雅思阅读材料之受访者大多不喜欢旅行礼品

It is one of the clear down-sides of having friends or relatives who jet off to exotic places.

这是有亲友坐飞机去国外旅行的明显缺点之一。

Not only is there a chance that you will have to sit through a session of boring photos showcasing a luxury holiday that you were not part of – there is also a genuine risk that your ‘loved ones’ will return from their break proffering a gift you really don’t want.

你不仅可能要坐上半天来看一堆自己没份参与的旅行的无聊照片，还很有可能会收到这些 “爱你的人” 回来后送给你的实际上你并不需要的礼物。

According to new research, most of us dread receiving an unsolicited item – whether ‘quirky’ pieces of clothing or random bric-a-brac – brought back from abroad by those whose intentions are entirely good, but whose taste in presents is rather more lacking.

根据研究，大部分人害怕收到不请自来的东西——古怪的衣物或是随意的小摆设——从国外买回这些东西的人都是完全出于好意，但是他们实在缺乏挑选礼物的品位。

A survey conducted by travel search website Skyscanner saw over two thirds of those questioned (69 per cent) admit that they would rather not receive souvenirs from other people’s holidays.

根据旅游搜索网站Skyscanner 所做的一项调查，超过三分之二（69%）的受访者承认，他们宁愿其他人度假回来没给他们带纪念品。

Just four per cent of the 2000 respondents to the poll said they find holiday gifts of use.

2000名受访者中，只有4%人称他们觉得旅游礼物有用。

The presents most likely to make us say an unconvincing thankyou though clenched teeth are ornaments, with 14 per cent of the survey’s respondees listing said items – cheap pottery, miniature statues – as the most disappointing travel totem you can receive.

最有可能让人们咬着牙齿道一声难以令人信服的“谢谢”的礼物要属装饰品了。有14%的受访者认为廉价的陶器、小型雕塑是所收到最让人失望的旅游礼物。

Also high on the name-and-shame list are comedy T-shirts (decried as ‘most disappointing’ by nine per cent), bargain jewellery (also nine per cent), key rings and fridge magnets (seven per cent) and food products and snow globes (both four per cent).

同样名列“不受欢迎的旅游礼物”榜单前几位的还有：趣味T恤（有9%的人认为是“最让人失望的”），廉价首饰（也有9%），钥匙扣和冰箱磁铁（7%），还有零食特产和雪花玻璃球（都是4%）。

Fifteen per cent find an instant new home for these undesired presents – the bin.

有15%的人几乎是一拿到这些不受欢迎的礼物，就直接扔进了垃圾桶。

Others stop short of immediately jettisoning their unrequested new possessions – but plenty of us also decline to put them on display. Eighteen per cent of those questioned said they hide the gifts in cupboards, while 10 per cent revealed they donate them to charity.

其他的人不会立刻扔掉，但大多数都不会将它们拿出来陈列。18%的人说他们把这些礼物藏进了壁橱里，而 10%的访者将它们捐给了慈善机构。

Six per cent said they share the tat burden by re-gifting the items to others, while three per cent are even cheekier and put the souvenirs up for sale on sites such as e-Bay.

6%的受访者说他们愿意分享这甜蜜的负担——把礼物重新赠送给别人。而有3%的人更无耻地把这些纪念品拿到诸如e-Bay网的平台上出售。

In extreme cases, two per cent have ‘accidentally’ broken a gift to ensure they don’t have to keep it, while one per cent have risked upsetting the present-giver by refusing the item.

在更极端的处理方式中，有2%的人“非常偶然地” 打碎了这种礼物；1%的人冒着让送礼物的人不愉快的危险，干脆拒绝接受。

But apparently, the problem of gifts no-one likes is widespread. According to figures from the World Tourism Organisation, an estimated £5billion is wasted on unnecessary trinkets by holidaymakers in Europe every year.

但是显而易见，旅游礼物无人喜欢的问题依然在持续蔓延。据世界旅游组织给出的数据，每年欧洲的假日游客会浪费约50亿英镑购买并不被人需要的小饰物。