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 needlelike
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. T
his 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 waxlike ___ 10 ____ and
dropped it on the floor in the passage. ___ 11___ he went past, he step
ped on it so that it stuck to the bottom o
f 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 Yo
rk 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