高中英语故事类阅读阅读理解

A new study says that birds living in big cities sing shorter, faster songs that are higher-pitched (高音调的) than those sung by their brothers in the forests. The researchers think that the birds adjust their songs to allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city, especially the low traffic noise.
To study how urban birds song, Hans Slabbekoorn and Ardie den Bore, biologists at the University of Leiden in Netherlands, travelled around Europe and recorded bird songs in ten major cities and in nearby forests. The species they focused on, the great tit (大山雀), is widespread across Eurasia and one of the few types of birds that thrives in big cities.
Singing is crucial (重要的) for males, which use their songs to attract mates and mark out their territory. The changing songs could play a role in eventually causing the city birds and the forest dwellers to evolve into separate species.
The findings could also help explain why usually only a few bird species thrive in cities. By contrast, many more bird species tend to be found in forests and other undeveloped habitats.
Studies like this could eventually help researchers predict how urbanization (都市化) will affect birds, using this knowledge could help urban planners design more pleasant city environments, study co-author Slabbe-koorn said. “You can make a city much more livable if you pay attention to where the noise goes and where the people go,” he said. “It would be easy to fit the birds into those models.” Then cities wouldn’t be strictly for the people, but also for the birds.
Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Birds Change Songs to Suit Country Life

B．Birds Change Sex to Suit Urban Life

C．Birds Change Living Habits to Suit Urban Life

D．Birds Change Songs to Suit Urban Life

Males usually sing their songs to ____.

A．evolve into another species

B．attract mates and mark out their living area

C．attract city people’s attention and make them supply food

D．allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city

The underlined word “thrives” in the second paragraph means “____”.

A．dies

B．survives

C．suffers

D．travels

What is NOT the effect that studies of birds’ songs have?
A. Predicting how course of the city’s expanding will affect birds.
B. Helping the city planners design more pleasant city environments.
C. Making cities more livable for both the birds and people.
D. Driving the urban birds back to the forest.

Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Interact forum(论坛)asking what“PK”meant．
“My family has been watching the‘Super Girl’singing competition TV programme．My little daughter asked me what’PK’meant，but I had no idea，”explained the puzzled father．
To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online，it is impossible not to know this term．In such Internet games，“PK”is short for“Player Kill”，in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other．
In the case of the“Super Girl”singing competition．“PK”was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition ranking．
Like this father，Chinese teachers at high schools have also been finding their students’compositions using Internet jargons which are difficult to understand．A high school teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write compositions with simple language，but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons  that she didn’t understand．
“My‘GG’came back this summer from college．He told me I’ve grown up to be a‘PLMM’．I loved to‘FB’with him together；he always took me to the‘KPM’，”went one composition．
“GG”means Ge Ge(Chinese pinyin for brother)．“PLMM”refers to Piao Liang Mei Mei(beautiful girl)．“FB”means Fu Bai(corruption)．“KPM”is short for KF．Pizza Hut and McDonald’s．
Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language．
If you do not even know what a Kong Long(dinosaur，referring to an ugly looking female)ora Qing wa(frog，referring to an ugly looking male)is，you will possibly be regarded as a CaiNiao!
By writing the article，the writer tries to         ．

A．explain some Internet language

B．suggest common Internet language

C．laugh at the Beijing father

D．draw our attention to Internet language

What does the writer think about the term“PK”?                       

A．Fathers can’t possibly know it．

B．The daughter should understand it．

C．Online game players may know it．

D．“Super Girl”shouldn’t have used it．

The examples of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons          ．

A．are used not only online

B．can be understood very well

C．are welcomed by all the people

D．cause trouble to our mother tongue

The underlined word“jargons”means“       ”in Chinese．

A．行话

B．粗口

C．歌词

D．趋势

The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard-working was he that at times he would make the sparks(火星) fly from his hammer.
The son of Mr.Smith, a rich neighbour, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked.
“ Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks (钉) , even if it is only to pass the time ? ” said the blacksmith. “ Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you .”
The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to live in another country. It so happened that in this village there were many shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers’ shoes.
Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in the workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.
“ How funny it seems, ” he used to say, “ even making tacks can make money. My trade is more useful to me than all my former riches.”
The young man learnt to make shoe tacks because ___________.

A．his father told him to	B．he wanted to learn a skill
C．Jones encouraged him to	D．he just wanted to pass his time

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?

A．Old Mr. Smith enjoyed making the shoe tacks.

