The Trick has been fully revised and expanded for 2026.
In this suspenseful short story, Tom is struggling to keep his toy shop alive when a mysterious stranger named Orloff arrives and offers to demonstrate an extraordinary card trick. Tom watches every movement carefully — but the real trick is taking place somewhere else.
The updated lesson develops students’ reading comprehension, vocabulary, speaking, discussion and writing skills. It includes the complete revised story, introductory questions, 30 reading comprehension questions, 45 essential vocabulary items, vocabulary practice, synonyms and antonyms, true-or-false and gap-fill exercises, discussion questions, a role play, a class debate, creative writing tasks and complete teacher answer sections.
Teachers can use the story and questions on this page as a complete reading lesson, then use the expanded Premium lesson plan for further classroom practice.
1. Look at the title “The Trick.” What do you think the story might be about?
2. Have you ever seen a card trick performed live? What happened?
3. Do you think magic tricks are magic, skill, deception or a mixture of these?
4. Why might a struggling shop owner be especially vulnerable to a clever salesman?
5. What warning signs might suggest that somebody is trying to trick or scam you?
Listen to the Story
Watch the video and listen as The Trick is read aloud. Students can follow the story on the page, pause to discuss important details and answer the reading comprehension questions afterwards.
The Trick
It was a quiet day at Tom’s Toy Shop.
Tom sat on a stool behind the counter. He was going through all the sales for the last month. Things were not looking good.
He had promised his wife that it would work out. Since being made redundant, he had put all of his time and their savings into the shop.
“It will work,” he told his wife. “Please believe me.”
And she did. She always believed him.
After the first few weeks, the number of customers dwindled down. Now he was lucky if anyone came in at all. He had no idea what to do.
Tom tapped at more keys on the computer. He took a sip of the near-cold coffee and let out a long sigh. This was hopeless.
Lost in deep thought, the bell above the door pinged and brought him back to the present.
A man came into the shop. He was dressed all in black, with a large felt hat on his head and a pair of tinted glasses.
The man raised his hat in an old-fashioned style, the way people would greet each other many years ago.
“Good day to you, sir,” said the man. “My name is Orloff. May I come in?”
Tom nodded. “Yeah, sure. Come in, take a look around.”
One look at this man and the way he had greeted Tom, and he knew he was not a customer.
The man approached Tom at the counter. He had a broad smile on his face.
“You seem like a very busy man,” he said. “I hope I am not troubling you.”
Tom shook his head. “No, no trouble.”
He closed the lid of his laptop and returned a smile to the man.
“Are you looking for anything in particular?” Tom asked the man.
The man raised a palm. “I am not looking. I am here to offer you something.”
Tom’s stomach tightened a little. A salesman. Just what he needed.
“I’m very sorry, Mr Orloff…”
The man smiled back at Tom and shook his head. “No, please don’t worry. I am not here to give you trouble.”
Tom shook his head. “It’s just that I’ve recently restocked and I’m not looking…”
The man put his hand inside his coat pocket and produced a pack of cards.
With one deft movement, he pulled the cards from the box and began to shuffle them. His hands moved with great speed.
The cards flew from one hand to another, a blur of flashing white and blue.
“I want to show you these cards,” said the man.
He had a heavy accent.
Tom could not place it. Eastern-European?
And his mannerisms and gestures — they were like something from long ago.
He continued shuffling the cards. He flicked them through his fingers and fanned them out before closing them again and flashing the cards from one hand to another.
“Tell me,” the man said. “May I know your name?”
Tom moved his mouth, unaccustomed to being asked who he was in such a respectful manner. “Tom. My name is Tom.”
“Tom,” said the man. “It is a good name. Tell me, Tom. Do you like card tricks?”
Without waiting for a reply, the man fanned the cards out.
“Pick one,” he whispered.
Tom took one.
The man raised a hand. “Don’t tell me the card. Now put it back.”
Tom did as he was told.
The man shuffled the cards again, this time at lightning speed.
Then he pulled out a card with a slight flourish and laid it on the counter in front of Tom.
“Is this your card?” he asked Tom.
Tom, slightly embarrassed, saw that it was not.
“No, that’s not my card,” he said and offered the man a tight-lipped smile.
The man raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Oh. Then it must be this one.”
He placed another card down.
Tom shook his head. “No. Not that one.”
Tom tried to assess whether this was part of the trick or whether the man was just an oddball who had walked in off the street.
The man went through all the cards one by one, like a child, picking one off the top of the pack and then placing it on the counter.
“This one?” he said, turning a card face up. “Maybe this one?”
Tom shook his head again and again each time.
The man continued, and each time he was wrong. Finally, he stopped.
“Oh well,” he said. “I think I have forgotten how to do this trick.”
He pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his face. “I think I am getting too old.”
He nodded to the shelf behind Tom.
“May I know? What is that?”
Tom turned, and there, on the shelf, balanced between two action figures collecting dust, was Tom’s card. He snatched it from the shelf.
“How did you…”
The man smiled again and shook his head.
