VOA慢速英語: 魔法治愈

魔法治愈

From VOA Learning English this is the Health Report.

這里是美國之音的健康報道。

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?

魔術(shù)就是表演變戲法。幾百年來，魔術(shù)已經(jīng)成為世界各國文化中的一部分。今天的魔術(shù)表演包括逃脫魔術(shù)、撲克牌魔術(shù)或者帽子中變出小兔子。那這些跟健康有什么關(guān)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.

一位美國的魔術(shù)師的魔術(shù)不是用來娛樂大眾。凱文·史賓賽使魔術(shù)改善殘疾人的生活。美國之音的朱莉·塔波參加了史賓賽先生在華盛頓特區(qū)附近的特別的研習班，來看看他究竟怎么做。

Kevin: “Solid?"

凱文：“這是固體？”

Client: "Yes!"

觀眾：“是的！”

Kevin: What’s the magic word again?”

凱文：“魔術(shù)咒語是什么？”

Client: “Abracadabra!”

觀眾：“阿布拉卡達布拉”

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

凱文：“我們將會把這美元彎曲成這樣……”

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

凱文·史賓賽已經(jīng)做了三十多年的魔術(shù)師了。

“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.’”

“我五歲的時候第一次看到魔術(shù)表演，我記得很清楚，告訴我媽媽：“等我長大了，我要成為一名魔術(shù)師。”

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

但是在他事業(yè)之初，一場車禍改變了他工作的重心和焦點。

“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.”

“我開的車被一輛拖拉機拖車撞了，當我醒來后就在神經(jīng)科監(jiān)護病房，因為閉合性大腦損傷還有輕微的脊髓損傷，花了一年的時間治療，為了能夠重新恢復因為事故而喪失的技能。”

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

他遭遇的意外讓他開始思考運用魔術(shù)作為治療的一種工具。

“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.”

“從研究中我們可以了解到魔術(shù)是一種治療的手段，而且表演魔術(shù)中需要的所有活動跟傳統(tǒng)治療方式異曲同工。”

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

凱文：“都推到……”

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

因此，史賓賽開始在世界范圍內(nèi)開辦魔術(shù)研習班，他教一些有殘疾的兒童和成年人變魔術(shù)。

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.

史賓賽說魔術(shù)治療看起來也許非傳統(tǒng)，但是要表演好一場莫屬，他添加了許多技巧，在傳統(tǒng)形式的治療中用到的——物理運動、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.”

“所以說，我們致力于動作技能、認知技能、感知能力和社交能力的培養(yǎng)，當你能夠完成一個魔術(shù)表演時，你就能夠展示給別人：運用各種能力表演出精彩的魔術(shù)。”

Kevin: "Yes! Like that!"

凱文：“是的，就像那樣！”

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

這種與他人交流聯(lián)系的社交行為會讓這些殘疾人感覺更好一些，同時也增加他們的信心。

Kevin: “One, two, three, four …”

凱文：“一、二、三、四…”

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

利亞姆：“哦，我明白了，就像一個模式！”

Kevin: "Uh huh, five ..."

凱文：“呃，呃，五…”

Liam Shannon is an example.

利亞姆·肖恩就是個例子。

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.

利亞姆患有自閉癥，一種學習、與人交流有困難的大腦疾病?；加袊乐刈蚤]癥的人在理解別人復雜情緒方面也有些問題。這個十歲的男孩子說在學了一些簡單的魔術(shù)后，他感覺到很多不同的情緒。

Liam: “Whoa! That’s so great!"

利亞姆：“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.

利亞姆說在學習如何表演魔術(shù)后，他覺得自己就像是個資深魔術(shù)師，或者用他的話說“男巫”。他還說感覺很嚴肅認真、開心自豪。

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

“魔術(shù)讓我感覺很神奇，表演嚴肅認真、讓人開心自豪，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·馬提亞是利亞姆的媽媽。她說學習魔術(shù)讓他兒子自我感覺更好。

“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.”

“我認為魔術(shù)讓他自我感覺更好，因為他意識到自己能夠完成一些事，他認真觀看、觀察、然后學習，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.

凱文·史賓賽說看到像利亞姆這樣的孩子在魔術(shù)研習班活躍起來，比在世界任何地方聽到的掌聲感覺都要好。

“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!”

“我們可以站在舞臺上，獲得成千上萬個人的掌聲，但是這沒辦法與孩子們說“快看，我做到了，是的，你做到了”時，臉上天真的笑容相比較。”

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

凱文：“傘降人員跳出飛機…”

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.

他說他計劃用更多的時間跟這些殘疾人待在一起，他想幫助他們找到內(nèi)心深處的魔法師。

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

或者正如里亞姆說的，幫他們，讓其覺得自己就是魔法師！

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

“魔術(shù)使我感到很神奇，很棒！”

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

這是健康報道，我是安娜·馬特奧。

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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