阅读理解
Mary
complained to her father about how hard she thought life was. She didn't know
how to make it and wanted to give up.
Mary's
father took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and put each on
a big fire. Soon the pots started to boil（沸腾）. In one
he put carrots, in the second he put eggs, and in the last he put coffee powder.
He watched them boil, without saying a word.
Mary
waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the
fire. He took the carrots and eggs out and put them on different plates. Then
he poured the coffee in a cup. He asked, "Mary, what do you see?"
He
asked Mary to touch the carrots. She found that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it.
She saw a hard-boiled egg after taking off the shell. Finally, he asked her to
taste the coffee. Its rich smell brought
a smile to her face.
Each
of them had the same trouble, but each reacted differently. The carrot was
strong and hard at first, but it became soft and weak. The egg was weak, too. But
after going through the boiling water, its inside became hard. The coffee
powder changed the water, and created something new. "Which one is
you?" he asked Mary. "When trouble comes to you, are you a carrot, an
egg, or the coffee powder?"
