如何正确挑选新年礼物？
有些研究表明，大多数人只是碍于社交习俗会对收到礼物表示开心，但实际上他们并不喜欢那些礼物。新年将至，经历了这艰难的一年，我们可能特别渴望在那些收到礼物的人脸上看到绽放的喜悦。怎样准备一份心意满满的礼物？什么样的礼物是大家更想要的？一起来听今天的讲解。
英文原文
You’re Choosing a Gift. Here’s What Not toDo.
选礼物，别踩雷
By Daniel T. Willingham
On Christmas morning, a husband quietlyapologizes to his wife that his gifts this year are humble — money is tight.She bravely affirms that she loves the pajamas and the sweater. Later, as thechildren play with their new toys, the husband reveals one last gift box, inwhich the wife discovers a diamond necklace. She squeals with astonisheddelight.
在圣诞节的早晨，丈夫悄悄地向妻子表达歉意，因为手头紧，今年的礼物很寒碜。妻子很有勇气地表示她喜欢那套睡衣和套头衫。随后，在孩子们玩着新玩具时，丈夫拿出了最后一个礼盒，妻子看到里面的钻石项链，惊喜地尖叫起来。
This advertising trope is not just cloying.It also feeds some false beliefs people commonly hold about what makes giftrecipients happy.
这种广告画面不只让人腻歪，它还给人们灌输了一些如何让收礼者开心的错误信念。
First, ignore price. When researchers askedpeople to recall a gift they gave and then to rate how much they thoughtrecipients liked it, higher prices went with higher ratings. But when peoplemade the same ratings for a gift they had received, price was completelyunrelated to enjoyment.
首先，别管价钱。研究人员要求人们回忆一个他们送出的礼物，然后对他们认为收礼者喜欢它的程度进行评分，发现价格越高，评分就越高。但是当人们为自己收到的礼物进行评分时，价格与愉悦程度完全无关。
Second, give gifts that are actuallyusable. Gift givers tend to focus on how pleasurable it would be to use thegift, but overlook how easily or often the gift will be used; a husband mightimagine his wife feeling like a million bucks in her diamonds, but ignore thefact that she seldom wears formal jewelry.
其次，送实用的礼物。送礼者往往更看重使用礼物的乐趣，然而忽略了礼物的易用程度或使用频率。丈夫可能会想象戴上钻石项链的妻子感觉自己倾国倾城，但忽略了实际上她很少佩戴正式珠宝。
Third, don’t worry if your gift isn’tusable immediately. In one experiment, researchers asked people to comparedifferent types of gifts: One was immediately appealing, like a dozen flowersin full bloom, or, for a similar price, a gift that would be more satisfying inthe long term, like two dozen buds that would bloom in a few days. When peoplethought they would give the gift, they preferred the former, but others whowere asked which they’d like to receive picked the latter.
第三，不用担心你的礼物不能被马上用起来。在一个实验中，研究人员要求人们比较不同类型的礼物：一种是能够马上吸引人的礼物，比如十几朵盛开的鲜花，另一种价格相似，但更能延长满足感，比如二十几朵在未来几天会绽放的花蕾。人们送礼物的时候，更喜欢前者，但收礼物时，会选择后者。
生词好句
1.apologize
英 [əˈpɒlədʒaɪz] 美 [əˈpɑːlədʒaɪz]
vi. （因内心有愧疚而）道歉
拓展:
apologize to sb. 向某人道歉
apologize for sth. 因为某事道歉
2.humble
英 [ˈhʌmbl] 美[ˈhʌmbl]
adj. 谦虚的，谦逊的；简单而普通的，不贵重的
拓展:
· 表自谦
in my humble opinion 依照我的愚见
Welcome to my humble abode.
欢迎光临寒舍。
· 表简单而普通的，不贵重的
They live in a humble two-roomed flat.
他们住在一个有点简陋的两居室公寓里。
3.money is tight
手头紧
拓展:
time is tight 时间紧张
4.reveal
英 [rɪˈviːl] 美 [rɪˈviːl]
vt. 使显露（to show
something that was previously hidden）
5.squeal
英 [skwiːl] 美 [skwiːl]
vi. 发出尖叫声
拓展:
常与with搭配，例如：squeal
with delight 欢呼雀跃
6.trope
英 [trəʊp] 美 [troʊp]
n. （被过度使用的）主题，策略（a
common or overused theme or device，与cliché意思相近）
拓展:
Jump Scare is the usual horror movie trope.
一惊一乍的手法是恐怖电影的常见手法。
7.cloying
英 [ˈklɔɪɪŋ] 美 [ˈklɔɪɪŋ]
adj. 因过度使用而让人觉得厌烦的（disgusting
or distasteful by reason of excess）
拓展:
cloying sweetness 甜得发腻
8.feed
英 [fiːd] 美 [fiːd]
vt. （用食物）喂养；（在思想感情上）支持，鼓励（相当于support或encourage）
拓展:
Media reports are feeding public anxietyabout coronavirus.
媒体报道在不断增强公众对于新冠疫情的恐惧。
9.recall
英 [rɪˈkɔːl] 美[ˈriːkɔːl]
v. 回想，回忆（to bring
back to mind）
拓展:
I recalled seeing her somewhere before.
我回想起曾在某处见过她。
10.go with
与其他事物同时存在或相关（to often exist with something
else or be related to something else）
拓展:
Ill health often goes with poverty.
疾病往往与贫穷并存。
近义词组：relate to
11.focus on sth.
集中注意力（到一个事物上）
12.overlook
英 [ˌəʊvəˈlʊk] 美 [ˌoʊvərˈlʊk]
vt. 好高骛远，忽略
13.feel like a million bucks
（通常指享受奢侈品时）感觉非常好（feel extremely good，也可以说feel like a million dollars）
拓展:
She feels like a million bucks since shelost all that weight.
自从减肥成功后，她感觉超级良好。
14.in
英 [ɪn] 美 [ɪn]
prep. 穿着，戴着
拓展:
描述穿衣服、戴首饰、戴帽子、戴眼镜、梳辫子等都用in。例如：a man in a white shirt 一个穿着白衬衣的男人；a man in
glasses 戴眼镜的男人；a girl in pigtails 梳辫子的姑娘。
15.in bloom/ in full bloom
（花朵）盛开
16.bloom
英 [bluːm] 美 [bluːm]
vi. 开花；绽放
17.the former
英 [ˈfɔːmər] 美 [ˈfɔːrmər]
n. 前者，前一个
拓展:
the former和the
latter用在只有两种选择的情况下。
Of these two options, the former is lessexpensive, while the latter is less risky.
在这两种选择中，前者价格较低，而后者则风险较低。