B．The blacksmith had predicted the young man would be in need of the skill.

C．The higher prices they paid, the more tacks the shoemakers would get.

D．The young man earned his living by his skills learnt when he was young.

What can we learn from the story ?

A．Practice makes perfect.

B．Skill makes life easy.

C．A good beginning makes good ending.

D．Every man has his gift.

Children, especially boys, tend to idealise their fathers when they are young.Every little boy wants to grow up to be just like his father, and every little girl thinks her father is the smartest man on the earth. It’s not very easy to be a good father, but it’s not that difficult either. Children will truly enjoy spending time with their fathers, not just when they are kids, but even when they are adults.
Not all children communicate well with their fathers. Communication is often left to mothers, while fathers dispense advice as and when necessary. Don’t expect all conversations to centre around the dinner table. Go to your children’s bedrooms and talk to them about school, their teachers or their friends. Remember that the conversation cannot be one-sided. When your children open up to you, you also need to open up to them.
If your children come home from school feeling upset, go up to them and ask them what is the matter. And if it is something which seems to you to be a silly reason to be upset, don’t voice your opinion. It may be silly to you, but to your children it is important enough. So don’t wave the topic away by telling them not to bother about such stupid things. Simply discussing their problems with them will help them feel better.
Don’t shy away from having discussions about your teenage children’s love lives. Generally speaking, your children are definitely not going to discuss intimate details with you. Try to let them know that you are relaxed about topics on love. Tell your children how you met your wife. It is perfectly normal for children to go through feelings for the opposite sex as they grow up, and by keeping the topic closed for discussion, you are only shutting them off from discussing their feelings with you. All they will do is turn to their friends.
To children their fathers are usually very ______.

A．important

B．great

C．serious

D．strong

From the second paragraph we can know that ______.

A．some children don’t like their fathers at all

B．talking with children around the dinner table is bad

C．it is better for mothers to communicate with their children

D．mothers usually communicate better with their children.

Suppose your children are worried about something you should _____.

A．have a talk with them	B．express your option
C．keep silent	D．let them alone

Your children would not like to discuss their love lives with you probably
because they think__________.

A．you are relaxed about topics on love

B．they should ask for help from their friends

C．they have already grown up

D．it is not normal to experience feelings of love

There was once a blind man, who did a lot of traveling alone. He was making his first trip to Texas and happened to be seated next to a Texan on the flight.
The Texan spent a lot of time telling him how everything was bigger and better in Texas. After the blind man reached his destination, a large resort (度假) hotel, he was very excited about being in Texas.
The long trip had worn him out a little so he decided to stop at the bar for a small soda and a light snack before going up to his room to sleep.
When the waitress set down his drink, it was in a huge cup. “Wow, I had heard everything in Texas is bigger,” he told her.
“That’s right,” she replied. The blind man ate his snack and finished his drink. After drinking such a large amount, it was natural that his next stop was to be the restroom. He asked the waitress for directions. She told him to turn left at the corner, and then take the second door on the right.
He reached the first door and continued. A few steps later he stumbled (绊倒) slightly and missed the second door and ended up going through the third door instead. Not realizing he had entered the swimming area he walked forward and immediately fell into the swimming pool.
Remembering that everything was bigger in Texas, he had his head above water and started shouting “Don’t flush(冲洗)! Don’t flush!”
Why was the blind man excited about being in Texas?

A．It was the first time that he had travelled abroad.

B．People from Texas were very friendly than he expected.

C．He heard that everything was bigger and better in Texas.

D．The service staff in the large resort hotel was very humorous.

Why did the blind man enter the swimming area?

A．He wanted to go swimming.

B．He wanted to have a bath.

C．He stumbled and missed the restroom door.

D．The waitress gave him wrong directions.

Why did the blind man go to the bar?

A．To go through it on his way to his room.

B．To have a short rest after a long walk.

C．To have something to eat there.

D．To ask a waitress for directions.

Why did the blind man shout out “Don’t flush! Don’t flush!”?

A．He thought he was caught in a big toilet and someone was cleaning it.

B．He didn’t want anyone to clean the toilet at that time.

C．He didn’t want anyone to clean the swimming pool at that time.

D．He thought it was such a big swimming pool that making it clean was no use.

If the passage is taken from a website, which part of the website does it belong to?

A．Travel services.

B．Hotel services.

C．Funny stories.

D．Health problems.

