| الكويزات - قراءة المقال | |
| Passage (1) | |
| 1 On a cold spring afternoon , while walking home from school , I detoured through the playground at the end of our alley . I saw a group of old men , tow seated across a folding table playing a game of chess, other smoking pipes , eating peanuts , and watching . I ran home and grabbed Vincent's chess set, which was bound in a cardboard box with rubber bands. I also carefully selected two prized rolls of Life Savers . I came back to the park and approached a man who was observing the game. 2 "want to play?" I asked him . His face widened with surprise and he grinned as he looked at the box under my arm . 3 "little sister , been a long time since I play with dolls," he said, smiling benevolently . I quickly put the box down next to him on the bench and displayed my retort. 4 Lau Po, as he allowed me to call him , turned out to be a much better player than my brother s. I lost many games and many life Savers. But over the weeks , with each diminishing roll of candies , I added new secrets . Lau Po gave me the names . The Humble Servant Who kills the King and more . 5 there were also the fine points of chess etiquette. Keep captured men in near rows, as well-tended prisoners. Never announce "check" with vanity , lest someone with an unseen sword slit your throat. Never hurl pieces into the sandbox after you have lost a game , because then you must find them again, by yourself , after apologizing to all around you. By the end of the summer, Lau Po had taught me all he knew, and I had become a better chess player . 6 A small weekend crowd of Chinese people and tourists would gather as I played and defeated my opponents one by one . My mother would join crowds during these outdoor exhibition games . She sat proudly an the bench telling my admirers with proper Chinese humility, "Is luck." 7 A man who watched me play in the park suggested that my mother allow me to play in local chess tournaments. My mother smiled graciously , an answer that meant nothing. I desperately wanted to go , but I bit back my tongue. I knew she would not let me play among strangers. So as we walked home I said in a small voice that I didn't want to play in the local tournament. They would have American rules. If I lost , I would bring shame on my family. 8 During my first tournament, my mother sat with me in the front row as I waited for my turn . I frequently bounced my legs to unstick them from the cold metal seat of the folding chair . when my name was called, I leapt up. My mother unwrapped something in her lap. It was her chang , a small tablet of red jade which held the sun's fire. "Is luck ," she whispered , and tucked it into my dress pocket. I turned to my opponent , a fifteen-year-old boy from Oakland. 9 As I began to play , the boy disappeared , the color ran out of the room , and I saw only my white pieces and his black ones waiting on the other side . "Blow from the South," it murmured . "The wind leaves no trail." I saw a clear path, the traps to avoid . The wind blew stronger . "Throw sand from the East to distract him . "check," I said |
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