Give the Gift of Guiltlessness
What makes a good gift?
什麼才是好禮物？You may think that the best gifts cost a lot of money or are fancy and of high quality. You may think that the best gifts involve the good “intentions” (motives; the reasons for something) of the “giver” (the person giving something).
你可能認為最好的禮物價格昂貴，或者是華麗且高品質的。你也可能認為最好的禮物包含了送禮者的「良好意圖」（動機；做某事的原因）。
However, the answer may be one that many people would agree with: “A good gift is something that you really want but feel guilty about buying for yourself.”
然而，這個答案可能是許多人都會同意的：「一個好的禮物是你真的想要但因為自己購買而感到內疚的東西。」
“To feel guilty” means to feel like you did something wrong, to feel responsible for a bad action.
「感到內疚」的意思是感覺自己做了錯事，對不好的行為感到負責。
For example, you really want a new television, but the price seems too high. You would feel guilty spending that much money on yourself.
例如，你真的想要一台新電視，但價格看起來太高了。花這麼多錢在自己身上會讓你感到內疚。
Then your wife or boyfriend gives you that “exact” (same) television for Christmas. Are you happy? Of course you are! You now have the gift you wanted without having to feel guilty about spending the money on it.
然後你的妻子或男友在聖誕節送你那台「一模一樣」（相同）的電視。你會開心嗎？當然會！你現在得到了你想要的禮物，卻不用為花錢而感到內疚。
This is probably why gift cards have become so popular in the U.S.
這可能就是為什麼禮品卡在美國如此受歡迎的原因。
A “gift card” is money in the form of a plastic card, like a credit card, that you must use at a “particular” (specific) store.
「禮品卡」是一種塑膠卡片形式的金錢，就像信用卡一樣，必須在某個「特定」（特定的）商店使用。
“Assuming” (if it is true) it is a store you like, you can now buy those things you would not have bought for yourself but really wanted to.
「假設」（如果這是真的）這是一家你喜歡的商店，你現在可以購買那些你不會為自己買但真的想要的東西。
Many Americans like this freedom to buy what they want, without feeling like they’ve been “self-indulgent” (doing what one wants, usually without caring about the consequences or its effect on other people).
許多美國人喜歡這種購買自己想要的東西的自由，而不會覺得自己「自我放縱」（做自己想做的事，通常不在乎後果或對他人的影響）。
重點單字
- 1. Gift [ɡɪft] 禮物
- 2. Intentions [ɪnˈtɛnʃənz] 意圖
- 3. Giver [ˈɡɪvər] 送禮者
- 4. Feel guilty [fil ˈɡɪlti] 感到內疚
- 5. Exact [ɪɡˈzækt] 一模一樣的
- 6. Particular [pərˈtɪkjələr] 特定的
- 7. Assuming [əˈsumɪŋ] 假設
- 8. Self-indulgent [ˌsɛlfɪnˈdʌldʒənt] 自我放縱
