Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
從前，女兒向父親抱怨道，她的人生苦不堪言，她不知道如何繼續生活下去。她厭倦了一直奮鬥掙扎。彷彿解決了一個問題，立刻就會出現另一個問題。
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
做廚師的父親把她帶到廚房裡。他分別往三口鍋裡添上了水，並放到高火上煮。當三口鍋裡的水沸騰的時候，他把土豆放到一口鍋裡，把雞蛋放到第二口鍋裡，最後把研磨過的咖啡豆放到第三口鍋裡。
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
然後他把它們放好，繼續在沸水中煮，一句話都不跟女兒說。女兒抱怨著，不耐煩地等待著，想知道他在做什麼。
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
二十分鐘後，他關掉爐灶，從鍋裡拿出土豆，放進一個碗裡；拿出雞蛋，也放進一個碗裡。
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”
然後，他用勺子盛出咖啡，放進一個杯子裡。他轉向女兒，問道，“孩子，你看到了什麼？”
“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“土豆、雞蛋和咖啡，”她急躁地回答道。
“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” 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. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“仔細看看，”他說，“摸摸這些土豆。”她照做了，注意到土豆很軟。然後父親讓她拿一個雞蛋，並把它敲碎。她把蛋殼剝下後，觀察了一下這個煮老了的蛋。最後，父親讓她喝一口咖啡。咖啡濃郁的香氣讓笑容重新回到她的臉上。
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
“爸爸，這是什麼意思？”她問道。
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.
然後父親解釋道，土豆、雞蛋和咖啡豆都分別經歷過相同的逆境——沸水。
However, each one reacted differently.
然而，它們的反應卻各不相同。
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
土豆一開始強壯、堅硬、不屈不撓，但是在沸水中，它卻變得軟弱。
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
雞蛋易碎，只有外面那層薄殼保護著裡面的蛋液。當雞蛋被放進沸水之後，雞蛋內部就變硬了。
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
然而，研磨過的咖啡豆卻很獨特。把它們放進沸水中之後，它們改變了水，創造了新的事物。
“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “
“你是哪一種呢？”他問女兒。“當不幸降臨時，你該如何應對？你是一枚土豆、一顆雞蛋還是一粒咖啡豆？”
Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.
寓意：生活中，事情發生在我們身邊，發生在我們身上，不過他們的好壞則完全取決於我們自身。
Which one are you?
你是哪一種呢？
“句式魔方”幫助孩子突破英語學習中的第二難關——單詞詞義、短語積累與生成、句子生成轉換能力。
通過學習“句式魔方”，孩子最終能形成語感，內化成語言本能，熟練生成各種句子。
沒有學習“句式魔方”的孩子，要麼只能機械的用各種單詞按照漢語習慣，生成各種中式英語句子，要麼就是不得不花費大量的精力背誦各種語法規則，亦步亦趨的按照這些規則生成句子，很可能被各種語法細碎知識點搞得頭昏腦漲而喪失學習興趣。而學習了“句式魔方”的孩子，通過“句式魔方”的短語矩陣訓練，不但能熟練的生成各種短語，並在訓練的過程中，增加了語感，還能再具體的語境中自然習得單詞含義，同時“句式魔方”通過其核心句的生成以及其它五種基本句式推導轉換的練習，讓孩子熟練掌握各種句式和常用時態的變化，最終獲得句子生成能力。
學完“句式魔方”，一方面有了具體語境後，孩子就知道了單詞意義，再結合已習得的“表音密碼”基礎，孩子就可將單詞的“音”、“形”、“意”對應起來，徹底解決單詞問題；另一方面，孩子可掌握短語與句子的生成機制，以及應對各種時態與句式的轉換問題，來輕鬆自主的生成各種句子，掌握應用！
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