Practice Makes Perfect

◎张开兰

“熟能生巧”指熟练了就能产生巧办法，或找出窍门。

Track 2

During the Northern Song Dynasty, there lived an1)accomplished archer.As he was doing his daily practice one day, a big crowd gathered around him, and cheered each time he hit his target.This made him feel pleased with himself, but among the crowd stood an old oil peddler who merely nodded.The archer asked the old oil peddler,“What do you think of my archery?” The old man answered, “Nothing special.You’ve become skilled through regular practice.That’s all.” The archer was2)unconvinced.3)Thereupon, the old man put a gourd bottle on the ground and covered its mouth with a copper cash.He then scooped a ladle of oil from his4)jar, held it high in the air and poured it into the gourd.The crowd watched in amazement as the thread of oil fell from the ladle through the hole at the center of the coin into the gourd.The old man said, “This is nothing special.It’s something I can d o b e c a u s e I’ve practiced every day.”

北宋时期，有个技艺高超的射手。一天，他在练习射箭，引来了一大群人围观。每次他射中目标，人群就为他欢呼，这令他很得意。但是，人群中有个年长的卖油翁只是点点头。他问卖油翁：“你认为我的技术如何？”卖油翁回答:“没什么特别的,你只不过是反复练习，所以手法熟练罢了。”射手听后很不服气。于是，卖油翁把一个葫芦放在地上，并在葫芦口上放了一枚铜钱，然后从缸里舀起一勺油，从高处往葫芦里倒。只见油就像线一样从铜钱中间的小孔里落进葫芦里，围观者都惊呆了。卖油翁说:“这没什么特别的，只不过是天天练的结果。”

1) accomplishedadj.熟练的；技艺高超的

2) unconvincedadj.不信服的

3) thereuponadv.随即；立即

4) jarn.缸；坛子

Fill in the blanks:

1.As the archer (do) his daily practice one day, a big crowd gathered around him.

2.The crowd watched in (amaze).

Know More

The idiom tells us that to achieve perfection in any skill, we need thousands of times of practice.Only through repeated practice can we improve our skills and reach the top.

“熟能生巧”的故事告诉我们，任何技艺想要达到完美的境地，都需要千万次的练习。只有反复地练习，才能不断精进自己的技艺，从而达到极致。