Use the passage below: Though he gained fame as a magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weisz, was also a well-known skeptic of spiritual practices. After his mother died in 1913, he tried to contact her through a medium at a séance and saw through the medium's sleight-of- hand tricks.
He launched a public campaign against so-called mystics. His 1923 book, A Magician Among the Spirits, accused mediums of defrauding grieving people and explained how common séance illusions were performed. He put his stage show on hold that year to go on a lecture tour supporting the book.
By 1925, he was offering $10,000 to any medium whose tricks he couldn't figure out. He never had to pay up. Which of the following statements explains why Houdini never had to pay out on his $10,000 wager?
A. His book didn't make enough money to fund the wager.
B. He saw through the mediums' sleight-of-hand tricks.
C. He explained how mediums performed common séance illusions.
D. He was never fooled by a medium who challenged him.

D. He was never fooled by a medium who challenged him.

Explanation:

So, the whole point of the passage is to show how Harry Houdini could tell the behind the scenes of these magic tricks. The question is which of the statements explains why he never paid his $10,000 wager? Let's go over the answers. (before reading through each of my answer explanations, first read the answer that I am talking about.)

A. This answer is saying that his book wasn't successful enough for him to pay $10,000. This is false. As we can see from the later part of the text, Houdini "put his stage show on hold that year to go on a lecture show supporting the book." How would he go on tour about his book if the book wasn't successful and popular? The passage even continues saying that 2 years later he put up his $10,000 wager on any magician who he couldn't understand their form of magic. Houdini's book was obviously popular so he definitely had enough money to pay for the wager if he lost.

B. While this does make sense that Houdini saw through the sleight of hand tricks, that is too specific. Not all magic is about sleight of hand(moving your hands around with objects to pretend to do magic). Some magics don't really have to do with sleight of hand, like mind reading. Houdini must have seen all different types of magic, not just sleight of hand.

C. While this could make sense for why Houdini never had to pay his $10,000 wager, it doesn't exactly mean that he explained the tricks correctly. This statement says that Houdini explained how the common illusions were preformed, but it doesn't say that he explained them correctly. Plus, some of the seance illusions must have been more complex and not "common illusions."

D. Now, this statement makes perfect sense. Houdini was never fooled by another magician's magic. He was never fooled by any medium(much broader in scope), which makes sense for why he never paid $10,000.

11-32. the main character in the parable, the forgiving father, whose character remains constant throughout the story, is a picture of god. in telling the story, jesus identifies himself with god in his loving attitude to the lost. the younger son symbolizes the lost (the tax collectors and sinners of that day, luke 15: 1), and the elder brother represents the self-righteous (the pharisees and teachers of the law of that day, luke 15: 2). the major theme of this parable seems not to be so much the conversion of the sinner, as in the previous two parables of luke 15, but rather the restoration of a believer into fellowship with the father. in the first two parables, the owner went out to look for what was lost (luke 15: 1-10), whereas in this story the father waits and watches eagerly for his son's return. we see a progression through the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred (luke 15: 1-7), to one in ten (luke 15: 8-10), to one in one (luke 15: 11-32), demonstrating god’s love for each individual and his personal attentiveness towards all humanity. we see in this story the graciousness of the father overshadowing the sinfulness of the son, as it is the memory of the father’s goodness that brings the prodigal son to repentance (romans 2: 4).

your answer would be: d) eye contact