After the terrible car accident, the whole world had been completely dark and quiet for Robert Edwards for almost ten years, for he became both blind and deaf after the doctor had saved him. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such a sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life. His family especially his wife did their best to tend and comfort him. By and by he finally regained the courage to live on.
On a hot summer afternoon he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree in order not to get himself wet. Unfortunately he was struck down to the ground by a lightning. The witnesses thought him dead but he woke up some 20 minutes later lying face down in muddy water below the tree. He felt that he was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes ,he didn’t dare to believe that he saw a plough (梨子) lying near the wall. When Mrs Edwards came running up to him, she shouted their neighbours for help. And he saw her and heard her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.
The news of Robert’s regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread in his area. And many doctors came to prove the truth of the news. Most of them said that he gained sight and hearing again obviously from the knock of lightning; none of them could give convincing reasons,






How did Edwards get his sight and hearing once more according to the doctor?

A．He regained them from head injury when he fell from a tree.

B．His wife’s first visit after almost ten years made him so happy that he regained them.

C．The lightning took the feeling from his legs and gave the senses of sight and hearing to his head.

D．The blow that caused him blind and deaf was very severe, so it took another severe blow to regain them.

A man in a very splendid restaurant started to take off his jacket. Seeing this, the head waiter dashed to his table and said, “I’m afraid I must ask you to keep your jacket on, sir, for it is not good manners to do it in such a smart restaurant.”
“Now listen”, said the man, “I’ll let you know that the Queen of England gave me permission to remove my jacket here.”
“The Queen of England?” said the waiter in great surprise.
“Sure,” replied the man, “When I was in England last month, a friend of mine who had a very important position in high society took me to see the Queen. It was rather hot, so I started taking my coat off. The Queen looked over and said, “You may do that in the United States, but you may not do it here.” So I got the Queen’s permission, right?”








D. the English and the Americans enjoyed different ways of life
From the story, you can see the man was _______.

A．humorous and careless

B．such a man as used to make trouble

C．always ready to do what the Queen told him to

D．one who didn’t have good understanding

Two traveling angles stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angles stay in the mansion’s guestroom. Instead the angles were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed in the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angle asked why, the older angle replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing the little food they had the couple let the angles sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angles found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angle was infuriated and asked the older angle how he could have let this happen. “The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” he accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die”.
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angle replied. “when we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it.”
“Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angle of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”
What's the best title of the passage?

A．Two Angles Spread Love

B．Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

C．The Rich And The Poor

D．Tales of Angles

In paragraph 2, the underlined word “infuriated” most probably means ___________.

A．amused

B．angry

C．puzzled

D．disappointed

According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

A．In the home of the wealthy family, the older angle put some gold into a hole in the wall.

B．In the home of the poor family, the older angle killed their cow.

C．The younger angle agreed with what the older angle did at first.

D．The angle of death is in charge of humans’ death.

Oprah Winfrey, the queen of American daytime talk TV, is considered one of the most powerful women in the world．Now, after 25 years’ hosting The Oprah Winfrey Show, the star has announced she is calling it quits．
According to the Los Angeles Times, the move “signals the beginning of the decline for the daytime talk show．” More women are working full-time jobs, and people are turning to cable (有线电视) and pre-recorded shows for their entertainment．
It may be that Oprah isn’t quitting so much as moving on．She has created the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), and will most likely move her show to the network．If audiences around the world need Oprah, they well know where to look．
Oprah Winfrey was born to a single teenage mother in a small town in rural Mississippi, US．As a child, she lived with poverty and abuse．But she got a job at a local radio station, where her honesty, emotional style won her many fans．She quickly rose through the ranks of radio and television before launching her own production company and starting her own show．
Oprah’s talk show was not the first of its kind, but it quickly became the best and most popular．It made talk shows popular, and others jumped in to start similar shows．But while other talk shows turned ugly, featuring guests who argued and attacked each other with chairs, Oprah rose above the mess．
“Part of her power lies in the fact that her life story resonates (产生共鸣) with her audience, as a kind of version of the American dream,” writes Kevin Connolly, a reporter with the BBC．
She became a star because of the way she opened up about her problems to her audience．She shared her own struggles with relationships and weight．She focused on self-help．Connolly believes “something in her honesty and her sometimes painfully emotional directness struck home with a certain type of American”．
Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．The stop of Oprah’s show reflects the decrease of audience．

B．Oprah hosted her show for about 25 years．

C．American talk show was pioneered by Oprah．

D．Oprah used to be a radio presenter．

What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．Oprah could deal with the guests fighting very well．

