阅读理解Irina，now 46，never imagined she’d one day make a living as a balloon artist.The daughter of an engineer and a teacher，she won top academic awards in high school，went on to medical school and became an emergency room physician in a small city.

　　“I loved the science of medicine，” she says today，“but being a doctor was very hard.I saw things people don’t normally see—women giving birth in the street，people getting drunk and killing someone.” Medications were scarce，making it very difficult to treat those in need.When Irina was 33，a girlfriend showed her a magazine photo of an American named Wes Patterson.They began exchanging letters，and married that December.Irina took a public relations job.Then，a few years ago，she watched a man at a party twist a skinny balloon into the shape of a dog.Kismet!

　　Irina soon purchased a tiny pump and a supply of balloons and began practicing on the sidewalks.Observers challenged her to create all kinds of figures.Now，Irina says，“There’s nothing I can’t make.”

　　Many years ago，Irina’s husband developed a serious disease which now keeps him homebound.“But he is a very wonderful man，” Irina says.Thanks to her new career，she is able to support them both，performing about five events weekly and earning as much as

　　$2,000 per appearance.

　　“Irina’s a wonder，” says Marlene Berg，chief development officer for the Florida Heart Research Institute.“She turned the evening into magic.” “My whole life has become magic，” Irina says，“and it’s all come from a balloon.”

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