1. 古时候，有一个人很会射箭。
in ancient times, there was a skilled archer.
2. 一天，这个人正练习射箭①，一个卖油的老头经过，看着他微微点头。
one day he was practicing shooting an arrow. among the crowd an old oil peddler nodded his head.
3. 射箭人问：“你看我的射箭技术高吗？”老头回答：“没什么，只是熟练②而已。”射箭人听了很生气。
the archer asked, "what do you think of my skill?" "just ok, but nothing special. you've gained your accuracy from persistent practice. that's all." was the answer. this hurt the archer’s pride.
4. 卖油老头取出一个葫芦③，先用一枚铜钱盖住葫芦口，然后往葫芦里倒油。油顺着钱币中间的小孔流进了葫芦，而没有沾到钱币上。
the old man put a gourd bottle on the ground and covered its mouth with a copper coin. he then held his oil ladle high to fill the bottle. now, a thread of oil came down from the ladle into the bottle just through the hole of the coin.
5. 老头说：“我倒油的技术也并不高，只不过是经常练习，熟练罢了。”
"this is nothing special," the old man said. "i can do this just because i’ve practiced it a lot."
new words
①射箭：shoot an arrow ②熟练：persistent practice; practiced ③葫芦：gourd
culture tips
④铜钱：copper coin, also known as square hole coin which was one of the most common forms of coin in ancient china, remains the largest of its kind both in issuance and duration. people are usually referring to square hole coin when they mention chinese ancient coins.
chinese idioms
熟能生巧 skill comes from practice
the chinese idiom“熟能生巧”（skill comes from practice）is from this story. here“熟”means “persistent practice” and“巧”refers to “skilled” or “dexterity”. it is a chinese equivalent of “practice makes perfect”.
[learn and use]
eg:学中文，要多说、多读、多练习，时间长了，就会熟能生巧。
if you practice more often in speaking and reading chinese, you will become very good at it.
reading comprehension
1．is there anything special about the archer’s skill?
(a) yes, there is. (b) no, there isn’t.
2．is there anything special about the old oil peddler’s skill?
(a) yes, there is. (b) no, there isn’t.
3．why does the old man think that there is nothing special about the archer’s skill?
(a) because he thinks skill comes from practice
(b) because he is more skilled than the archer in shooting an arrow.
4．if you do an activity regularly and try to improve your skill, you will become very good at it. what’s the chinese idiom about this?
(a)blow hot and cold (b)practice makes perfect
language points
1．先……然后…… … then …
★it is commonly used to show the order of something when we give an account of it.
[have a try] try to make a sentence with先……然后……
我先 然后 。
2．(1) translation.
①射箭 ②熟练
(2) fill in the blanks with the two words above.
①古时候，有一个人很会 。
②这个人射箭技术很 。