A. Anticipation builds, the wrapping paper is ripped off in happy expectation... And then, our enthusiasm takes a downturn as we extricate a jokey Christmas pullover, a pair of woolen socks or a knitted tea cosy. Yes, we have all been there. However, recent scientific research on how to give the ideal gift could be set to change all that.

B. Yale researcher Novemsky claims to have singled out the factor that deter mines if a gift will be well received or not. Perceived ease of use is apparently paramount in the eyes of the recipient. A non-user-friendly gift will therefore lead to disappointment, however expensive the actual gift might have been.

C. Another tip for successful gift-giving is to avoid giving unsolicited presents. We often try to second-guess the would-be recipient's taste, believing our personal effort will be appreciated. But this invariably results in disappointment for the recipient of the gift. Far better is a gift that has actually been explicitly requested by the recipient than one chosen by the giver, according to a study conducted by researchers Francis Flynn and Francesca Gina (Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology 2011). So, best to save fruitless hours spent trawling the internet for gifts or pounding the high streets in vain and just be direct: ask the recipient what they want, then give it to them; simple as that!

D. A further tip which flies in the face of conventional thinking with regard to present-giving is to err on the side of frugality. In accordance with a 2014 study by Flynn and Gabriella Adams, the receiver's happiness was not found to be directly proportional to the money spent on a gift. In the study, recipients were given cheaper and more expensive versions of a variety of items, ranging from an iPad to jewellery, wine and books. In all cases, the costlier gift was not valued more than the cheaper option. The thought, therefore, really does count.

E. An interesting extension to this study is that this finding holds true for one of the most expensive and status-conscious gifts: that of the engagement ring. Whilst diamonds may be a girl's best friend, as the saying goes, they do not necessarily have to be top-of-the-range to win a girl's heart. Cheaper alternatives are just as valued as their costlier counterparts.

F. If you have successfully negotiated the mine-field of present-buying, then you still aren't home and dry yet. Another hurdle has yet to be overcome: present-wrapping. Failure to appropriately wrap a present can undo all the effort you have put into buying the gift so far. A perfectly wrapped present is always more welcome than a hastily wrapped one, unless the gift is markedly less attractive than its outward wrapping, as found by Novemsky and Yale colleague, Ravi Dhar, since this creates a dissonance between the anticipated and real worth of a gift.

G. Should all the above advice seem bewildering, then never fear. According to the 2011 study by Flynn and Francesca Gina, gift recipients are more than happy to receive cash in place of an actual gift.

Read the text below and answer Questions 22-28.

A. Those who have not entertained the idea that research into family ancestry might reveal a blue-blooded relative or historical celebrity must be few and far between. Most of us are intrigued with our origins and if genealogical research turns up a famous family member on the way, then so much the better.

B. Accordingly, there is a plethora of genealogy websites ready to be accessed on the internet to satiate the curiosity of those so inclined. Just type in the name of one of your ancestors into a search engine and you will be immediately inundated with genealogy sites. Whilst some sites may be free, others will be on a pay-as-you-go or subscription basis. Often the sheer number of websites can initially overwhelm the would-be genealogist.

C. So by what criteria do you select a website to aid your research into your family tree? Whilst free websites may seem the most attractive option, they may not adequately meet your needs. A feepaying website, however, might provide access to a wider range of resources, such as birth and death certificates, or at least indexes to the certificates, as well as census returns. Such resources and access to them are fundamental to your research.

D. When you access certificates, try to ensure that they are a digitised form of the original copy, since transcripts are usually poor substitutes for the original. Whenever possible, opt for the copies of the original thereby obviating the possibility of human error in copied or miscopied transcripts.

E. Having obtained or accessed, at least, essential documents, you can then proceed to more specialised websites providing military or employment information. Before paying for access to such sites, first establish if the site contains the records you are seeking. You shouldn't have to pay access to the site to do so.

F. Ideally, find out if there is a contact name or address for whoever is responsible for the site. A specialist on hand to answer more detailed queries is always a bonus.

