The road to be a magician “魔术师”成长记
作者：赖薪帆
来源：《疯狂英语·新阅版》2020年第02期
偶然的一次经历让他对魔术很感兴趣，但是成为一名真正的魔术师让他经历了千难万险……
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 /ɪ̍luːʒn/ n. 幻觉
3. dedicated /̍dedɪkeɪtɪd/ adj. 专注的
I became a magician by accident. When I was nine years old， I learned how to make a coin disappear. Id read The Lord of the Rings and ventured into the adult ction of the lib
rary to arch 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 the illusion in 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 crosd the playground to investigate. She told me to do it again. Im 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， open⁃mouthed wonder—forever. If you could make people feel like this， why wouldnt 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 cret to my success is simple： I work from ven 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 Gladwells 10，000 hours of dedicated practice by the time I turned 22， and hes 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 e the audiences face. I want you to e the joy. Its 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 e people at their very best， and in this transformation you can e through the illusion what can only be described as real， actual magic.
Reading Check
1. Why did the author go to the adult ction of the library？
A. To arch for a story book.
B. To arch for a book about coins.
C. To arch for a book of magic words.
D. To arch 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 peoples prai.
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. 在我九歲时，我学会了如何把一枚硬币变得“看不见”。
