In many countries, people are increasingly choosing to give money as gifts for celebrations instead of buying individual presents. What are the reasons for this? Is this a positive or negative development for society?
在许多国家，人们越来越倾向于在庆祝场合赠送现金作为礼物，而不是购买具体的礼物。造成这种现象的原因是什么？这对社会而言是一种积极还是消极的发展？
立场: The rising trend of giving money as gifts is largely positive because of its practicality and the freedom it grants recipients — a custom Vietnam has practised for generations through lì xì and mừng tuổi — outweighing its minor drawbacks.以金钱作为礼物这一日益流行的趋势，主要是积极的，因为它具有实用性，并赋予了接受者更大的自主权——这也是越南多代人一直延续的习俗，如春节红包（lì xì）与拜年礼金（mừng tuổi）——其优点超过了些许不足。
This answer is capped at 6.5 because it gives only one reason for the trend (practicality) developed with a single example, uses simple sequencing words like 'First' and 'Second' inside the concession paragraph, and never reaches the cultural framing (lì xì reappearing in the conclusion) that gives the 7.5 version its unity.这篇答案停留在6.5分,因为它只给出了一个理由来解释这种趋势（实用性）,并只用一个例子来展开,在让步段落中使用“First”“Second”这样简单的顺序词,也没有像7.5范文那样在结论中再次呼应利是的文化背景,从而形成全文的统一性。
In many countries, people are now choosing to give money as a gift for celebrations instead of buying a specific present. In Vietnam, this is not a new idea, since lì xì, the red envelopes given at Tết, and money gifts at weddings and birthdays have existed for generations. Although some people may see this as less thoughtful, I believe this trend is mostly positive for society.在许多国家,人们现在越来越倾向于在庆祝活动中送钱,而不是购买特定的礼物。在越南,这并不是什么新鲜事,因为春节发的红包利是(lì xì),以及婚礼和生日时的礼金,已经存在了好几代人。虽然有些人可能认为这样做不够用心,但我认为这种趋势对社会来说大体上是积极的。
One main reason for this trend is that money gives the receiver more freedom and is more practical. Nowadays, people have very different needs, so a money gift lets them buy exactly what they want or need, instead of receiving a present they do not really like or use. This can make the receiver feel more grateful than getting an unwanted gift. For example, during Tết, my 78-year-old grandmother received lì xì from several relatives, including me. Instead of getting things she did not need, she used the money to buy household items and save some for a health check-up. This made her feel more independent.这种趋势的一个主要原因是,金钱给了接受者更多的自由,而且更加实用。如今,人们的需求各不相同,所以送钱可以让他们买到自己真正想要或需要的东西,而不是收到一份自己并不喜欢或用不上的礼物。这会让接受者感到比收到不想要的礼物更加感激。例如,在春节期间,我78岁的奶奶从包括我在内的好几位亲戚那里收到了利是。她没有得到不需要的东西,而是用这笔钱买了一些生活用品,并存了一部分用于体检。这让她感到更加独立。
It is true that giving money can sometimes feel less personal than choosing a gift carefully. However, I think the benefits are bigger than this small disadvantage. First, giving money means less unnecessary shopping, because people do not buy presents that nobody wants, which also reduces waste. Second, for the person giving the gift, it saves a lot of time and stress, especially during Tết or wedding season, when someone might need to attend many celebrations in a short time. This makes giving money a more convenient and less wasteful choice for everyone.确实,送钱有时会让人觉得不如精心挑选一份礼物那样用心。然而,我认为这些好处远大于这一小小的缺点。首先,送钱意味着更少不必要的购物,因为人们不会买没人想要的礼物,这也减少了浪费。其次,对送礼的人来说,这能节省大量的时间和精力,尤其是在春节或结婚旺季,一个人可能需要在短时间内参加很多场庆祝活动。这使得送钱对每个人来说都是更方便、更不浪费的选择。
In conclusion, although giving money as a gift can seem less personal, I believe the growing trend of monetary gifts, like lì xì in Vietnam, is a positive development. It is practical, reduces waste, and gives the receiver more freedom, so its advantages are greater than its disadvantages.总之,尽管送钱作为礼物可能显得不够用心,但我认为像越南的利是这样日益增长的送钱趋势是一种积极的发展。它实用、减少浪费,并给予接受者更多自由,所以它的优点大于缺点。
搭配词汇
考官点评
- TR“Although some people may see this as less thoughtful, I believe this trend is mostly positive for society.” — A balanced thesis that briefly concedes an objection before stating a position, meeting the double-question prompt's demand for both reasons and an opinion, though in a shorter, plainer form than the 7.5 thesis.平衡的论点句先简要承认一种反对意见,再表明立场,满足了双问题型题目对原因和观点的要求,但形式比7.5范文的论点句更简短、更平实。
