首先我们来看这句话：
A hat-trick of tries by the winger David Vendi was the key to victory.（边锋戴维·温迪的3次射门是胜利的关键。）
在这句句子中，“hat-trick”就是“帽子戏法”的意思。“帽子戏法”是指“to achieve a positive feat in the sport three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes.”简单说来就是一个球员在一场比赛中独中三元。当然“帽子戏法”的应用范围也不限于体育领域，人们还用它来形容任何连续3次的成功。
为什么连进三球要叫做“帽子戏法”呢？
A hat-trick occurs in cricket when a bowler dismisses three batsmen with consecutive deliveries. The deliveries may be interrupted by an over bowled by another bowler from the other end of the pitch or the other team's innings, but must be three consecutive deliveries by the individual bowler. Only wickets attributed to the bowler count towards a hat-trick; run outs do not count.
Hat-tricks are very rare and as such are treasured by bowlers.
从上文中我们可以看出“帽子戏法”源于英国的绅士运动“板球比赛”，指击球手连击三球、次次击中目标（三柱门中的两个门），对方三名球员因此淘汰出局。在板球比赛中，“连中三元”可不是一件易事，球员因此会被授予一顶帽子作为至高荣誉的象征。
当然了，在我们如今的生活中，“帽子戏法”已经并非单单用在板球或者足球方面了。比如说前英国首相撒切尔夫人，三度竞选连获成功，这史无前例的成就，美国《时代周刊》当时称之为“玛格丽特·撒切尔帽子戏法”。
