rapidly than a physics of economics textbook—but you can raise your average reading speed over the whole range of materials you wish to cover so that the percentage gained will be the same whatever kind of reading you are concerned with.

The reading passages which follow are all of an average level of difficulty for your stage of instruction. They are all about five hundred words long. They are about topics of general interest which do not require a great deal of specialized knowledge. Thus they fall between the kind of reading you might find in your textbooks and the much less demanding kind you will find in a newspaper or light novel. If you read this kind of English， with understanding at four hundred words per minute you might skim through a newspaper at perhaps 650—700， while with a difficult textbook you might drop to two hundred or two hundred and fifty.

Perhaps you would like to know what reading speeds are common among native English speaking university students and how those speeds can be improved. Tests in Minnesota， U.S. A for example， have shown that students without special training can read English of average difficulty， for example Tolstoys War and Peace in translation， at speeds of between 240 and 250 words per minute with about seventy percent comprehension. Students in Minnesota claim that after twelve half-hour lessons， once a week， the reading speed can be increased， with no loss of comprehension， to about five hundred words per minute.

1. according to the passage， the purpose of effective reading with a higher speed is most likely to help you _______.

A. only in your reading of a physics textbook.

B. improve your understanding of an economics textbook

C. not only in your language study but also in other subjects

D. choose the suitable materials to read

2. Which of the following does not describe the types of reading materials mentioned in the second paragraph？

A. Those beyond ones reading comprehension.

B. Those concerned with common knowledge.

C. About sixty words per minute.

D. About five hundred words per minute.

3. according to the passage， how fast can you expect to read after you have attended twelve half-hour lessons in the University of Minnesota？

A. You can increase your reading speed by three times

B. No real increase in reading speed can be achieved.

C. You can increase your reading speed by four times.

D. You can double your reading speed.

4. Where do you think the passage is taken from？

A. The introduction to a book in fast reading.

B. A local newspaper for young people.

C. A school newspaper run by students.

D. The introduction to an English textbook.

參考答案與解析

（一）

文章講的是一個著名的藝人赫迪尼成功的原因。

1. C。事實細(xì)節(jié)題。從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可知答案C正確。

2. A。詞匯猜測題。this是承接上文，代指1898年芝加哥大逃獄即代指上句的內(nèi)容，故答案選A。

3. D。事實細(xì)節(jié)題。從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可知答案D正確。

4. A。推理判斷題。It was the publicity that came from this started Hairy Houdinis success中this指的是1898年芝加哥大逃獄，可見他是1898年在芝加哥一舉成名的，1891年他17歲，可知1898年他是24歲，即答案選A。

5. B。推理判斷題。從第4題可知他是1898年在芝加哥一舉成名的，那也是他第一次被大眾認(rèn)可的時間，D項只說了成功的原因之一，太片面，故答案選B。

（二）

本文講述的是黑人布拉德利托馬斯競選為洛杉磯市長的事情。

1. A。推斷題。根據(jù)第1段Los Angeles…with a population of three million. About sixteen percent of the citys population are black 和倒數(shù)第2段Besides， the percentage of blacks in those other cities was much larger 及Thus election of a black mayor in those cities was not surprising可以推斷出令人驚訝的是白人會選一個黑人當(dāng)市長。故答案選A。

2. D。推斷題。根據(jù)文章最后一段In Los Angeles thousands of white citizens voted for Thomas Bradley because they believed he would be a better mayor than the white candidates可知答案為D。

3. C。推斷題。根據(jù)第1段Los Angeles is the third largest city in the United States和At the time of the Los Angeles election， three other American cities already had black mayors， but none of those cities had as large a population as Los Angeles可推出答案為C。

4. B。推斷題。本文通過講敘黑人布拉德利托馬斯當(dāng)選為洛杉磯市長，主要說明了黑人的地位比以前有了一些改進(jìn)，故答案為B。

（三）

本文主要向我們介紹閱讀不同類型的書籍的所用的閱讀速度不同。

1. C。事實細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)A higher reading rate， with no loss of comprehension， will help you in other subjects as well as in English 可知答案為C。

2. A。事實細(xì)節(jié)題。用排除法可知答案為A。

3. D。推理判斷題。根據(jù)…at speeds of between 240 and 250 words per minute with about seventy percent comprehension. …once a week， the reading speed can be increased， with no loss of comprehension， to about five hundred words per minute（沒有經(jīng)過特別訓(xùn)練速度每分鐘是240到250，經(jīng)過特別訓(xùn)練一個星期后速度將達(dá)到400到500）可知答案為 D。

4. A。推理判斷題。本文主要講提高閱讀速度方面的內(nèi)容，因此答案為A。

Thinking Back 回憶

We were gathered together， all ten of us， for our widowed mothers 80th birthday. The conversation was of early struggles， walking to work and saving up in clothing clubs， when my elder sister said， “Of course， we were bound to be poor because we were such a big family. Mom， why did you have so many children？”

Mother looked around at us all and said， “Well， where did you want to me to stop？”

我們總共十個人，聚在一起祝賀已成為寡婦的媽媽的八十歲生日。談的話題是我們家早年的艱辛，走著去上班，在“新衣會”里存錢準(zhǔn)備買衣裳。這時我姐姐說：“當(dāng)然，我們的生活沒法子不艱難，因為我們家孩子太多了。媽媽，您為什么要生這么多的孩子呢？”

媽媽看了我們一圈說：“那么，你想讓我在哪兒停住呢？”