A team of students who were successful in their work got together to visit their old teacher after graduating from college many years later. The talk soon turned into complaints about in work and life.
Before offering his students coffee, the teacher went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and different kinds of cups—plastic, glass, porcelain(陶瓷), crystal(水晶), some common and cheap, some beautiful and 16 —telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
After all the guests had a cup of coffee in hand, the teacher said: “If you noticed, all the nice-looking expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the common and cheap ones. While it is for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is where your problems and stress come from. We all know that the cup itself no quality to the coffee. In most cases is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you all went for the best cups. And then you began looking at each other’s cups.”
Now consider this: is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold life, and the type of cup we have does not decide, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by only paying attention to the cup, we to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.
God makes the coffee, not the cups. Enjoy your coffee!
“The people don’t have the best of everything. They just the best of everything.”
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
1.A. stress B. difficulty C. sadness D. loss
2.A. excellent B. bright C. expensive D. comfortable
3.A. careful B. natural C. polite D. formal
4.A. increases B. affords C. adds D. provides
5.A. this B. it C. either D. one
6.A. possibly B. generally C. really D. hardly
7.A. Life B. Joy C. Chance D. Success
8.A. fail B. hope C. need D. learn
9.A. coolest B. richest C. saddest D. happiest
10.A. have B. use C. make D. put
—I’m falling to pieces. Everything is turning against me.
—____________! I believe you can deal with it.
A. Cheer up B. Be careful
C. Calm down D. Look out
—I want to buy a car. Any advice, John?
—Well, it depends on ____________. If money isn’t a problem, you can buy a BMW.
A. what colour do you like B. what colour you like
C. how much can you afford D. how much you can afford
—I didn’t go to the cinema yesterday. What about you?
—____________, because I was preparing for the project all the time.
A. Nor do I B. Neither did I
C. Neither am I D. Nor was I
—Kate says she is going to give up her job and open her own store. Is she serious?
—I ____________. She never means it.
A. wonder B. agree
C. suppose D. Believe
You work all day and you go to parties all night? You must be crazy! You know you can’t ____________,
don’t you?
A. be too old to learn
B. put all your eggs in one basket
C. burn the candle at both ends
D. say the grass is always greener on the other side