Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Harry Houdini(1874--1926) was a world-famous magician and a performer of death-defying stunts . His world fame was based on a series of astonishing escapology tricks. He was able to free himself from obviously escape--proof devices, including leg irons, handcuffs (as many as ten pairs at the same time), locked prison cells and crates which had been nailed shut. His most striking skill was when he escaped from an airtight tank that was filled with water. Houdini was born in Budapapest, prefix = st1 /Hungary, and his family moved to theUSAwhen he was a child. For a time, they lived in a cheap boarding house inNew Yorkand they struggled to make a living. One of Harry's first jobs was an apprentice to a locksmith , which is where he mastered the art of opening locks without using a key. In 1891, Houdini became a professional magician, but at first he met with little success. When he began experimenting with escapology, however, he so impressed a theatre manager who saw him that he was strongly advised to concentrate on that part of his act. Within months, he was a huge success, performing at top theatres, not only in the USAbut also in Europe. He created a sensation inLondon, when he made an elephant disappear from the stage of the Hippodrome Theatre. What the audience didn't know was that below the stage was a swimming pool filled with water, where the somewhat terrified elephant finished up! Back in the USA, he produced the most dangerous act of his career--the Water Torture. He was suspended(,) upside down in a water tank which was full to overflowing. He had to hold his breath for more than three minutes to escape. In a fictionalised film of his life, he "died" doing this trick. This is not true. He actually died of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital. Question: Which of the following statements is TRUE? - It was his parents who advised him to fix his attention on performing magic. - Houdini was successful at the very beginning of his career. - Houdini was famous for his astonishing magic. - Houdini died of an accident while giving an performance.
Houdini was famous for his astonishing magic.

Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Almost everyone has seen someone speed read.They appear to skim the text and still have read and absorbed the content.The people who have studied speed reading techniques will still read at different speeds;however they will undoubtedly beat those without experience. The best and most efficient way to learn to read fast is to join in classes,where speed reading skills will be explained clearly. The advantage of courses is that students will be shown several different strategies showing them to choose the ones they find easiest to understand the material they are reading. Students should try to learn all the strategies presented during their courses as, once these are mastered,they will see a dramatic improvement in their reading rate,after which they can choose their preferred style. Students will see the benefits of speed reading as soon as the techniques are applied to their main field of study. A traditional education builds habits in reading which a good speed reading course will push aside,replacing with new techniques. A comprehensive course will also advise students how to become more efficient readers;hopefully this will also encourage the desire for self improvement as well as the desire to read. Lecturers in speed reading will usually take the time to teach students the importance of preparing the environment they work in before they read a single work remember reading at speed is all about increasing the speed of comprehension not just the speed of reading! The satisfaction of reading faster and with better comprehension skills cannot be ignored;the techniques of speed reading increase the enjoyment of reading.Speed reading is a skill to be encouraged in each and every generation of new readers. Question: How does the writer suggest readers learn the strategies provided by the class? - They should choose one suitable strategy to improve speed reading. - They should choose the method suitable to their main field of study. - They must follow the instructions of their teachers. - They should try all of them in order to choose the suitable one.
They should try all of them in order to choose the suitable one.

Q: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: Papa's Straw Hat Papa was a ranger. He worked with horses. He always wore clean clothes with a hat even when he worked. His hat was always the same kind of a cowboy hat- large black hat of heavy wool. He wore his hat full and high. I think he wanted to look taller than he really was. Mama was proud of the way he looked when he wore his hat and his best clothes. But in some way she got the idea that papa would lose his hair if he kept wearing a heavy wool cowboy hat in the hot weather. She began to talk about his hats. "Papa," she said one day, "why don't you get a nice cool straw hat? That heavy wool cowboy hat may cause losing hair!" Papa laughed at her and explained that the horses wouldn't recognize him if he changed the hat. But she didn't believe him. Mama talked and talked about the hat all summer long. At last papa answered, a little angry, "It would not the cowboy hat but a wife's talking about the hat that makes me lose my hair." Mama had a very serious look on her face. She went straight out and later came home with a straw hat. It was a bad year for ranger and we didn't have much money. She thought that if she spent the money for a straw hat, papa would wear it. When papa saw the hat, his face got red. Without a word, he pulled the straw hat down over his head until it hid his eyes and went on to train the horses. He was a good ranger and gentle to his horses. But as papa got close to the horses this time, they jumped high into the air, raising their front feet. All of them ran around in the rounded field and then raced toward the barn. Papa began to shout "Woo boys. Steady boys, steady." But there was nothing equal to. Papa walked back straight to the stove in the kitchen, pushed the straw hat deep down into the fire then turned to mama, in a way that even frightened me. "Now listen to me, mama. Understand this I will never wear a straw hat or any other kind of hat my horses do not like." Then he put on his wool cowboy hat and walked out of the house. I never heard mama talk any more about hats.... Question: According to the passage, a ranger is _ . - a person wearing a woolen hat - a position requiring clean clothes - a person training horses for some purpose - a person riding a carriage with horses
A: a person training horses for some purpose