Have you ever had trouble trying to choose a gift? Perhaps you need a birthday present for someone who is hard to please. How about clothing? You might be worried about choosing the wrong size, color or style. Books or DVDS? You may not know enough about the person’s likes, dislikes and interests. And giving money may not seem right. Well, how about a gift card?
A gift card is a card that is issued by a certain store. It’s worth a certain amount of money. It looks like a credit card (信用卡), but it actually works like cash. A gift-card holder can spend the amount of money noted on the card in the store that issued it. These cards are big money makers. One reason is that when gift-card holders go to the store, they often see other things to buy, and they end up sending more money than the gift card is worthy. Unused cards are another big source of revenue (收益).
Gift cards are becoming extremely popular in many countries around the world. Why? People love the convenience—cards are easy to buy and easy to use, whether in the store or online, The receiver can select his or her own gift. And the giver doesn’t have to worry about finding just the right thing.
Receiving a gift car, however, is not the same as receiving a gift. An actual gift is a better reminder of the person who gave it. It helps us appreciate the thought and effort that went into the choice. The message of a real gift is more likely to be, “I spent some time trying to find the right gift for you because I care about you.”
Often a gift card doesn’t pass on the same message as an actual gift. It may seem to say, “I was in a hurry. I didn’t have time to think about what you really like.” In today’s busy world, gift cards are certainly convenient. However, they can make us forget the real purpose of giving gifts, which is to build a closer bond (联系) between the gift-giver and the gift-receiver.
1. The first paragraph is used to _______.| A．explain how use a gift card | B．show the author’s attitude |
| C．describe how to choose a gift | D．introduce the main topic |
| A．They are the same as credit cards. |
| B．They help stores earn much money. |
| C．They bring more customers to stores. |
| D．They are worth more money than they cost. |
| A．It is appreciated by the receivers. |
| B．It reminds people of their interests. |
| C．It shows the givers’ thought and effort. |
| D．It passes on more messages about the receivers. |
| A．the relationship between the gift-giver and gift-receiver |
| B．the bond between gift cards and actual gifts |
| C．the real purpose of giving gifts |
| D．the disadvantage of gift cards |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Do you always struggle to understand others’ feelings? Perhaps you should listen to your heart.
According to a team of scientists at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, people who are more aware of their own heartbeat are better at understanding others’ emotions.
Researchers have long suspected (怀疑) that this ability is important for understanding others’ thoughts and feelings.
To test this theory, the British team asked 72 volunteers to count their own heartbeats without feeling a pulse (脉搏). This aimed to see how aware they were of the feelings inside their own bodies.
Then, the volunteers were shown video clips of social interactions (互动), which tested their ability to read the minds of the characters.
During the clips, they were asked questions that required an understanding of the emotions of a certain character — for example, “What is Sandra feeling?” In addition, they were asked questions that did not involve any emotions, such as “What is Michael thinking?” They were also asked non-social questions, like “What was the weather like that evening?”
The results showed that those who had counted their heartbeats most accurately were better at answering questions relating to the characters’ emotions. However, there was no link between the ability to feel what’s going on inside your body and questions that did not involve any emotions.
Punit Shah, lead author of the study, used an example to explain this: If your colleague Michael is rude toward Sandra in public, your body processes (处理) this by increasing your heart rate. This may make you feel anxious and allow you to understand that Sandra is embarrassed.
“If you do not feel your heart rate increase, it may reduce your ability to understand that situation and respond (反应) appropriately,” Shah told The Telegraph.
Researchers believed their findings mean it could be possible to make people more empathetic by training them to listen to their hearts.
This also lends support to the argument that feelings are, at the very least, deeply rooted in physical sensations (感觉).
1. What does the new study find?| A．People are better at understanding others’ emotions than thoughts. |
| B．People with quicker heartbeats are more sensitive to others’ feelings. |
| C．The ability to feel your heartbeat is important for understanding others’ thoughts. |
| D．Your ability to feel others’ emotions is related to your ability to feel your own heartbeat. |
| A．The volunteers were asked to count their heartbeats while watching video clips. |
| B．Researchers designed emotional, non-emotional and non-social questions. |
| C．The volunteers were required to describe each other’s thoughts and feelings. |
| D．Researchers trained the volunteers to listen to their hearts and observed them. |
| A．willing to accept ideas that are different from your own |
| B．not influenced in any way by other people or things |
| C．being able to understand others’ feelings |
| D．willing to help those in trouble |
| A．We react to a situation more slowly when our heart rates increase. |
| B．Physical sensations in our bodies are believed to cause emotional changes. |
| C．Our ability to feel emotions is part of us and can’t be changed. |
| D．How we feel has nothing to do with the state of our bodies. |
【推荐2】Benefits You Will Have If You Go to Bed an Hour Earlier
·You’ll be thinner
In a study, researchers found that adults with late bedtimes gained more weight than those who hit the bed earlier. Why? Your sleepy brain is more likely to want fatty, high-calorie snacks in the late hours of night.
·
Getting more sleep makes your immune (免疫的) system work better. As you sleep, your immune system releases proteins, which can protect you from disease; wit
·You’ll be more productive
·You could live longer
Getting more shut-eye can add years to your life by decreasing your risk of a number of diseases in old age Studies have shown that adults who habitually sleep less than six and a half hours per night are easier to get heart disease, and high blood pressure.
| A．If you go to bed earlier |
| B．You’ll get sick less often |
| C．You could have a healthy eating habit |
| D．That can make you more successful at your job |
| E．Sleeping later in the evening can ruin your workday |
| F．Even if you have a healthy diet and regular gym time |
| G．You won’t lose much to spend one more hour resting in bed |
【推荐3】Yash Gupta
Yash Gupta has worn glasses for many years. When they broke one ay and he was not able to wear thenm to school, he had a big problem.
Yash quickly got his glasses fixed, but his experience changed his life. He realized that there were probably many kids around the world that did not have proper glasses to help them learn in school.
He created Sight Learning in 2011 and since then he has changed the lives of thousands of young students around the world! The organization has tried to provide eyeglasses to students who need them but cannot afford them. It has collected and given away over $1,000,000 worth of eyeglasses.
As Dr. Seuss, a famous writer, once said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
| A．Yash is such a teenager. |
| B．So, he did some research. |
| C．Yash started a small organization, Sight Learning. |
| D．Here is an easy way to help Yash and Sight Learning. |
| E．He could not see much of what was going on in his classroom. |
| F．He learned that not having glasses can cause a 20% loss in learning! |
| G．This has helped over 20,000 young people in 5 countries to see better! |
