偷看圣诞礼物好奇过后是懊悔-英语点津

A traditional Christmas party is held at the Elysee Palace in Paris December 14, 2005.

They've been foraging in the attic late at night and rummaging under the bed: Beware the Christmas present peekers.

About one in three British adults already know what they will receive for Christmas - because they have snuck a peek at their presents, a new study showed this week.

The survey of 1,000 people by British insurance company insurastore.com showed that 37 percent of British adults admitted to searching for their presents, and out of those, eight in 10 were successful in the hunt.

"Kids aside, it seems even adults have a fascination for what Father Christmas might have bought them and keeping surprises under wraps is a considerable challenge in any household," insurastore Managing Director Paul Maddicott said.

One in five British adults have torn the wrapping paper enough to be able to identify a gift and one in 20 admitted to unwrapping presents completely, the survey revealed.

The average snooper spends an hour and 15 minutes seeking out Christmas gifts. Respondents ranked the top of the wardrobe and under the bed as the most common hiding places.

However, more than half of those who discovered what they were getting for Christmas (56 percent) later regretted their curiosity and said they wished they had not looked. Four in 10 even complained that they had spoiled Christmas.

"We'd definitely urge anyone who's curious to try and resist temptation as the spoilt surprise and feelings of guilt are likely to take the fun out of Xmas day," Mr Maddicott said.

The study also found that women were more inquisitive than men, with 40 percent of women admitting to hunting for presents compared to 33 percent of men. But women were also more likely to own up with one in 20 admitting to their boyfriend or husband that they had sneaked a peek at their presents.

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

点击查看更多双语新闻

(Agencies)

要当心偷看圣诞礼物的人——这些人最近常常深夜在阁楼上搜寻，在床底下翻找礼物。

本周发布的一项新研究发现，约有三分之一的英国成年人已经知道他们圣诞节会收到什么礼物了，因为他们已经偷偷地看过了。

英国保险公司insurastore.com一项涵盖了1000人的调查显示，37%的英国成年人承认搜寻过自己的圣诞礼物，其中有80%的人成功地找到了礼物。

insurastore公司董事总经理保罗•麦迪科特说：“不只是孩子，似乎连大人都很想知道圣诞老人会带给自己什么礼物。不管是谁，在家里把礼物藏起来都是一个相当大的挑战。”

调查显示，五分之一的英国成年人会撕开部分包装纸，以确认礼物是什么，而5%的人承认他们将包装纸整个撕掉。

偷窥者们平均花费1小时15分钟就能找到礼物。被调查者选出的最常见的藏礼物位置是“衣柜顶”和“床底”。

但是，那些找到礼物的人中超过半数（56%）过后会对自己的好奇感到懊悔，希望自己没有偷看过。40%的人甚至抱怨说他们把整个圣诞节气氛给毁了。

麦迪科特先生说：“我们力劝那些很想偷看礼物的人收起他们的好奇心，抵制住诱惑。要不然不但惊喜被破坏了，还会心生内疚，这很可能会使你的圣诞节过得索然无味。”

调查还发现，女人的好奇心比男人强，有40%的女人承认找过礼物，而只有33%的男人这么做。但是女人“招供”的可能性也更大，5%的女人向男朋友或丈夫坦白她们偷看过礼物。