阅读理解
Today,
roller skating (滑旱冰)
is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1743, people
never tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named John Joseph
Merlin. Merlin's work was making instruments. In his free time he liked to play
the violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called him
a dreamer.
One day
Merlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleased
and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think.
He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin had
an idea. He thought that he would attract a lot of attention if he could skate
into the room.
Merlin
tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two
wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin was
very proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into the
room while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be very
surprised.
On the
night of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyone
was really surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way
to stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with all
eyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke into
many pieces with a very loud noise. But nobody forgot Merlin's wonderful
entrance after that.
