题目
In more and more countries, people choose to give money on special occasions rather than giving gifts chosen personally. Why might this be the case? Is it a positive or a negative development?
解析
本周题目为新题。
有一种现象，就是在有些国家人们不再互相送礼物，而是送钱。这个原因是什么？这种现象是好还是坏？
这个题目虽然是新题，但似乎大家都很熟悉，因此也并不难。
大家不再互相送礼物，改送钱，原因可能有二：
1. 大家现在生活分散，不常见面，不知道给对方送什么礼物，于是只好送钱
2. 大家没有那么多时间去慢慢对对方挑选礼物，送钱最简单。
这种现象肯定是弊大于利的，主要是送钱不利于维护人与人之间的关系。钱是冰冷的，没有个人温度。
范文（7-8分）
People used tocelebratespecial occasions such as birthdays, wedding days, and importantanniversariesby giving gifts to each other, but nowadays this seems to begoing out of fashionin many countries. Instead of gifts, they now give money to each other.
I think this change has taken placelargelyas a result of the changed lifestyle people live today. In the past, people and their relatives and friends used to live together generations and generations in a ratherrestrictedarea. They knew each other perfectly well, so they knew what kind of gifts they should give to each other. Therefore, the one who loved books might just receive from his friend his favorite book as a birthday present, and the one who showed interest in music might be given a flute or even a piano. However, the situation is very different nowadays. People --- even parents and their children --- are now living in different parts of the world so they do not see each other that often.Consequently, uncertain about whatspecificgifts to give, they choose to give money to each other.
Thedisplacementof gifts by money can also be explained by the fast pace of life people have now. Choosing a right gift for a special occasion takes a lot of time and people nowadays simply cannotaffordthat time since they have to work hard to catch up in this ever-acceleratingworld.
I believe this trend will produce negative effects since it isdetrimentalto the maintenance of interpersonal relationship. As money is something thatcirculatesuniversally, it does not carry any personal warmth. When used as asubstitutionfor gift, it often means that the giver does not really know, or even care to know the specific needs of the receiver. The relationship between the two will thus beundermined, rather thanconsolidated.
(311 words)
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