标题：The science of giving gifts your loved ones won't want to return
Trying to find an ideal gift for a friend or family member, or at least something that won't end up in the trash, is perennial source of pre-holiday anxiety.
perennial 长期存在的，经久不衰的，反复发生的
gift-giving combines economics and psychology, and those two academic fields have grown ever more entwined in recent years.
entwined adj. 紧密结合的，不可分离的
造句：The fates of both countries are entwined.
So before struggling to sort through the likes, dislikes, quirks and wishes of the people...
sort through 整理，筛选 sort through information
quirk n.怪癖，古怪之处
In some areas of gift-giving, the research is in flux.
the received wisdom in behavioral economics has been that buying experiences, or giving them as gifts, produces more happiness over the long run than purchased material things do.
received wisdom 公认观点
in flux 处于不断的变化中
over the long run 长期上，长远看来
Experiences are thought to trump material goods for several reasons。
trump sth 打败，胜过 = beat
比较：win a game, be defeated
And material goods are easily compared against rival goods, or against things friends and acquaintances own, which fosters discontentedness. Experiences are more idiosyncratic, effectively blocking such comparisons.
discontentedness 不满情绪，不满足
idiosyncratic 特殊的 idiosyncracy idio- 自己
Yet other researchers have recently pushed back against the "buy experiences" conventional wisdom.
push back against sth 反击，拒绝，排斥
experiences given as gifts sparked brief, intense bursts of happiness
spark 产生，引起
burst n. 突然增加，爆发 a burst of laughter/anger
objects received as gifts tend to produce modest and consistent happiness, whereas experiences given as gifts sparked brief, intense bursts of happiness.
So sometimes it comes down to which kind of happiness you wish to convey.
come down to sth 归结为，取决于
造句：It all comes down to money in the end.
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