随身英语 Why take a gap year? 为什么选择间隔年？

陈小将

以前，一些学生为了能去旅行一年而推迟上大学。但现在的重点是做一个有成效、有明确目标的间隔年，让这一年给你的简历增亮添彩，帮助你申请到称心如意的大学课程，并最终找到一份好工作。这是个好主意吗？本期内容讨论暂时休学的好处。
Vocabulary: employment and education 词汇：就业和教育
When you’ve finished your studies at school and college, do you feel like a well-earned rest? If you’re about to embark on a course at university, you’ll want to recharge your batteries, let your hair down and have some fun. But how long should you do that for? Now the idea of taking a year off before you move into further education seems to be the thing to do.
A year off – also called a gap year – is not a new concept, but there’s now a focus on making the most of this break from academic life. Long gone are the days of just hanging out on a beach or backpacking round the world. While that is still an option, a gap year is now more about gaining skills that will help you in later life. The BBC’s Smart Consumer podcast spoke to a student called Meg, who said “I just always had in the back of my mind I'd spend a year doing something productive and something that would just be good fun.”
Doing something productive is exactly what students are being encouraged to do because doing more purposeful things like work experience or charity work helps them acquire skills to use when competing for a place at university. It looks good on their CV and ultimately makes them more employable. Chris Rea is a Higher Education Services Manager from organisation, Prospects. He told the BBC that he thinks “the experience of the gap year has become actually much more practical, partly to do with university participation increasing, but also because of the demands on developing skills, specifically employability skills.”
While the benefits of taking a gap year are clear to see, some students worry they can’t afford it. Another student, Tom, told the BBC that to him, a gap year was an ‘alien concept’. He said “it would have been far too expensive and it's not something that I would have been able to rely on my parents or family members for.” But some experts say that it needn’t burn a hole in your pocket; you don’t need to travel far and you can even earn money by doing paid work.
For those who do have the funds, a combination of working, volunteering and travelling is undoubtedly an amazing opportunity. It increases confidence and independence, gives you a chance to learn new crafts, and gives you time to contemplate whether university is right for you.

陈小将