“Never ask a magician how he performs his tricks,” he said, wagging his finger.
Tom gazed at the card, then back at the man.
He had never seen such a thing before. On TV, of course. That was all the special effects.
But this had happened right under his nose.
“That’s incredible,” said Tom.
The man pulled a few packs of cards from his bag.
“I am selling some of these special cards,” said the man. “Good price. If you want.”
“I don’t know,” said Tom. “I have some cards already in stock…”
“Just a little,” said the man. “I give you a good price.”
Tom stared back at him. He felt sorry for the old man, wandering from shop to shop. Performing tricks that could easily be explained.
There had to be a perfectly good reason why that card was on the shelf.
“How much are your cards?” Tom asked him.
The man told him a price. They were cheap. Next to nothing.
Tom thought about it. He could pay the man for two packs of cards, maybe three, then get rid of him. He needed to figure out what to do to get real customers in the shop.
“Hang on then,” he said. “I’ll take three packs of cards.”
He opened the till, pulled out some money and handed it to the man. The man passed three packs of cards to Tom.
“Tell your customers,” he said. “You met the Great Ordov.”
Then he tipped his hat at Tom and left.
Tom smiled to himself. A magician. Such nonsense.
No such thing.
He spent the rest of the day going through the sales, the things he had spent money on. All the incomings and outgoings. None of it added up to what he wanted.
Time drifted by and Tom’s stomach complained to him. It was lunchtime. The sandwich shop down the road beckoned.
Tom grabbed his jacket and pulled it on. He opened the till to take some money for his lunch, but he could not believe his eyes.
The till was empty.
Every last note and coin gone.
Reading Comprehension Questions
1. Who is the main character in the story?
2. Where does Tom work?
3. Why is Tom worried at the beginning of the story?
4. What has Tom invested in the shop?
5. How have customer numbers changed since the shop opened?
6. What brings Tom back from his thoughts?
7. How is the stranger dressed?
8. What name does the stranger give Tom?
9. Why does Tom assume that the man is not a customer?
10. What does the stranger say he wants to offer Tom?
11. What does the man take from his coat pocket?
12. What is unusual about the way he handles the cards?
13. What does the man ask Tom to do?
14. Does the man identify Tom’s card immediately?
15. How does Tom react when the man repeatedly chooses the wrong card?
16. Where does Tom finally find his card?
17. Why is Tom impressed by the trick?
18. What does the man offer to sell Tom?
19. Why does Tom feel sorry for him?
20. What does Tom believe about the trick after thinking about it?
21. Why does Tom decide to buy three packs?
22. How much do the cards cost?
23. What name does the man tell Tom to mention to his customers?
24. What does Tom think about magic after the man leaves?
25. What does Tom do for the rest of the morning?
26. Why does Tom open the till at lunchtime?
27. What does he discover?
28. What has disappeared from the till?
29. Who has probably taken the money?
30. How has the card trick helped the thief carry out the real trick?
Essential Vocabulary
The following words and phrases appear in the story. Use a dictionary to check unfamiliar items and make your own example sentences.
| counter | sales | made redundant |
| savings | dwindle | stool |
| hopeless | lost in thought | tinted |
| old-fashioned | approach | in particular |
| restock | deft | shuffle |
| a blur | accent | mannerism |
| gesture | fan out | unaccustomed |
| respectful | at lightning speed | flourish |
| tight-lipped smile | assess | oddball |
| handkerchief | balanced | snatch |
| wag | gaze | right under his nose |
| incredible | in stock | next to nothing |
| get rid of | till | tip his hat |
| nonsense | incomings | outgoings |
| add up | beckon | could not believe his eyes |
Discussion Questions
1. How would you describe Tom’s situation at the beginning of the story?
2. What makes Tom vulnerable to the stranger’s trick?
3. Which details make Orloff seem mysterious or theatrical?
4. Do you think Orloff is a magician, a con man or both? Explain your answer.
5. How might he have placed Tom’s card on the shelf?
6. At what moment might he have taken the money?
7. Why does Tom buy the cards even though he does not want them?
8. What warning signs does Tom ignore?
9. Why are people often more easily deceived when they are distracted or under pressure?
10. Is it ever acceptable to deceive people for entertainment? Where should the limit be?
11. How should shop owners protect themselves from distraction theft?
12. What do you think Tom tells his wife?
13. How might the police identify the man?
14. Would the same trick work as easily in a modern cashless shop?
15. What do you think happens to Tom and his shop after the story ends?
The complete updated 2026 Premium lesson plan contains all classroom exercises and full teacher answer sections. Use the button below to access the lesson plan.
You can also join my mailing list by clicking the link below. I will send you new guides, articles and lesson plans when I publish them.
It is refreshing to get stories showing personalities and real life problems. It makes a more interesting reading than a boring impersonal textbook passage. This story was sad and leaves the reader wondering what would happen to Tom.
Thanks very much for reading Leona! I’m glad it made an impression.
My lecturer use this for the exam, now I have to find all the answers.
You can do it! All the answers are in the story… a big thank you to your lecturer for using the story in class!