VOA慢速英语: 魔法治愈

魔法治愈

From VOA Learning English this is the Health Report.

这里是美国之音的健康报道。

Magic is the performance of tricks. It has been a part of almost every culture in the world for centuries. Magic shows today might include a disappearing act, card tricks, or pulling a rabbit out of a hat. But what could that have to do with health?

魔术就是表演变戏法。几百年来，魔术已经成为世界各国文化中的一部分。今天的魔术表演包括逃脱魔术、扑克牌魔术或者帽子中变出小兔子。那这些跟健康有什么关系呢？

One American magician goes beyond just entertaining crowds. Kevin Spencer also makes magic to improve the lives of people with disabilities. VOA’s Julie Taboh attended one of Mr. Spencer’s special workshops near Washington, DC to learn how.

一位美国的魔术师的魔术不是用来娱乐大众。凯文·史宾赛使魔术改善残疾人的生活。美国之音的朱莉·塔波参加了史宾赛先生在华盛顿特区附近的特别的研习班，来看看他究竟怎么做。

Kevin: “Solid?"

凯文：“这是固体？”

Client: "Yes!"

观众：“是的！”

Kevin: What’s the magic word again?”

凯文：“魔术咒语是什么？”

Client: “Abracadabra!”

观众：“阿布拉卡达布拉”

Kevin: "We’re going to bend the dollar bill over like this ..."

凯文：“我们将会把这美元弯曲成这样……”

Kevin Spencer has been a magician for more than 30years.

凯文·史宾赛已经做了三十多年的魔术师了。

“I saw my first magician perform when I was five year sold and I can remember then, vividly, telling my mom, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to be a magician.’”

“我五岁的时候第一次看到魔术表演，我记得很清楚，告诉我妈妈：“等我长大了，我要成为一名魔术师。”

But early in his career, a bad car accident changed the focus of his work.

但是在他事业之初，一场车祸改变了他工作的重心和焦点。

“The car I was in was crushed by a tractor trailer. I woke up in neurological intensive care with a closed brain injury and a lower spinal cord injury and spent almost a year in therapy just trying to regain the skills I’d lost as a result of the accident.”

“我开的车被一辆拖拉机拖车撞了，当我醒来后就在神经科监护病房，因为闭合性大脑损伤还有轻微的脊髓损伤，花了一年的时间治疗，为了能够重新恢复因为事故而丧失的技能。”

His accident made him think about using magic tricks as a tool for healing.

他遭遇的意外让他开始思考运用魔术作为治疗的一种工具。

“We know from research that magic is therapeutic, but we also know from research that all of the movements that are required to perform a magic trick are the same kinds of things that we would be working on in more traditional forms of therapy.”

“从研究中我们可以了解到魔术是一种治疗的手段，而且表演魔术中需要的所有活动跟传统治疗方式异曲同工。”

Kevin: "Push all the way down..."

凯文：“都推到……”

So Spencer started conducting workshops all over the world. He teaches magic tricks to children and adults with disabilities.

因此，史宾赛开始在世界范围内开办魔术研习班，他教一些有残疾的儿童和成年人变魔术。

Mr. Spencer says that magic therapy may seem non-traditional. But he adds many skills needed to perform a good magic trick are used in traditional forms of therapy – physical movement, thinking, understanding and social skills are all there.

史宾赛说魔术治疗看起来也许非传统，但是要表演好一场莫属，他添加了许多技巧，在传统形式的治疗中用到的——物理运动、思考能力、理解能力和社交能力都包含在其中。

“So we’re working on motor skills, cognitive skills, perceptual skills, social skills and when you’re done, you actually have a really cool magic trick you can show somebody when it’s all over with.”

“所以说，我们致力于动作技能、认知技能、感知能力和社交能力的培养，当你能够完成一个魔术表演时，你就能够展示给别人：运用各种能力表演出精彩的魔术。”

Kevin: "Yes! Like that!"

凯文：“是的，就像那样！”

And that social connection with other people can also help people feel better about themselves and increase their confidence.

这种与他人交流联系的社交行为会让这些残疾人感觉更好一些，同时也增加他们的信心。

Kevin: “One, two, three, four …”

凯文：“一、二、三、四…”

Liam: "Oh, I get it. It's like a pattern!"

利亚姆：“哦，我明白了，就像一个模式！”

Kevin: "Uh huh, five ..."

凯文：“呃，呃，五…”

Liam Shannon is an example.

利亚姆·肖恩就是个例子。

Liam has autism, a brain disorder that can make learning and connecting with people difficult. People with severe autism may also have trouble understanding complex emotions. The 10-year old boy says that after he learned a few simple tricks, he felt many different emotions.

利亚姆患有自闭症，一种学习、与人交流有困难的大脑疾病。患有严重自闭症的人在理解别人复杂情绪方面也有些问题。这个十岁的男孩子说在学了一些简单的魔术后，他感觉到很多不同的情绪。

Liam: “Whoa! That’s so great!"

利亚姆：“哇，很棒！”

Liam says that after learning how to perform a magic trick he felt like an old magic man, a wizard, or as he puts “wizardy.” He also says he felt serious, happy and proud.

利亚姆说在学习如何表演魔术后，他觉得自己就像是个资深魔术师，或者用他的话说“男巫”。他还说感觉很严肃认真、开心自豪。

“It made me feel wizardy. Serious, happy, proud. It was great!”

“魔术让我感觉很神奇，表演严肃认真、让人开心自豪，很棒！”

Gitra Maitra is Liam’s mother. She says learning to perform a magic trick just made him feel good about himself.

吉塔·马提亚是利亚姆的妈妈。她说学习魔术让他儿子自我感觉更好。

“I think it just made him feel good about himself. Because he realized he had accomplished something. He’d seen it, he observed it, he learned it, and he did it.”

“我认为魔术让他自我感觉更好，因为他意识到自己能够完成一些事，他认真观看、观察、然后学习，最后表演成功。”

Kevin Spencer says seeing kids like Liam come alive during a workshop is better than all the applause in the world.

凯文·史宾赛说看到像利亚姆这样的孩子在魔术研习班活跃起来，比在世界任何地方听到的掌声感觉都要好。

“We can be on a stage and get the applause of thousands of people, and that is nothing compared to the smile that comes across a kid’s face and when they say ‘Look! I did it’ and it’s like, yeah, you did!”

“我们可以站在舞台上，获得成千上万个人的掌声，但是这没办法与孩子们说“快看，我做到了，是的，你做到了”时，脸上天真的笑容相比较。”

Kevin: "Parachute jump out of the plane..."

凯文：“伞降人员跳出飞机…”

He says he plans to spend more and more of his time working with people with disabilities. He says he wants to help them discover their own inner wizard.

他说他计划用更多的时间跟这些残疾人待在一起，他想帮助他们找到内心深处的魔法师。

Or as Liam would say, to help them feel wizardy!

或者正如里亚姆说的，帮他们，让其觉得自己就是魔法师！

“It made me feel wizardy. It was great!”

“魔术使我感到很神奇，很棒！”

And that’s the Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.

这是健康报道，我是安娜·马特奥。

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Words in this Story

magic – n. tricks that seem to be impossible and that are done by a performerto entertain people

focus – n. a main purpose or interest

therapy – n. the treatment of physical or mental illnesses

wizard – n. a person who is skilled in magic or who has magical powers

confidence - n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeedat something

proud - adj. very happy and pleased because of something you have done,something you own, someone you know or are related to, etc.

applause - n. approval or praise expressed by clapping