独臂钢琴奇才――尼古拉斯.麦卡锡.docVIP

独臂钢琴奇才――尼古拉斯.麦卡锡When Nicholas McCarthy expressed a wish to become a concert pianist, there were experts who advised him to abandon it. After all, they reasoned. Few young musicians, however talented, make the grade[成功] when they have two hands, and Nicholas was born with only one. Yet he has never allowed this obstacle to confine[限制] his dreams. Although it was said that he would never be able to study the piano, he won a place at the Royal College of Music in London. The RCM has an international reputation[名声] for excellence. Nicholas is now in the second year of his four-year music degree course there. He is also building a reputation as an accomplished[有成就的] performer, and one of the few classical musicians in the world to play the piano with only his left hand. His story is both incredible and inspiring. Unlike many musical prodigies[神童] whose talents are nurtured from a young age, Nicholas, now 20, started to play the piano only six years ago. He remembers the revelation[启示]: “I was listening to one of my friends playing a Beethoven piano sonata[奏鸣曲], and I was transfixed[使呆住]. It struck me then ? I could do that! No problem at all.” There was neither a moment of self-doubt, nor a seconds concern that his lack of a hand could prove an impediment[妨碍]. Nicholas was born with a shortened right arm. He refers to it as his “little arm.” Doctors have never been able to explain why he has no right hand; neither does he waste time agonising[感到痛苦] over the cause of his disability. “We were never given a reason, but it doesnt really matter,” he says. “No explanation is going to give me a hand, so it’s never bothered me. I thank my Mum and Dad for my attitude. They’ve always said: ‘You can do whatever you want, Nick.’ I just have to think out of the box[破格思维] sometimes.” So, Nicholas began to teach himself to play with a cheap electric keyboard his parents had bought him for his 14th birthday. “I had never