- LR“more independent” — A plain, correct adjective phrase conveying the effect of the gift, without the more specific sensory detail ('tangible', 'much like the confidence she gained') found in the 7.5 version's equivalent moment.朴素而正确的形容词短语,传达了礼物带来的效果,但缺少7.5范文对应段落中更具体的感官细节（如“tangible”“much like the confidence she gained”）。
- CC“However, I think the benefits are bigger than this small disadvantage.” — 'However' clearly pivots from the conceded drawback back to the main argument, performing the same cohesive function as the equivalent sentence in the 7.5 essay.“However”清晰地从已承认的缺点转回主要论证,起到了与7.5范文对应句子相同的衔接作用。
- GRA“Instead of getting things she did not need, she used the money to buy household items and save some for a health check-up.” — A correctly formed sentence opening with an 'Instead of' contrastive phrase, similar in shape to the 7.5 essay's 'Rather than' opener but with less embedded detail.以对比性短语“Instead of”开头的语法正确的句子,结构上类似7.5范文中的“Rather than”开头句,但嵌入的细节较少。
- TR“so its advantages are greater than its disadvantages” — The conclusion directly answers the 'positive or negative' part of the double question in plain, unambiguous language.结论用平实明确的语言直接回答了双问题中“积极还是消极”的部分。
This version reaches 7.0 through collocations that closely approach the 7.5 essay's own phrasing ('stronger sense of appreciation', 'outweighs...') and a well-controlled 'Rather than... choices she was able to make' sentence, but the cultural detail about lì xì appears only in the introduction, not woven back into the conclusion as it is at 7.5.这个版本凭借非常接近7.5范文措辞的搭配（“stronger sense of appreciation”“outweighs...”）以及一个控制得当的“Rather than... choices she was able to make”句式,达到了7.0分,但关于利是的文化细节只出现在引言中,没有像7.5范文那样在结论中再次呼应。
In many countries, people are increasingly choosing to give money rather than buy a specific present for celebrations. In Vietnam, this is far from a new custom, as lì xì, the red envelopes exchanged at Tết, along with cash gifts for weddings and birthdays, have existed for generations. While some may view this as a loss of personal thoughtfulness, I believe this trend is largely positive for society.在许多国家,人们越来越倾向于在庆祝活动中送钱,而不是购买特定的礼物。在越南,这远非什么新习俗,因为春节交换的红包利是,以及婚礼和生日的礼金,已经存在了好几代人。虽然有人可能认为这是个人心意的缺失,但我认为这种趋势对社会来说在很大程度上是积极的。
One major reason behind this shift is the practicality and freedom that money offers the recipient. As people's needs become increasingly diverse, a cash gift allows individuals to buy exactly what they want or need, rather than receiving a present that may end up unused. This tends to create a stronger sense of appreciation than an unwanted gift would. During a recent Tết visit to my hometown, my 78-year-old grandmother received lì xì from several relatives, including myself. Rather than another item she did not need, this allowed her to purchase specific household goods and save some money towards a medical check-up, choices she was able to make entirely on her own.这种转变背后的一个主要原因是金钱为接受者提供的实用性和自由。随着人们的需求日益多样化,礼金能让个人买到自己确切想要或需要的东西,而不是收到一份最终可能被闲置的礼物。这往往比收到一份不想要的礼物带来更强烈的感激之情。在最近一次回老家过春节时,我78岁的奶奶从包括我在内的好几位亲戚那里收到了利是。她没有再得到一件不需要的物品,而是用这笔钱购买了特定的家用物品,并存了一些钱用于体检,这些选择她完全可以自主做出。
Admittedly, giving money can sometimes feel less personal than carefully selecting a gift. However, I believe this concern is outweighed by broader benefits. Firstly, monetary gifts help reduce unnecessary consumption, since fewer unwanted items are produced and eventually thrown away. Secondly, for the giver, it removes much of the stress and time pressure involved in choosing a gift, which matters greatly during a busy period such as Tết or wedding season, when a person may attend several celebrations within a few weeks. This combination of convenience and freedom of choice makes monetary gifts a more practical and less wasteful option overall.诚然,送钱有时会让人觉得不如精心挑选礼物那样有个人心意。然而,我认为这种担忧被更广泛的好处所抵消。首先,礼金有助于减少不必要的消费,因为生产和最终被丢弃的不需要的物品减少了。其次,对送礼者来说,这消除了选择礼物所带来的大部分压力和时间紧迫感,这在春节或结婚旺季这样繁忙的时期尤为重要,因为一个人可能要在几周内参加好几场庆祝活动。这种便利性与选择自由的结合,使礼金总体上成为一种更实用、更不浪费的选择。