B．Oprah’s show stood out with her unique style．

C．Oprah turned a deaf ear to other people’s quarrel．

D．Oprah’s fame rose because lots of people watch her show．

From Kevin Connolly, we know people like Oprah’s show for all the reasons EXCEPT ________．

A．Oprah always shares people’s life stories in her show

B．the audiences are touched by Oprah’s honesty and frankness

C．Oprah’s life story reflects the truth of American dream

D．some audiences are inspired by Oprah’s show

According to the text, Oprah ________．

A．always volunteers to help those who need help

B．has practiced presentational skills since she was young

C．believes that one should rely on himself to solve problems

D．calls on women to work full-time jobs

A Tchaikovsky concerto（协奏曲）is what made Romel Joseph fall in love with the violin.
He learned how to play in Haiti, where he was born, but a Fulbright scholarship brought him to the United States, and he finally earned a master’s degree, reports CBS News reporter Katie Couric. Music had changed his life. He wanted to do the same for the children of Haiti.
Joseph built a school in Port-au-Prince nearly 20 years ago. He was on the third floor when suddenly “It was like boom boom boom and everything just opened,” Joseph said. “And the next thing I knew I was on the ground.”
Blind since birth, Joseph tried to feel his way out, but was pinned（夹）beneath heavy concrete（混凝土）. He remained trapped for 18 hours. He prays that his new wife, seven months pregnant（怀孕的）, will be found.
He is now being treated at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital for two injured legs and an arm.
Joseph wonders if he’ll ever play the violin again. He can feel sensation（知觉）in his fingertips. He said, “If you were to give me a violin and if I didn’t have to fold the fingers, I would be able to play.”
Joseph’s daughter Victoria spent three terrifying days unsure of her father’s fate. For her, having him home is the sweetest music.
“Can you imagine your dad not being able to play the violin?” Couric asked.
“No, I can’t,” Victoria Joseph said. “But I will love him all the same if he can’t.”
Romel doesn’t know how many of his 300 students died in the quake. As he waits for news about his wife, Romel Joseph is already planning a return to Haiti to rebuild the school and continue teaching there.
“We can save two children, 20, 200, 300, 500 through education and music, and these children will make a difference,” Romel Joseph said.
Romel began to like music ________.

A．because he was blind since birth

B．after he had listened to a famous piece of music

C．when he got a scholarship to study in America

D．since he was born in Haiti

From what Romel said in Paragraph 6, we can infer that he was ________.

A．upset

B．fearful

C．excited

D．optimistic

To Victoria, the best thing is ________.

A．to see her father recover from the injury quickly

B．to listen to her father playing the sweetest music

C．to play the violin as well as her father

D．to be sure that her father could play the violin

Why does Romel want to go back to Haiti?

A．To save his students from the earthquake.

B．To change the life of children by teaching music.

C．To find out how seriously his school was damaged.

D．To look for his wife who is pregnant.

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Music education: keep your creativity alive

B．A great blind musician and his students

C．Haiti earthquake: a story of a music teacher

D．How did some Haiti earthquake victims survive

Do you know Henry Ford? He was the first person to build cars which were cheap，strong and fast．He was able to sell millions of models because he could produce them in large numbers at a time；that is，he made a great many cars of exactly the same kind．Ford’s father hoped that his son would become a farmer，but the young man did not like the idea and he went to Detroit where he worked as a mechanic（机械师）．By the age of 29，in 1892，he had built his first car．However，the car made in this way，the famous “Model T” did not appear until 1908—five years after Ford had started his great motor car factory．This car showed to be well-known that it remained unchanged for twenty years．Since Ford’s time，this way of producing cars in large numbers has become common in industry and has reduced the price of many goods which would otherwise be very expensive．
Henry Ford was the man to built _____ cars．
A cheap and strong                     B. cheap and long
C. fast and expensive              D. strong and slow
Ford was able to sell millions of cars，because_____．

A．he made many great cars

B．his cars are many

C．he made lots of cars of the same kind

D．both A and B

The “Model T” was very famous_____．

A．before 1908	B．between 1982 and 1908
C．before 1892	D．after 1908

Ford built his own car factory________.

