—Oh, many people lost their homes.

—But I'm afraid that we can't catch up with the last bus.

—Sorry, I won't drive to work.

    An illusion(错觉) is something that fools the senses or the mind. An illusion may make you think something exists(存在) when it really (do) not. It may be something that appears to be one thing, but is really something else. David Copperfield calls (he) an illusionist. He is someone who makes or creates illusions.

    Many people have an interest in magic, but (many) of them are not performing and getting paid for it by age 12. Nor are they teaching college classes in magic at age 16. Copperfield was the (young) person ever to be allowed to join the Society of American Magicians. When he got to college himself, Copperfield got the leading part in a play called The Magic Man. Besides acting and singing, he created all the magic in the show. The show ran for longer any other musical in Chicago's history.

    Copperfield is a huge (succeed) as an illusionist, but he has other projects as well. He says that his best work is Project Magic. Copperfield developed a number of tricks(戏法) done with the hands. These tricks help hospital patients who need (improve) their physical condition. Learning to do the tricks also builds confidence(信心). Patients in the program can speak (proud) that they can do tricks that healthy people can't do.

    Like many magicians, Copperfield is interested the history of magic. He has created a museum and library in which books, articles, and old magic equipment(设备) (keep) and shown. By keeping track of history, Copperfield hopes to save magic for the future.

    I stood in my grandmother's front yard with my son. He had a bottle of soapy water and a plastic loop（圈）. You know the type.You dip （浸） the loop in the bottle, pull it 1 and blow it to make bubbles（气泡）.

    My son dipped and dipped and blew and blew, but 2 to blow bubbles. He handed me the bottle and loop and asked me, "Daddy, 3you make bubbles?" I hadn't blown bubbles for years. I am a chemist by education. All my knowledge is 4when it comes to trying to blow bubbles from a loop filled with soapy water. I had no more success than my son.

    After several tries 5 the loop of soapy water, I gently （轻轻地）breathed on it. My son cried with joy as a big beautiful bubble 6 and moved slowly in the air. He grabbed （抓住）the loop, dipped and blew. No bubbles. I 7explained to him, "Son, you can't blow so hard; you must ever so gently breathe on the loop to make bubbles." He followed my 8and blew gently. This time he made a big beautiful bubble, then 9.

    There are some things that you can get with force, 10 there are other things that only come with the gentleness of a soft breath. The closer something is to higher spirit, the more it is like bubbles; it can't be forced.

    Mr. Scott talked about colours all the time. "What a honey-yellow morning it is!" he said to his wife. His wife planted fruit and vegetables in their garden, but Mr. Scott was more interested in the leafy plants, the bushes, and even the grass that grew in the garden. "So many kinds of green," he said to her after watering all the plants. "I counted at least twenty shades of green!"

    "Well done, dear," Mrs. Scott said. " Now would you please count twenty dollars and go to the supermarket for some ingredients（配料）?I want to make lunch! "

    With a smile on his face, Mr. Scott left at once. He enjoyed trips to the supermarket because of all the colourful cans and boxes in it. Fruit and vegetables, too, shone in their bright skins. There was never just one colour: carrots were orange, but also had bits of yellow and brown in them. Bananas were yellow and black; apples hid oranges and purples inside their reds. Mr. Scott would walk through the supermarket and enjoy all the colours around him.

    "I wish there was a store full of colours that I could spend all my time in, " he sighed.

    He bought everything on his wife's list and came home. When he walked into the house, Mrs. Scott noticed the sad look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "It looks life you had fun at the store. I can see that you picked out the best things."

    "I did have fun in the store. So much that I wish I could have spent more time there. It's so full of colours! " Mr. Scott said. "I see, " Mrs. Scott said. "Well, cheer up, because I'm going to cook a nice lunch for us!"

    The next day Mr. Scott was on his usual morning walk through the neighbourhood, saying hello to everyone, enjoying the colours of the trees and flowers. It was another day of colours!

    "Good morning, Mr. Brown," he called out to one of his neighbours. He liked Mr. Brown very much, because, well, you guessed it: his name was a colour!

    "Mr. Scott! Just the person I wanted to see!" Mr. Brown replied. "My wife and I are moving out of this town, and I need someone to take over my shop. You are the perfect person for the job because it's a paint shop! I need someone who knows its colours. Would you be interested?"

    Mr. Scott was mad with excitement. "I will take it over right away!"

    Mr. Brown was relieved when he left town, because he knew his paint shop was in good hands. Sure enough, Mr. Scott kept the paint shop open for twenty more years and got to talk about colours all day, every day.