"It's So Good" in French, was one of Eartha Mae Kitt's first hit songs. But her childhood wasn't so good. She was born into a poor family in South Carolina in nineteen twenty-seven. When Eartha was eight, her mother remarried. Her stepfather did not like her so she was sent to New York City to live with an aunt, who helped pay for her piano and dance lessons. Eartha Kitt worked in a factory as a young teenager. But she kept up her dance lessons. One day she tried out for a famous African-American dance company. Soon, Eartha was performing in shows around the world with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe. In Paris, Eartha left the dance company to sing in a nightclub. Her voice was very attracting. She learned French quickly and gained French fans. Soon the film director Orson Welles discovered Eartha Kitt singing in Paris. Welles asked her to play a lead part in a play he was directing. The play made her find her acting talent for the first time. After that Eartha Kitt returned to New York and appeared in the Broadway show with "Monotonous", a song about a bored woman, and it became famous. She soon signed with a record company. Then Eartha Kitt acted her first role in a film in nineteen fifty-seven in "Mark of the Hawk". Kitt was very careful about choosing her roles in films. She refused parts that were not respectful to black people. In nineteen sixty-seven, Eartha Kitt got the part of Catwoman on the popular television series "Batman". Fans loved the special way she said her "r"s to create a sound like a cat, which made her an unforgettable Catwoman. She was strongly against the Vietnam War and in nineteen sixty-eight she became blacklisted in America. For about ten years, she could only find work in other countries. But that brought her a greater international achievement. What made Eartha Kitt an unforgettable Catwoman in "Batman"? _ . A) Her walking steps. B) The looks on her face. C) Her way of speaking "r". D) Her good singing skills.
C
(Question)
The Man of Many Secrets-Harry Houdini---was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was 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 prefix = st1 /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 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 then performed card tricks in club in new York. 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 very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, inChicagoin 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 that came from this that started Harry Houdini's 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? Worldwide fame, and a name remembered today. It can he inferred from the passage that Houdini became successful_. A) before he was about 17 B) when he was about 17 C) after the year 1898 D) before the year 1898
(Answer)
C
In our home it was natural to fear our father . Even our mother was afraid of him. As children, my sister and I thought every family was like that. Every family had an unpredictable dad who was impossible to please and a praying mom who was there to protect the children. We were good children. Mom was always telling us we were, even if Daddy couldn't see it . part of this was because we didn't dare to do anything. Then came the day we found something new and fun to do. We worked at drawing with chalk on our wooden front door and making lots of pretty pictures all over it. We had a great time. We thought Mom would love it and praise us. The praise we expected did not come. Instead, Mom was mad. We did not understand why, but we knew we were in big trouble! Off we ran to find a place to hid. In our wooded yard it was not hard for two small children to find safety. Together, we hid behind a tree and did not move. Soon we heard the frightened voices of Mom and our neighbors calling out to us. The sun set and it began to get dark. Those around us became more anxious, and we became more frightened. However, we still didn't move. As we clung together in the dark, we became aware of yet another voice, one we recognized with great fear: our daddy. But there was something strangely different about it. In it we heard something we had never heard before: fear, agony and despair. Then came his prayers in tearful voice. Our daddy was promising God that he would give his life to him if he would safely return his girls. Nothing in our lives had prepared us for this kind of shock. Neither of us remembers making a decision to come out. We were drawn to him like a magnet , our fears disappearing into the forest. We didn't know yet if we actually took steps or if God somehow moved us out and into Daddy's arms. What we do remember were those strong, loving arms holding us and crying, hugging us like we were precious. Things were different after that. _ . Our whole family was changed by a piece of chalk. The children's drawing on the door _ . A) brought them great trouble B) gained their mother's praise C) made their father very angry D) failed to meet their mother's demands
A