50 What does “adversity” mean in the third paragraph?
(A) Hardship.　
(B) Value.
(C) Failure.
(D) Luck.

Hardship /h'ɑrdʃɪp/  受苦,吃苦;苦難,困苦

A young woman went to her mother and told her how life was so hard for her.

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

Her mother took her to the kitchen.

She filled裝滿 three pots壺 with water and placed each on a high fire.

Soon the pots came to boil.

In the first she placed carrots胡蘿蔔, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners火爐.

She ladled（用勺）舀或盛 out the carrots, the eggs, and the coffee and placed each in a bowl碗.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied回答.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.

She noted that they were soft.

The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off脫去 the shell外殼, she observed觀察 the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip啜 the coffee.

The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma香氣.

The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity逆境: boiling water.

Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting不屈不撓.

However, after being subjected遭受 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?” she asked her daughter.

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