A．n 1903

B．in 1908

C．in 1913

D．in 1897

Computer programmer David Jones makes 35,000 pounds a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a credit card (信用卡). Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.
The 16-year-old boy works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David’s firm puts two new games on the home market each month.
But David’s biggest headache is what to do with his money. In spite of his salary, made by inventing new programs within a quite short period of time, the bonus payments and profit-sharing (奖金和分红), he cannot drive a car, get some money from a bank to buy a house, or get credit cards.
He lives with his parents in their house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His firm has to pay ￡150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive.
David got his job with the firm a year after leaving school with six 0-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs,” he said.
“I suppose 35,000 pounds sounds a lot but actually that’s not good enough. I hope it will come to more than that this year.” He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother 20 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.
“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school,” he said. “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I know what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway.”
David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement (退休) is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear.”
Why is David different from other young people of his age?

A．He earns a very high salary.	B．He has not a job.
C．He does not go out much.	D．He lives at home with his parents.

David’s greatest problem is ____________.

A．making the banks treat him as a grown-up	B．inventing computer games
C．spending his salary	D．learning to drive

He was hired by the firm because ____________.

A．he had worked in a computer shop	B．he had written some computer programs
C．he worked very hard	D． he had learned to use computers at school

He left school after taking six 0-levels because ____________.

A．he did not enjoy school

B．he wanted to work with computers and staying at school did not help him

C．he was afraid of getting too old to start computing

D．he wanted to earn a lot of money

Why does David think he might retire early?

A．One has to be young to write computer programs.

B．He wants to stop working when he is a millionaire.

C．He thinks computer games might not always sell so well.

D．He thinks his firm might go bad.

A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men. The number is said as high as 60% in West Germany.
“Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men’s world,” said Dr James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study.
Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company. She also believes in “Women’ s Liberation(解放)”.
“I don’t wish that I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think many women do. But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women. At work, for example, we often do the work that men do but get paid less. There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones and open only to men. If you’re a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life. How many women pilots are there ... or engineers or scientists?”
What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．60% women in West Germany wish that they were born men.

B．Most women in Western European countries wish that their babies were all boys.

C．60% Western European women wish that they were born men.

D．60% Western European women who wish that they were born men are from West Germany.

“It is still men’s world.” means “______.”

A．There’re more men than women in the world

B．There’re more men scientists or engineers than women scientists or engineers in the world

C．Women have not been given the same chance as men

D．Women cannot live without men

Anne Harper considers that women should ______.

A．live a better life than men	B．be really liberated
C．be well paid	D．get better jobs than men

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Usually the best jobs are not open to women.

B．Women are less paid than men for the same job.

C．There’re more men pilots, engineers and scientists than women ones.

D．Women are looked down upon because they’re the second-class citizens

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．
0f course，his secret was not magic，or supernatural powers．It was simply strength．He had ability to move his toes as well as to move 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 New York club．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 successful．Then Harty 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 newspaperman to watch．It was the publicity(名声)that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success．
Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs(手铐)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? Worldwide fame，and a name remembered today．
According to the passage，Houdini’s 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 skeleton key	D．his inhuman talents and magic tricks

According to the passage，how did Houdini get the key which helped him unlock prison door?

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 his wife．

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

A couple from Miami, Bill and Simone Butler, spent sixty –six days in a life-raft (救生艇) in the seas of Central America after their boat sank.
Twenty-one days after they left Panama in their boat, Simony, they met some whales (鲸鱼). “They started to hit the side of the boat,” said Bill, “and then suddenly we heard water.” Two minutes later, the boat was sinking. They jumped into the life-raft and watched the boat go under the water.
For twenty days they had tins of food, biscuits, and bottles of water. They also had a fishing-line and a machine to make salt water into drinking water— two things which saved their lives. They caught eight to ten fish a day and ate them raw (生的). Then the line broke. “So we had no more fish until something very strange happened. Some sharks (鲨鱼) came to feed, and the fish under the raft were afraid and came to the surface. I caught them with my hands.”
About twenty ships passed them, but no one saw them. After fifty days at sea their life-raft was beginning to break up. Then suddenly it was all over. A fishing boat saw them and picked them up. They couldn’t stand up. So the captain carried them onto his boat and took them to Costa Rica. Their two months at sea was over.
Bill and Simone were traveling ______ when they met some whales.

A．in a life-raft

B．in Miami

C．in Simony

D．in Panama

During their days at sea, ______ saved their lives.

A．tins of food and bottles of water	B．a fishing-line and a machine
C．whales and sharks	D．Twenty passing ships

After their boat sank, the couple ______.

A．jumped into the life-raft	B．heard water
C．watched the boat go under water	D．stayed in the life-raft