In conclusion, despite some valid concerns about a lack of sentimentality, the growing preference for monetary gifts, such as lì xì in Vietnam, represents a positive development for society. Its practicality, reduced waste and the freedom it gives recipients outweigh its perceived drawbacks.总之,尽管人们对缺乏情感这一点存在一些合理的担忧,但送礼金这一日益增长的偏好,比如越南的利是,代表着社会的一种积极发展。它的实用性、减少的浪费以及给予接受者的自由,超过了人们所认为的缺点。
搭配词汇
考官点评
- TR“While some may view this as a loss of personal thoughtfulness, I believe this trend is largely positive for society.” — Closely mirrors the concessive-thesis structure of the 7.5 essay, showing the writer can balance an objection against a clear position, though the vocabulary ('largely positive') is a touch less precise than the 7.5 phrasing.该句结构与7.5范文的让步式论点结构非常接近,显示出作者能够在反对意见与明确立场之间取得平衡,但用词（“largely positive”）比7.5范文的措辞略欠精准。
- LR“stronger sense of appreciation” — A precise collocation close to the 7.5 essay's 'genuine sense of appreciation', showing a near-native command of this key phrase.精准的搭配,接近7.5范文中的“genuine sense of appreciation”,显示出对这一关键短语接近母语者水平的掌握。
- CC“However, I believe this concern is outweighed by broader benefits.” — Nearly identical in function and wording to the 7.5 essay's pivot sentence, showing the writer has internalised this cohesive move.在功能和措辞上几乎与7.5范文的转折句一致,显示出作者已经内化了这种衔接手法。
- GRA“Rather than another item she did not need, this allowed her to purchase specific household goods and save some money towards a medical check-up, choices she was able to make entirely on her own.” — Opens with a contrastive 'Rather than' phrase and closes with an appositive, closely echoing the 7.5 essay's structure but with slightly less compact phrasing in the appositive itself.以对比性短语“Rather than”开头,以同位语结尾,结构上与7.5范文十分接近,但同位语本身的措辞略欠精炼。
- TR“Its practicality, reduced waste and the freedom it gives recipients outweigh its perceived drawbacks.” — Closes with a three-item list weighing benefits against drawbacks, matching the persuasive structure of the 7.5 conclusion though without weaving in the specific cultural callback to lì xì within this final sentence.以三项并列的方式权衡利弊作结,与7.5范文结论的说服结构相符,但没有像7.5范文那样在最后一句中再次融入利是这一具体文化元素。
The 7.5 answer is distinguished by weaving the lì xì/mừng tuổi cultural reference through the introduction, the grandmother example and the conclusion so the essay reads as a single unified argument, and by the closing appositive 'much like the confidence she gained from learning to make video calls on her own' that links this essay back to a recurring image across the writer's essays.7.5范文的突出之处在于将利是/贺岁钱这一文化元素贯穿于引言、奶奶的例子和结论之中,使全文呈现出统一的论证脉络,并在结尾用同位语“much like the confidence she gained from learning to make video calls on her own”将本文与作者其他文章中反复出现的意象联系了起来。
The growing preference, across many cultures, for giving cash at celebrations rather than selecting a specific physical present marks a notable shift in gift-giving customs. In Vietnam, this is hardly a new phenomenon: lì xì, the red envelopes exchanged at Tết, and mừng tuổi and mừng cưới gifts at birthdays and weddings, have long placed cash at the centre of celebration. While some might see this as a loss of personal thoughtfulness, I would argue that, on balance, the trend is a positive one for society.在许多文化中，人们越来越倾向于在庆祝场合赠送现金，而不是精心挑选某件具体的实物礼品，这标志着送礼习俗的显著转变。在越南，这并非什么新鲜事：春节期间互赠的红包「lì xì」，以及生日、婚礼场合中的「mừng tuổi」（贺岁礼金）和「mừng cưới」（婚礼贺金），长久以来都把现金置于庆祝活动的核心位置。虽然有人可能认为这意味着个人心意的缺失，但我认为，总体而言，这一趋势对社会而言是积极的。
