「困難的決定」題是 Part 2 最能展現 grammar range 的題型——考生有機會同時用 past simple、past perfect、second conditional（假設語氣）。也是最能打動考官的題型——敘事有情緒弧線。
題目卡
Describe a difficult decision you had to make.
You should say:
- what the decision was
- when you had to make it
- how you made it
- and explain why it was difficult.
POWER 一分鐘筆記
| POWER | 關鍵字 | 中文註 | |-------|--------|--------| | People | me, mum (disapproved), colleague Wei-Ming | 誰參與這個決定 | | Occasion | age 27, 3 years into tech job | 具體時間點 | | What | quit stable job to try freelance writing | 決定的實質內容 | | Emotion | anxious 3 months, couldn't sleep, guilt toward parents | 情緒真實度 | | Reflection | no regret, but would tell younger self... | 回頭看的成熟視角 |
完整範答（315 字）
¹ The hardest decision I've ever had to make was quitting my job at a Taipei tech company two years ago to try writing full-time. ² I'd been working there for just over three years, earning a stable salary that let me help my parents with the mortgage, and on paper there was absolutely no reason to leave.
³ The decision crept up on me over about six months. ⁴ I'd started writing essays on Medium in the evenings, almost as a hobby, and a few of them had done unexpectedly well — well enough that an editor offered me a regular column. ⁵ The column paid about a third of my salary, but it made me feel more alive than anything at work had in years.
⁶ The actual decision took a long weekend. ⁷ I made a pros-and-cons list, but it wasn't really rational — both columns were equally long. ⁸ What helped in the end was a conversation with a colleague, Wei-Ming, who said something I still think about: "If you stayed just because leaving felt scary, you'd always wonder." ⁹ That reframed it for me. ¹⁰ I handed in my notice the following Tuesday.
¹¹ What made it so difficult was the guilt, honestly — my parents had sacrificed a lot to put me through university, and I knew my mum would interpret the decision as throwing it all away. ¹² If I'd waited another year for a bigger savings cushion, it would have been easier psychologically, but I was worried I'd talk myself out of it entirely.
¹³ Two years on, I earn slightly less but sleep a lot better. ¹⁴ The fear never fully goes away — it just gets smaller as the evidence accumulates that I made the right call.
句句解析
- 句 1 (Decision — upfront): 直接說決定，不拖泥帶水。"two years ago" 定錨時間。
- 句 2 (過去完成進行式): "I'd been working there for just over three years" — past perfect continuous，Band 7+ 句型。
- 句 3 (Pacing — short sentence): "The decision crept up on me over about six months." — crept up 是精準動詞片語。
- 句 4 (長句 + past perfect): "I'd started writing... and a few of them had done unexpectedly well" — 雙 past perfect。
- 句 5 (對比句型): "paid about a third... but it made me feel more alive" — 數字 + 情感對比。
- 句 6-7 (Pacing + honesty): 短句節奏，"it wasn't really rational" 坦白。
- 句 8 (引述 + second conditional): "If you stayed just because leaving felt scary, you'd always wonder." — 第二條件句，直接引語。
- 句 9-10 (極短句): "That reframed it for me. I handed in my notice the following Tuesday." — 敘事節奏變快。
- 句 11 (Why difficult — emotional core): "the guilt, honestly — my parents had sacrificed..." — past perfect + 情感中心。
- 句 12 (Third conditional): "If I'd waited another year... it would have been easier..." — 第三條件句，最高階 grammar。
- 句 13 (現在 reflection): "Two years on, I earn slightly less but sleep a lot better." — 時態回到現在，短句俐落。
- 句 14 (Metaphorical landing): "as the evidence accumulates" — 比喻收尾。
Band 7 評分證據
- Grammar: past simple、past continuous、past perfect、past perfect continuous、second conditional、third conditional——一題涵蓋六種時態/語氣
- Lexical: crept up, reframed, savings cushion, talk myself out of, evidence accumulates
- Fluency: 長短句交替（句 6-7、句 13 全短句拉節奏）
- Task Response: what / when / how / why 全部 explicit 回答
3 個可替換 Hook
Hook A — 選校 / 選科系
The hardest decision I've faced was choosing my university major. I'd been accepted into both a business programme at a well-ranked school and a literature programme at a less prestigious one — and for about a month I genuinely couldn't sleep over it.
Hook B — 關係決定
The most difficult decision I've had to make wasn't about work or school — it was ending a three-year relationship in my mid-twenties. From the outside nothing was obviously wrong, which made it harder, not easier.
Hook C — 照顧家人
A difficult decision I made last year was moving back in with my parents in Taitung to help care for my father after his stroke. I'd built a life in Taipei, had a partner and a career — but my siblings both lived abroad, and someone had to be there.
替換原則：困難決定題的黃金結構 = 初始狀況 + 觸發事件 + 一個關鍵對話 / 瞬間 + 做決定 + 現在回頭看。不要一路敘事平鋪，一定要有 pivot。