The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers(表演者) in the theater. He was a man famous for his escapes（逃走；逃生） — from prison cells（囚室）, from wooden boxes floating（漂浮） 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 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 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 （监狱）escape in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded（说服） a detective（侦探） which to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.

    It was the publicity(宣传) 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 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, pass quickly from her mouth to his.

    Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison 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.

    Chris Rock was born in the state of South Carolina in the United States. When he was a child, his family moved, and he grew up in a poor area in Brooklyn, New York.

    As a teenager, Rock left high school and started telling jokes in comedy clubs in New York City, Even at age 18, Chris Rock was very funny. He told jokes about his family (his parents were very strict) , and about growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980s. Many of his jokes were also about high school, which Rock says was terrible.

    Famous comedians (喜剧演员）went to see Rock's performances. One comedian (Eddie Murphy) helped him get work on television and in the movies. Chris Rock still acts in movies, but he does not want to be a serious actor. For him, comedy is more important. It makes people laugh, but it can also make people think.

    Today, Chris Rock still does live comedy shows around the world. He also created a TV show called "Everybody Hates Chris." It is about his teenage years growing up and going to school in Brooklyn. In 2006, it was considered as one of the best comedy shows on American television.

    The famous director（导演）of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset（日落）over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for over. He sent his camera workers out one evening to film the sunset for him.

    The next morning he said to the men, "Have you provided me with that sunset?"

     "No, sir," the men answered. The director was angry. "Why not?" he asked.

     "Well, sir," one of the men answered, "we're on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise（日出）over the sea, if necessary（必要）, but not a sunset. "

     "But I want a sunset!" the director shouted."（Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one."

    But then a young secretary had an idea. "Why don't you photo a sunrise," she asked, "and then play it backwards? Then it'll look like a sunset."

     "That's a very good idea!" the director said. Then he turned to the camera workers and said, "Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea."

    The camera workers went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful coast. Then at nine o'clock they took it to the director. "Here it is, sir, "they said, and gave it to him. He was very pleased.

    They all went into the studio（工作室）. "All right, "the director explained, "now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the 'sunset' behind them. "

    The "sunset" began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera workers to stop.

    The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach.

    Mr. and Mrs. Black opened a small restaurant. In order to attract (吸引) customers, they put a notice in front of the restaurant that said "Meals on the House for Three Days."

    A foreign student who didn't know much English happened to pass by the restaurant on the second day. It was lunch time and he felt very hungry. "Well, here is a restaurant. I am going to have something to eat."

    He walked towards the restaurant when he saw the notice. "American people are really strange. They even eat dinners on their houses. But how can I get up to the top of the house?" he said to himself.

    He looked around and found a ladder against a tree nearby. He started climbing up. But as he reached the top，he heard someone shouting at him.

    "Hey, what are you doing up there?" Mr. Black shouted at him. Next to him was a policeman.

    "Doesn't your notice say? "Meals on the House for Three Days'? Is it just a joke?" the foreign student answered.

    On hearing this, both Mr. Black and the policeman laughed. "Do you know what ON THE HOUSE means? Look it up in the dictionary," the policeman said.

     Pan Changjiang is short and a little heavy. He has short straight hair. He is an actor and he is really funny. He also sings well.

     Liu Qian is a little thin and he is of medium height. He is good at magic. Many young people like him. He is very popular.

     Fei Xiang is tall and of medium build. He has long black hair. He is a famous singer and maybe our parents like his songs. He is handsome.

     Jackie Chan is a little heavy. He has a big nose. He is an actor and he is often in kung fu movies. He can sing well too.