G. Finally, if websites fail to uncover the information you are seeking you can always try good old-fashioned archives. Not all information is available on websites, so, sooner or later you will probably find yourself doing research in an archive anyway. Hopefully, a combination of websites and archives will deliver the information you require and uncover a fascinating heritage to boot.

A. A fashionable adornment, aphrodisiac or cause of fever, leprosy and widespread famine? The perceived attributes of a humble tuber, otherwise known as the potato, have certainly varied over historical eras and with shifts in belief systems. Accordingly, attitudes towards the potato have ranged from curiosity and acceptance to fear and suspicion and even downright hostility, as the British population took to the streets in the 18th century to denounce the tuber in public protests, rallying under the cry ‘No Potatoes, No Popery!’

B. So, why did a humble tuber excite so much suspicion and mistrust? One has but to look to the roots - if you will pardon the pun - of the controversial crop to understand how the potato managed to initially incite such distrust in many, despite saving millions from starvation in later centuries.

C. The potato, together with the eggplant (aubergine) and tomato, originates from the same family as the deadly belladonna (also known as deadly nightshade) and equally toxic, henbane. Common to all these plants is the presence of the lethal toxin solanine, a neurological poison. Ingestion of the toxin may lead to paralysis and death. In addition, the presence of another toxin, tomatine, in potatoes is similarly potentially deadly. One might be forgiven in thinking, therefore, that the potato is not an attractive item to have on the menu. Add to this the belief that the tuber was thought to be a source of leprosy too, then it is little wonder that the potato took time to win acceptance in European circles after ¡ts introduction in the 16th century.

D. Obviously, the potatoes we eat today bear little resemblance to the toxin-laden wild potatoes of Peru from where they originate. There, the potatoes in their natural form are so toxic that they can only be ingested if accompanied by clay particles. As far back as the 16th century, Peruvian Indians were utilising such knowledge, dipping the bitter potatoes in a gravy mix of water and clay particles. The latter served to absorb excess solanine thereby rendering the potato edible. Nowadays, centuries of crossbreeding between species has greatly diluted the toxin and its lethal potential.

E. Today, the potato is hailed as a saviour. A French pharmacist named Parmentier is to be largely credited with the about-face in attitude towards the potato as a food source in the 17th century. Prior to this period, public repugnance towards the vegetable as much as reluctance to use it other than as cattle fodder prevented its appearance on the dining table. A prior ill-fated introduction of the tuber by Sir Walter Raleigh to the court of Elizabeth I had done the tuber no favours: the decision of the queen’s cook to serve up the plant’s indigestible leaves as opposed to the edible tubers had resulted in universal indigestion amongst court members on this occasion. Parmentier, however, turned public opinion regarding the tuber by encouraging its addition to the menus of Louis XVI’s court. So successful was his personal campaign for the potato’s introduction that the queen, Marie Antoinette, enthusiastically adorned her hair with potato flowers, sparking off a fashionable trend amongst court circles.

F. Parmentier’s intervention on behalf of the humble potato was timely and without doubt ultimately saved millions from starvation. Public acceptance of the potato, however, initially lagged significantly behind that of court circles. In fact, it took an edict from the Paris Faculty of Medicine in 1772, verifying that potatoes were edible, in addition to the famine of 1785 to bring the public around. Thereafter, the potato became a staple in the diet of the rich and the poor alike.

G. So significant a role is the potato thought to have played in world history, with regard to staving off famine and aiding population increase, that historian W.H. McNeill has attributed the building of empires to the humble tuber. The potato, he argues, fuelled the rise of the West between 1750 and 1950 as European nations became no longer beholden to famine and were able to take dominion over other countries.

H. The rise of the potato from maligned tuber to worldwide food source, becoming the fifth most important crop globally after wheat, corn, rice and sugar cane, also had its downside. The over-dependence of European countries on the potato, arising in a virtual monoculture, led to the Irish Famine and mass emigration when crops failed in 1845. Subsequently, increased knowledge of pesticides and more stringent controls over crop production have largely warded off the significant crop failures that were so devastating in the past.