One principal reason behind this trend lies in the practicality and independence it affords recipients. In an era of increasingly diverse personal needs, a cash gift lets the individual acquire precisely what they actually want or need, eliminating the risk of unwanted presents gathering dust in a cupboard or being quietly re-gifted. This direct usefulness fosters a genuine sense of appreciation rather than obligatory gratitude. During a recent Tết visit to my hometown in Nghệ An, my 78-year-old grandmother, who lives alone, received lì xì from several relatives, including myself. Rather than another set of ornaments she did not need, this allowed her to buy specific household items and put some aside toward a medical check-up, choices she made entirely on her own terms. The impact was tangible: her sense of independence, much like the confidence she gained from learning to make video calls on her own, was itself part of the gift.这一趋势背后的一个主要原因，在于它为接受者提供的实用性与自主权。在个人需求日益多样化的时代，现金礼物让接受者能够准确获得自己真正想要或需要的东西，从而消除了收到不需要的礼物、任其在柜子里落灰或悄悄转送他人的可能性。这种直接的实用性所培养的，是一种真挚的感激之情，而非出于礼节的勉强道谢。最近一次回义安老家过春节时，我78岁、独自生活的祖母从包括我在内的几位亲戚那里收到了红包。这笔钱让她得以购买她真正需要的具体家用物品，并留出一部分用于体检，而不是又多得一套她并不需要的装饰品——这些选择完全由她自己决定。这种影响是实实在在的：她所获得的独立感，就如同她学会独立视频通话后所收获的自信一样，本身也是这份礼物的一部分。
Admittedly, giving money can sometimes feel impersonal, potentially lacking the thought and effort that goes into carefully choosing a specific gift. However, this concern is often outweighed by broader societal benefits. A reduction in unnecessary consumption is one clear advantage, since it curtails the production and eventual disposal of items nobody particularly wanted in the first place — no small consideration in a country where wedding gift tables can otherwise fill with duplicate vases and unused kitchenware. Furthermore, for the giver, it removes the considerable stress and time pressure of gift selection, which matters greatly amid the packed social calendar of Tết or wedding season, when a single person might attend a dozen celebrations in a matter of weeks. This efficiency, combined with the recipient's freedom of choice, ultimately makes for a more thoughtful and less wasteful form of exchange.诚然，赠送现金有时可能会让人觉得缺乏个人情感，或许也少了精心挑选某件具体礼物所需投入的心思与努力。然而，这种担忧往往被更广泛的社会效益所抵消。减少不必要的消费便是一个显而易见的优势，因为它遏制了那些原本就没人真正想要的物品的生产与最终丢弃——在婚礼礼品桌上常常堆满重复的花瓶和用不上的厨具的国家，这一点绝非无关紧要的小事。此外，对于赠送者而言，这也省去了挑选礼物所带来的巨大压力和时间负担，这在春节或婚礼季社交日程排得满满当当的时候尤为重要——彼时一个人可能在短短几周内要参加十几场庆祝活动。这种效率，再加上接受者拥有的自主选择权，最终使得这种交换方式变得更加体贴，也更少浪费。
In conclusion, despite some valid concerns about its lack of sentimentality, the growing preference for monetary gifts at celebrations — a tradition Vietnam has quietly practised through lì xì and mừng tuổi for generations — represents a positive development for society. Its benefits, rooted primarily in practicality, reduced waste and the empowerment of recipients, considerably outweigh its perceived drawbacks.总之，尽管人们对其缺乏情感这一点确有一定合理的担忧，但庆祝场合中日益盛行的现金礼物——越南人通过红包（lì xì）和贺岁礼金（mừng tuổi）已默默传承数代的一项传统——对社会而言代表着一种积极的发展。它所带来的益处，主要根植于实用性、浪费的减少以及赋予接受者更大自主权，明显超过了人们所认为的种种不足。
搭配词汇
考官点评
- TR“While some might see this as a loss of personal thoughtfulness, I would argue that, on balance, the trend is a positive one for society.” — A balanced thesis that concedes a possible objection before staking out a clear position, exactly as the two-part prompt requires.该论点句先让步承认可能的反对意见,再明确表态,恰好符合题目双重要求。
- LR“gathering dust in a cupboard” — An idiomatic image that vividly conveys the waste of an unwanted physical gift.习语化的意象生动地传达出不需要的实物礼物被闲置浪费的情形。
- GRA“Rather than another set of ornaments she did not need, this allowed her to buy specific household items and put some aside toward a medical check-up, choices she made entirely on her own terms.” — A sentence opening with a contrastive "Rather than" clause and closing with an appositive, controlling two structures within one fluent unit.该句以对比性“Rather than”从句开头,以同位语结尾,在一个流畅的句子中驾驭了两种结构。
- CC“However, this concern is often outweighed by broader societal benefits.” — The discourse marker "However" pivots cleanly from the conceded drawback back to the essay's main supportive line of argument.话语标记词“However”干净利落地从已承认的缺点转回文章的主要支持性论证。
- TR“the growing preference for monetary gifts at celebrations — a tradition Vietnam has quietly practised through lì xì and mừng tuổi for generations — represents a positive development for society.” — The conclusion reasserts the thesis while weaving in the earlier cultural detail about lì xì, unifying the essay's argument and local evidence.结论重申论点的同时融入了前文关于利是（lì xì）的文化细节,将论证与本地例证融为一体。