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. ___ 3the 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 waxlike ___ 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
