Holidays 是 Part 1 高頻暖身題——但 holiday 在英式英語裡同時指「假期」跟「節日」,台灣考生常常一個字混兩個概念,答得糊里糊塗。本篇示範如何用類型 + 活動 + 期待感三層拆解。

台灣考生常見誤區

  • 沒區分 public holiday(國定假日)/ vacation(長假)/ day off(單日休假)/ festival(節日)。
  • I love holidays 然後沒下文——零具體。
  • 講過年只會 We eat dinner with family——錯失大量在地細節(紅包、發財、放鞭炮、回娘家)。

5 個代表題 + Band 7+ 範答

Q1. What do you usually do during holidays?

It really depends on the holiday — for the long Lunar New Year break, I head down to my parents' place in Taichung for a week of family meals and a fair amount of doing nothing. For shorter public holidays like Tomb Sweeping or 228, I'll usually plan a small trip somewhere within Taiwan, maybe a weekend in Yilan or Tainan, since flying abroad isn't really worth it for three days.

Q2. What is your favourite holiday?

Probably Mid-Autumn Festival, oddly enough — Lunar New Year is bigger, but it comes with a lot of family-obligation stress. Mid-Autumn is much lighter; you basically meet up with friends, grill food on the pavement, and eat moon cakes nobody really wants. The whole country smells faintly of barbecue smoke for three days, which I genuinely love.

Q3. Do you prefer staying at home or travelling during holidays?

A mix, honestly — I find a holiday spent entirely at home leaves me feeling like I haven't really used the time, but I also can't face airports and queues every single break. My ideal split is one trip somewhere new and one stretch of doing absolutely nothing. The "doing nothing" half tends to be where the actual rest happens.

Q4. How do people in your country celebrate important holidays?

Lunar New Year is the big one, by some distance — it's basically a week of family meals, red envelopes for the kids, and a lot of superstition around cleaning, money, and which words you can say. Mid-Autumn is barbecues; Dragon Boat is sticky rice dumplings; National Day is fireworks. Most holidays here have a specific food associated with them, which I find oddly comforting.

Q5. Are holidays important to you?

Genuinely yes, more than they used to be — I underestimated their value in my early twenties when I was happy to work through them. Now I treat them as a hard reset; if I don't take a proper break every couple of months, the work quality genuinely drops. Holidays aren't a luxury; they're maintenance, basically.

假期主題詞庫(13 個)

| 中文 | 英文 | Example chunk | |------|------|---------------| | 國定假日 | a public holiday | 228 is a public holiday. | | 連假 | a long weekend | We get a four-day long weekend. | | 農曆年 / 春節 | Lunar New Year / Chinese New Year | Lunar New Year is the big one. | | 中秋節 | Mid-Autumn Festival | Mid-Autumn is barbecues. | | 端午節 | Dragon Boat Festival | Dragon Boat is sticky rice dumplings. | | 紅包 | a red envelope | We give red envelopes to the kids. | | 烤肉 | a barbecue / grill out | We grill on the pavement. | | 月餅 | moon cakes | Moon cakes nobody really wants. | | 放鬆充電 | a hard reset | Holidays are a hard reset for me. | | 出國 | go abroad | Flying abroad isn't worth three days. | | 國內旅遊 | a trip within Taiwan | A trip within Taiwan, maybe Yilan. | | 補休 | a comp day | I took a comp day on Friday. | | 老家 | one's parents' place | I head down to my parents' place. |

Band 6 vs Band 7+ 對照

題目:What is your favourite holiday?

Band 6: My favourite holiday is Chinese New Year. Because I can eat a lot of food and get red envelopes. I also meet my family.

Band 7+: Probably Mid-Autumn Festival, oddly enough — Lunar New Year is bigger, but it comes with a lot of family-obligation stress. Mid-Autumn is much lighter; you basically meet up with friends, grill food on the pavement, and eat moon cakes nobody really wants. The whole country smells faintly of barbecue smoke for three days, which I genuinely love.

差別:Band 6 講過年三件事就停;Band 7+ 用對比(過年 vs 中秋)、讓步oddly enough)、畫面the whole country smells faintly of barbecue smoke)——這種帶感官的句子直接拉到 Band 7.5。

什麼要避免

  1. **混用 holiday 跟 *vacation***:英式 holiday 涵蓋假期 + 節日;美式 vacation 只指長假。選一套用法用到底。
  2. 只講過年沒講為什麼:很多考生答 Chinese New Year, because I love it. 完全不解釋——為什麼愛?哪個瞬間?哪道菜?至少 1 個具體記憶。
  3. **罐頭 *Holidays make me happy***:國中等級。換成具體效果:If I don't take a proper break every couple of months, the work quality genuinely drops. 這就是 Band 7。

延伸閱讀:Part 1 · 20 高頻題 + 三層公式 · Part 1 · Work & Studies 主題範答