阅读理解精练

閱读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

（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[實现] 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[市政厅] 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.

參考答案与解析

（一）

文章讲的是一个著名的艺人赫迪尼成功的原因。

1. C。事实细节题。从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正确。

2. A。词汇猜测题。this是承接上文，代指1898年芝加哥大逃狱即代指上句的内容，故答案选A。

3. D。事实细节题。从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正确。

4. A。推理判断题。It was the publicity that came from this started Hairy Houdinis success中this指的是1898年芝加哥大逃狱，可见他是1898年在芝加哥一举成名的，1891年他17岁，可知1898年他是24岁，即答案选A。

5. B。推理判断题。从第4题可知他是1898年在芝加哥一举成名的，那也是他第一次被大众认可的时间，D项只说了成功的原因之一，太片面，故答案选B。

（二）

本文讲述的是黑人布拉德利托马斯竞选为洛杉矶市长的事情。

1. A。推断题。根据第1段Los Angeles…with a population of three million. About sixteen percent of the citys population are black 和倒数第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可以推断出令人惊讶的是白人会选一个黑人当市长。故答案选A。

2. D。推断题。根据文章最后一段In Los Angeles thousands of white citizens voted for Thomas Bradley because they believed he would be a better mayor than the white candidates可知答案为D。

3. C。推断题。根据第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可推出答案为C。

4. B。推断题。本文通过讲叙黑人布拉德利托马斯当选为洛杉矶市长，主要说明了黑人的地位比以前有了一些改进，故答案为B。

（三）

本文主要向我们介绍阅读不同类型的书籍的所用的阅读速度不同。

1. C。事实细节题。根据A higher reading rate， with no loss of comprehension， will help you in other subjects as well as in English 可知答案为C。

2. A。事实细节题。用排除法可知答案为A。

3. D。推理判断题。根据…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（没有经过特别训练速度每分钟是240到250，经过特别训练一个星期后速度将达到400到500）可知答案为 D。

4. A。推理判断题。本文主要讲提高阅读速度方面的内容，因此答案为A。

Thinking Back 回忆

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？”

我们总共十个人，聚在一起祝贺已成为寡妇的妈妈的八十岁生日。谈的话题是我们家早年的艰辛，走着去上班，在“新衣会”里存钱准备买衣裳。这时我姐姐说：“当然，我们的生活没法子不艰难，因为我们家孩子太多了。妈妈，您为什么要生这么多的孩子呢？”

媽妈看了我们一圈说：“那么，你想让我在哪儿停住呢？”