Life Is The Coffee

杨庆春

生活就像咖啡一樣，入口渐苦渐涩，但细细品尝，苦与涩又藏了起来，舌尖处一股芳香冒出。现实的生活便是如此，当你的生活不尽如人意之时，要学会自己去调解。

A group of university students visited their old professor（教授）. During their visit， the conversation turned to work. The students were complaining about their problems and expressed how stressed they were in work and in life. After offering coffee to his guests， the professor went to the kitchen and came back with a coffee pot and many different cups—porcelain（陶瓷）， glass， plastic and crystal（水晶）.

Some cups were simple and other ones expensive. The professor asked them to pick out their cups first.When the students picked out their favorite cups， the professor explained， “Notice how all the beautiful cups were picked out and the simple and cheap ones were left.”

“Wanting only the best things for yourself is the reason for your problems and stress. You need to understand that the cup doesn’t make the coffee better. Actually， all that you wanted was the coffee， not the cup.But you consciously（有意识地） chose the best cups， and then looked to see what cups others picked.”

“Life is the coffee. Your job， money， position in society…they are the cups. They are just tools to hold life， and do not change the quality（品质） of life. Sometimes， by only focusing on the cups， we forget to enjoy the taste of coffee. The happiest people are not those who have the best things， but those who enjoy life and make the most of what they have.”

Hearing this， none of them said a word. They had learned another important life lesson from their old professor—that true happiness means enjoying life and not worrying about unimportant things.

1. How did these students feel about their work and life？

A. They felt stressed.    B. They felt satisfied.    C. They felt happy.

2. Why did the professor ask the students to pick out different cups？

A. Because he wanted to show cups make a difference to coffee.

B. Because he hoped they could relax with their cups and coffee.

C. Because he wanted to tell them the true meaning of happiness.

Keys ：AC