Unit 14
The gift economy
海外生活/節日習俗
Overseas Life/Holiday Customs
BRAIN STORM
Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.
How often do you give gifts? To whom do you give it to?
VOCABULARY
Repeat these sentences after your teacher.
1. social bonds (phr.) 社交關係
Giving gifts strengthens social bonds.
送禮物加強了社會聯繫。
2. abundance (n.) 大量;充足;豐富
I will share my abundance this day!
我今天將分享我的豐富！
3. bombarded (n.) 連續轟炸
Did the salesman bombarded you with questions?
推銷員是否向您提出問題？
4. gift economy (phr.) 禮物經濟
The gift economy is booming during Christmas!
聖誕節期間，禮物經濟正在蓬勃發展！
5. obligation (n.) 義務
It is not my obligation to give gifts.
我沒有義務送禮物。
6. reciprocity (n.) 互助;互惠;互換
There is no reciprocity of trade agreements between the two nations.
兩國之間沒有互惠貿易協議。
7. sentimentality (n.) 多愁善感
I would like to give gifts with sentimentality.
我想送給多情的禮物。
8. qualitative (adj.) 質的；性質上的
A good manager should consider qualitative factors such as morale when making a decision.
好的管理者在做出決定時應考慮諸如士氣之類的定性因素。
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
Did you finish all of your holiday shopping, Patrick?
Patrick，你的假日購物都結束了？
Barely! Checking everyone off my gift list gets more exhausting every year. Why do we do this to ourselves?
還早著呢！ 逐個給禮品清單上的人買禮物真是一年比一年累。 我們為什麼要這麼對自己？
Well, giving strengthens social bonds and at the same time brings us an abundance of joy, right?
給別人禮物能促進社交關係，同時還能帶給我們很多快樂，不是嗎？
We’re certainly bombarded with that message every year. But if you think about it, the gift economy has always been based on obligation, not joy.
我們確實每年都要被這樣的資訊轟炸，但如果你仔細想想，這種禮物經濟總是基於義務的，而不是快樂。
Courtesy demands reciprocity, that’s true.
禮尚往來，就是這樣的。
But does it demand one trillion dollars’ worth? It’s hard not to see that behind all of the sentimentality is just naked profit-seeking.
但是這值一萬億美元嗎？ 不難發現在所有這些情感背後都只是赤裸裸的利益追逐。
Well, just because the gift economy is big business doesn’t preclude me from feeling joy.
禮物經濟確實是樁大生意，並這不妨礙我從禮物交換中收穫快樂。
Is that why you always give personalized handmade gifts?
所以你才總會送為每個人特製的手工禮物？
I know they’re not all that lavish, but by giving them I want to emphasize that we have a qualitative relationship, not just a transactional one.
我知道這些禮物並沒有多貴重，但通過送別人這些禮物，我想強調我們之間的關係是有品質的，而不僅僅是一種交易的關係。
I wonder if people feel the same way about my Amazon gift cards!
我想知道別人收到我的亞馬遜禮品卡是不是也是這種感覺！
Grammar
Just because… doesn’t…
In today’s dialogue we see the sentence “just because the gift economy is big business doesn’t preclude me from feeling joy.” This means that although A may be true, it doesn’t follow that B is also true.
This is a pretty useful pattern for when you are debating with people. Patrick argues that the gift economy is a way for big businesses to make money. Rob’s counterpoint is that while that may be true, the consequences of that do not mean that he cannot still feel joy in giving.
We’re not limited to the word “preclude” in this pattern. A more common pattern is: Just because A doesn’t mean B. This means that although A may be true, it doesn’t follow that B is also true. We can use other words that are synonymous with mean, such as “imply” or “indicate.”
1. Just because she smiled at you doesn’t mean she has a crush on you!
2. Just because certain people have disabilities doesn’t imply that they can’t work.
3. Just because the market is going up doesn’t mean that it won’t come back down.
DISCUSSION
Make a conversation with your teacher.
1.What was the most expensive gift you have given to others? What was your reason for giving that gift?
