The box is empty — magic night
Performance words: stage, attempt, balance, chance — and the pleasure of not knowing how.
New core words in this lesson
actamusementattemptbalancechancedisgustfixedgriphumourpleasurerewardslipstagetrickwhistle
Read the sentences below, then practice the whole lesson with audio.
- 1Good evening, friends — take your seats, our little act is about to start.
- 2Tonight, one hour of amusement — and one trick that's never been done before.
- 3He walks onto the stage in a tall black hat, quiet as smoke.
- 4First, the cord — watch his grip, watch his hands, watch everything.
- 5He keeps his balance on one foot, on a seat, on a table — on a bottle!
- 6The first attempt goes wrong — or does it?
- 7A boy at the front makes a sound of disgust: 'I saw the thread!'
- 8The man smiles — humor is part of the act, son.
- 9'The game is fixed!' someone laughs — his eyes fixed on the box all the same.
- 10Then — the whistle. Sharp, high, and the lights go out.
- 11When they come back on, the box has nothing in it — and the room comes off its seats.
- 12A trick like that is one chance in a hundred — and he takes it every night.
- 13The slip of paper in your pocket — would you read it out?
- 14It says your name. It says tonight. It says this seat.
- 15The pleasure was all ours — and your reward is the walk home: try working out how.
FAQ
- How does this dictation practice work?
- Play a sentence, type exactly what you hear, then press check — Dictation Trainer shows word-level feedback: which words you misheard, misspelled, confused for a homophone, or missed.
- Do I need an account, and is it free?
- You can read the sentences here without signing up. To practice with audio and save progress, create a free account — practice runs on Echoes you earn for free, starting with 100.
- What level is this lesson?
- This lesson is graded B1 on the CEFR scale and has 15 sentences. Dictation Trainer lessons start at A1 and climb as the library grows.