讀點好英文:Carrot, Egg or Coffee　胡蘿卜、雞蛋還是咖啡豆

Carrot, Egg or Coffee　胡蘿卜、雞蛋還是咖啡豆

·Jerome·

A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.She was tired of fighting and struggling.It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.Soon the pots came to a boil.In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans.He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatientIy waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners.He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl.Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a mug.Turning to her he asked，“Darling, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee，”she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.He then asked her to take an egg and break it.After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee.She smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.

“What does it mean, Father?”She humbIy asked.

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unreIenting.But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.The egg had been fragile.Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior.But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.The ground coffee beans were unique, however.After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?”he asked his daughter.

When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

杰羅姆

女兒向父親抱怨她的生活，她覺得凡事都很艱難。她不知該怎樣面對，想要放棄。她厭倦了不斷地抗爭和奮斗，好像一個問題剛剛解決，另一個又出現(xiàn)了。

她的父親是名廚師，他把她帶進了廚房，在三個壺里分別裝了水，然后放到火上燒。很快，壺里的水開了。他往第一個壺里放了些胡蘿卜，往第二個壺里放了雞蛋，在最后一個壺里放了些磨碎的咖啡豆，然后靜靜地等著它們煮沸。

女兒噘著嘴，不耐煩地等著，對父親的行為感到很納悶。大約二十分鐘后，父親關(guān)了火爐，把胡蘿卜撈出來，放在一個碗里，又把雞蛋拿出來放進另一個碗里，接著把咖啡倒進了一個杯子里，然后轉(zhuǎn)過頭來，對她說：“親愛的，你看見了什么？”

“胡蘿卜、雞蛋和咖啡。”她答道。

父親拉近她并讓她去摸胡蘿卜。她摸了摸，覺得它們變?nèi)彳浟?。然后，他又讓她去把雞蛋敲破。把蛋殼兒剝掉后，她看到了一個熟雞蛋。最后，父親要她喝咖啡。在嘗過芳香四溢的咖啡后，她笑了。

“這是什么意思，父親？”她謙恭地問道。

父親解釋說，這三樣?xùn)|西面臨著同樣的逆境——煮沸的水，但它們的反應(yīng)卻各不相同。胡蘿卜本是強硬、堅固而不甘示弱的，但受到開水的影響后，它變得柔軟而脆弱。雞蛋本來易碎，薄薄的外殼保護著內(nèi)部的液體，但用開水煮過以后，它的內(nèi)部就變得堅硬了。不過，最獨特的是磨碎的咖啡豆，經(jīng)過沸騰的水后，它們卻改變了水。

“哪一個是你呢？”他問女兒。

當(dāng)不幸降臨到你頭上時，你該如何應(yīng)對呢？你是胡蘿卜、雞蛋，還是咖啡豆？

核心單詞

impatientIy[im'pei??ntli]adv.不耐煩地；性急地

humbIy[h?mbli]adv.謙遜地，恭順地

adversity[?d'v?：siti]n.逆境；厄運；不幸的事

unreIenting['?nri'lenti?]adj.不寬恕的；無情的；堅定的

interior[in'ti?ri?]adj.內(nèi)的，內(nèi)部的

實用句型

She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.

她不知該怎樣面對，想要放棄。

①這里是由how引導(dǎo)的賓語從句。

②make后用不帶to的不定式，類似的詞還有have, let, help, suggest等。

翻譯練習(xí)

1.離開前請關(guān)燈。（turn off）

2.他脫下大衣，開始工作。（pull off）

3.這受市場需求的影響。（be subject to）