WORDLY WISE 3OOO ONLINE
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Level 3 • Passage
Lesson 7
Abracadabra!
Have you ever watched someone doing magic tricks? Have you
wished that you could do some too? Would you like to discover how
they are done? The secret is simple and can be told in just three
words: Practice. Practice. Practice.
Before you try the magic tricks that follow, here is some advice.
Never miss a chance to make those watching you laugh. When
people are laughing, they are less likely to follow what your hands
are doing. Now here are three tricks that anyone can do—with a little
practice, of course.
First, let’s learn how to make a coin disappear by magic. You
need two sheets of white paper and a transparent drinking glass.
You’ll also need a handkerchief and a coin. Take one of the sheets
of paper and place the glass, upside down, over it. Draw a circle
around the rim. Cut around the line you have drawn. Then glue the
paper circle to the rim of the glass. Now you are ready. Place the
coin on the other sheet of white paper with the glass next to it. No
one sees the paper circle you have glued to the rim. All they see is
an empty glass resting on the piece of paper. Keep talking as you
do each step. That’s so no one thinks to ask to see the glass. Take the
handkerchief and place it over the glass. Cover the glass completely.
Pick up the glass and place it over the coin. Say a magic word. Then
remove the handkerchief. The coin has vanished. Only you know that
it is hidden under the paper glued to the glass.
Now here is a card trick sure to mystify those who watch you do
it. Take a deck of cards and remove the four jacks. Fan them out and
hold them up. Everyone sees you holding up four jacks. Actually, you
are holding up eight cards, not four. You have hidden four additional
cards behind the jack that is closest to you as you hold them up.
They can be any cards. Keeping the four extra cards hidden is what
takes practice. Now bring the eight cards together. Place them face
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1 Wordly Wise 3000®Online Level 3 • Passage • Lesson 7
down on top of the deck. Without letting anyone see their faces, pick
up the top four cards. Place these cards anywhere in the middle of
the deck. Say some magic words. Then, one by one, lift the top four
cards. Each one is a jack that in some strange way has made its way
from the middle of the deck to the top.
The third and last trick takes practice and a good memory. Begin
by asking someone on your left to crumple up a dollar bill and throw
it to you. Catch the bill. Then, without looking at it, throw what seems
to be this bill to a person on your right. You ask them to unfold it.
Have them check as you call out the number printed on the dollar
bill. When you do this correctly, people are amazed.
Yet the trick is quite simple. You have your own dollar bill, and
you have memorized the number printed on it. Before you begin the
trick, you keep this crushed dollar bill hidden in your hand. You catch
the dollar bill thrown to you. But it is your own dollar bill, which was
hidden in your hand, that you throw for someone to catch. Be sure to
practice the catching and throwing of the dollar bill before you try
it in front of other people. You end your trick by saying to the person
who threw you the dollar bill, “Thank you for helping me.” Then you
pause and add one more thing. “The gentleman (or lady) over there
owes you a dollar.” This usually gets a laugh.
Take some time to practice these and other magic tricks. You will
be amazing your friends and family with your own magic act in no
act
additional
advice
crumple
time. Good luck and remember: Abracadabra!
Answer each of the following questions in the form of a sentence. If a
question does not contain a vocabulary word from the lesson’s word
list, use one in your answer. Use each word only once.
fan
1. Why should you pause after saying “Thank you for helping me”?
memorize
______________________________________________________________________
mystify
pause
______________________________________________________________________
transparent
vanish
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2 Wordly Wise 3000®Online Level 3 • Passage • Lesson 7
2. What do you have to be especially careful about when doing the
card trick?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3. Name two helpful suggestions about doing magic tricks that you
learned from the story.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4. Why must the glass with the paper glued to it be transparent?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
5. Can a magician make any object vanish with the glass trick? Explain
your answer.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
6. Why do you want to keep the people from asking questions as they
watch you?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
7. Why do you think magicians are not likely to tell their fans how they
act
additional
do their magic tricks?
advice
______________________________________________________________________
crumple
______________________________________________________________________
fan
8. What is one skill you must have to do the trick with the dollar bill?
memorize
______________________________________________________________________
mystify
pause
______________________________________________________________________
transparent
vanish
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3 Wordly Wise 3000®Online Level 3 • Passage • Lesson 7
9. What do you think would be the hardest thing to do in the crumpled
dollar bill trick?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
10. In your opinion, what is the best thing about watching a magic act?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
•Advice is a noun. It is something that is given, such as help or
suggestions. The verb form is advise. To advise is to offer help
or suggestions.
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