2 OLD HORSES KNOW BEST

Once an old horse and a young horse were going down a hill. Each horse was drawing a cart piled high with jars and dishes. The old horse went down so slowly and carefully that the young horse laughed at him.

“How slowly you walk! ”he said, “That would do if you were going up-hill, but this is down-hill. I'll show you how to go down in a hurry.”

Then the young horse started quickly down the hill. The heavy cart rolled after him, and pushed against him so hard that he had to go faster and faster.

On he went, over stones and ruts! At last the horse and the cart and all the jars and dishes went tumbling into a ditch. The young horse looked at the over-turned cart and the broken dishes.

“I see that I have some things to learn yet, ”he said, “Old horses know best, after all.”

(Russian Tale)

Word list

drawing: pulling

tumbling: falling

rut: a well-worn path

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) What were the two horses doing?

2) Why did the old horse go down the hill slowly?

3) What happened to the young horse and his cart?

4) What did the young horse learn from the accident?

5) Have you ever gotten into trouble because you thought you knew better than an older person. Tell about it.

B) Fill in the blanks—Complete each sentence with a word from the story.

1) Both horses were pulling a _________.

2) The young horse was in too much of a ___________.

3) The young horse caused many things to be __________.

4) The young horse realized that old horses know _________.

5) The old horse walked very _________.

C) Word groups—complete the following word groups with words from the story.

1) mountain, slope, h _ _ _

2) quickly, fast, h _ _ _ _

3) plates, bowls, d _ _ _ _ _

4) pony, donkey, h _ _ _ _

5) rocks, boulders, s _ _ _ _ _