The road to be a magician

江西龙南中学 赖薪帆

题材 人物 体裁 记叙文 文章词数 437 建议用时 8 min

难词探意

1.venture/΄ventʃə（r）/v.冒险

2.illusion/ı΄luːʒn/n.幻觉

3.dedicated/΄dedıkeıtıd/adj.专注的

I became a magician by accident.When I was nine years old,I learned how to make a coin disappear.I'd read The Lord of the Rings andventuredinto the adult section of the library to search for a book of magic words.The book I found instead taught basic sleight-of-hand technique,and I spent the next months practicing.One day I tried theillusionin the mirror and the coin disappeared.It did not look like a magic trick.It looked like a miracle.

One day I made the coin disappear on the playground.A dozen people were watching.I showed the coin to everyone.Then it disappeared.The kids screamed,yelled and laughed.Everyone went crazy.This was great.This was Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings terrifying the guests at his birthday party by putting the One Ring on his finger and making it disappear.The teacher on duty crossed the playground to investigate.She told me to do it again.I'm sure my hands were shaking,but when I looked up,everything had changed.I will remember the look on her face—the look of wide-eyed,openmouthed wonder—forever.If you could make people feel like this,why wouldn't you do it all the time?For anyone—but especially for a nine-year-old boy at a new school—this transformation is almost indistinguishable from real magic.

I am living proof,though,that if you throw enough time and effort at something—maybe even anything—you can become good at it.I found inspiration in a quote—The real secret to my success is simple:I work from seven in the morning to midnight and I like it.This quote lived on a scrap of paper stuck to the wall by my bed for ten years.I had hit Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours ofdedicatedpractice by the time I turned 22,and he's right—I got pretty good.

The week after I finished school,I drove to Los Angeles to begin my career as a professional magician.I have never held another job.For years I have traveled the country performing.I want you to see the audiences'face.I want you to see the joy.It's the kind of joy that reminds you for a moment that when the weight of worry,of pain,of anxiety,of the world,has gone,the face that shines without it is extraordinary.Magicians get to see people at their very best,and in this transformation you can see through the illusion what can only be described as real,actual magic.

Reading Check

1.Why did the author go to the adult section of the library?

A.To search for a story book.

B.To search for a book about coins.

C.To search for a book of magic words.

D.To search for a book called The Lord of the Rings.

2.What can be inferred from paragraph 2?

A.He has a talent for playing coins.

B.His performance was a success.

C.He was popular among classmates and teachers.

D.He was inspired by people's praise.

3.Which of the following can best describe the author according to the last paragraph?

A.Patient.

B.Devoted.

C.Helpful.

D.Generous.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

When I was nine years old,I learned how to make a coin disappear.在我九岁时，我学会了如何把一枚硬币变得“看不见”。

【信息提取】how to do...意为“如何去……”，属于“疑问词+不定式”结构中的一种用法，疑问词可以是what、which、who、when、how、where 等。

【句式仿写】他不知该去哪里。