Pre-TOEFL writing, People remember special gifts or presents that they have received. Why? - rewrite -

Writing Topic

People remember special gifts or presents that they have received. Why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 人はもらった特別な贈り物を覚えています。なぜでしょうか？具体的な理由や例を使い答えを支持してください。

☆Let’s Think

Perhaps a special gift does not have to be something expensive or something for a special occasion. As long as it is special for the receiver, it will do as an example of a special present. Someone’s trash is another man’s treasure as a cheap snow sled for children was what a billionaire recalled in his deathbed in the movie Citizen Kane. Then thinking about the reason why the present is special for the person would provide the answer to this question. 特別な贈り物は値段が高い物や特別な出来事でもらったものとは限らない。受け取った人にとって特別である限り例になる。誰かのゴミは別の人には宝物だったりする。「市民ケーン」の主人公の億万長者が死の床で回想したのが安物の子供用雪ぞりだった様に。つまり贈り物がその人にとって特別である理由を考えることが解答の手がかりになるかもしれない。

                    

☆Words and Expressions

1.     A special gift evokes memories and feelings. 思い出や気持ちを呼び起こす

2.    A special gift helps you recall your beloved to your mind. 大切な人を回想させる

3.    A special gift reminds you of an important event in your life. 人生の大切な出来事を思い出させる

             

☆Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】There seem to be many reasons why people remember special gifts that they have received, but still some similarities may be found in them.

【Special Gifts】The idea that a certain gift is special is subjective. The value of a gift is decided by the value attached to it by the person who received it. Therefore, the intangible additional values of the gifts are the reasons why people remember some gifts as special.

【Case 1】Memory is a significant factor to remember a certain gift.

【Case 2】A present can be a memento of your beloved.

【Case 3】A gift associated with an extraordinary experience is remembered. 

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Sentiments and feelings attached to the gift seem to be the reason why a certain present stays in one’s mind forever.

【導入＝概要】人がもらった特別な贈り物を覚えている理由は様々あるように思えるが、それでもそれらには類似性があるかもしれない。

【特別な贈り物】ある贈り物が特別だという考えは主観的だ。贈り物の価値は受け手がそれに付けた価値によって決まる。従って贈り物の形の無い付加価値が人がある贈り物を特別だと思う理由だ。

【事例1】思い出はある贈り物を記憶する重要な要因だ。

【事例2】贈り物は大切な人の思い出の品（形見）になる可能性がある。

【事例 3】ある並外れた経験とつながっている贈り物は記憶される。

【結論＝まとめ】贈り物に張り付いている感傷や感情が、ある贈り物が人の心に永久に心に残る理由らしい。

Your Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】

【Point 1】           

【Point 2】           

【Point 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

                                                             

☆Sample Paragraph Development

Memory is a significant factor of the remembrance of a gift. The item triggers recollection of one’s past which has some meaning. A Christmas present I remember well reminds me of the happiest moments of my family, for example. I got it when I was six or seven years old. It was an alarm clock with the picture of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on its face. I remember that the item had attracted me in a store I visited with my family but what I remember most vividly about it is the smile and the excitement of my parents I saw and felt while they were making sure that I wanted it and when they watched me find it on the morning of the Christmas day. My family was not Christian but observed Christmas perhaps for the beauty of the event like all the other ordinary Japanese families. I think my parents celebrated the spirit of giving as they went through the joy of child-rearing. That mood of the happiest times of my family, containing pure delight and warm feelings, is wrapped around the tiny clock in my memory. Probably because good memories are related to our very existence, we never forget presents with them.

思い出が重要な要因。その品物が何か意味のある過去の回想の引き金となる。例えば私がよく覚えているクリスマスプレゼントは私の家族の最も幸福な瞬間を思い出させる。6～7歳の時もらった白雪姫と7人の小人の絵の目覚まし時計で、家族と行った店で目に留まったのを覚えているが一番はっきり覚えているのは私が欲しがっているのを確認している時やクリスマスの朝私がそれを見つけるのを見守っている時の親の笑顔と興奮だ。私の家族はキリスト教徒でなかったが他の普通の日本の家族同様おそらくその催しの美しさからクリスマスを祝ったのだろう。私の親は子育ての喜びを経験しながら与える精神を祝ったのだと思う。我が家が最も幸福だった時代の気分が純粋な喜びと暖かい感情を含んで私の記憶の中のそのちっぽけな時計を包んでいる。おそらく良い記憶は私たちの存在そのものに関係があるのでその記憶がある贈り物を決して忘れないのだろう。