Talk to any parent of a student who took an adventurous gap year (a year between school and university when some students earn money, travel, etc.) and a misty look will come into their eyes. There are some disasters and even the most motivated, organised gap student does require family back-up, financial, emotional and physical. The parental mistiness is not just about the brilliant experience that has matured their offspring; it is vicarious living. We all wish pre-university gap years had been the fashion in our day. We can see how much tougher our kids become; how much more prepared to benefit from university or to decide positively that they are going to do something other than a degree.
　　 Gap years are fashionable, as is reflected in the huge growth in the number of charities and private companies offering them. Pictures of Prince William toiling in Chile have helped, but the trend has been gathering steam for a decade. The range of gap packages starts with backpacking, includes working with charities, building hospitals and schools and, very commonly, working as a language assistant, teaching English. With this trend, however, comes a danger. Once parents feel that a well-structured year is essential to their would-be undergraduate’s progress to a better university, a good degree, an impressive CV and well paid employment, as the gap companies’ blurbs suggest it might be, then parents will start organising—and paying for—the gaps.
　　 Where there are disasters, according to Richard Oliver, director of the gap companies’ umbrella organisation, the Year Out Group, it is usually because of poor planning. That can be the fault of the company or of the student, he says, but the best insurance is thoughtful preparation. “When people get it wrong, it is usually medical or, especially among girls, it is that they have not been away from home before or because expectation does not match reality.”
　　 The point of a gap year is that it should be the time when the school leaver gets to do the thing that he or she fancies. Kids don’t mature if mum and dad decide how they are going to mature. If the 18-year-old’s way of maturing is to slob out on Hampstead Heath soaking up sunshine or spending a year working with fishermen in Cornwall, then that’s what will be productive for that person. The consensus, however, is that some structure is an advantage and that the prime mover needs to be the student.
　　 The 18-year-old who was dispatched by his parents at two weeks’ notice to Canada to learn to be a snowboarding instructor at a cost of ￡5,800, probably came back with little more than a hangover. The 18-year-old on the same package who worked for his fare and spent the rest of his year instructing in resorts from New Zealand to Switzerland, and came back to apply for university, is the positive counterbalance.
　　 1. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that parents of gap students may_____.
　　 [A] help children to be prepared for disasters
　　 [B] receive all kinds of support from their children
　　 [C] have rich experience in bringing up their offspring
　　 [D] experience watching children grow up
　　 2. According to the text, which of the following is true?
　　 [A] the popularity of gap years results from an increasing number of charities.
　　 [B] Prince William was working hard during his gap year.
　　 [C] gap years are not as fashionable as they were ten years ago.
　　 [D] a well-structured gap year is a guarantee of university success.
　　 3. The word “packages” (Line 3, Paragraph 2) means_____.
　　 [A] parcels carried in travelling
　　 [B] a comprehensive set of activities
　　 [C] something presented in a particular way
　　 [D] charity actions
　　 4. What can cause the disasters of gap years?
　　 [A] Intervention of parents.
　　 [B] Careful planning.
　　 [C] Good health.
　　 [D] Realistic expectation.
　　 5. An 18-year-old is believed to take a meaningful gap year when he/she_____.
　　 [A] lives up to his/her parents’ expectations
　　 [B] spends time being lazy and doing nothing
　　 [C] learns skills by spending parents’ money
　　 [D] earns his or her living and gains working experience
　　 答案：1.D 2.B 3.B 4.A 5.D

　　核心詞匯和超綱詞匯
　　(1)a gap year(中學和大學之間)學業間斷的一年，間斷年
　　(2)vicarious(a.)間接感受到的，如He got a ~ thrill out of watching his son score the winning goal(他看到兒子射入獲勝的一球，也同樣感到欣喜若狂)
　　(3)package(n.)包，盒，袋;(必須整體接受的)一套東西，一套建議，一攬子交易，如a benefits ~一套福利措施an aid ~綜合援助計劃
　　(4)backpack(v.)背包旅行 go ~ing
　　(5)umbrella(n.)綜合體，總體，整體，如an ~ group/fund綜合團體/基金
　　(6)fork out(for sth.)(尤指不情愿地)大量花錢，大把掏錢
　　(7)slob(n.)懶惰而邋遢的人(v.)slob out/around游手好閑，無所事事
　　(8)structure(n.)結構，構造;精心組織，周密安排，體系
　　(9)dispatch(v./n.)派遣，調遣，派出;發出，發送
　　(10)at short notice隨時，沒有提前很長時間通知，at two week’s notice提前兩周通知
　　(11)hangover(from sth.)(n.)遺留的感覺(或風俗、習慣等)，如the insecure feeling that was a ~ from her childhood(她兒時留下的不安全感)
　　(12)counterbalance(v.)抗衡，抵消;對……起平衡作用;(n.)(to sth.)平衡抵消物，抗衡
　　全文翻譯
　　與度過了新奇的學業間斷年的孩子的父母交談，他們的眼神中會有一種含糊不清的東西。這一年中有一些危機，即使是目的明確、很有條理的學生，在間斷年期間也需要家庭從經濟上、情感上和體力上給予幫助。父母眼中的含糊不僅僅是因為讓他們的孩子成熟起來的美好經歷，也是因為他們自己間接感受到的生活方式。我們都希望在我們那個時代大學前的間斷年就已經很時興了。我們能看著孩子們變得更堅強，更好地準備從上大學中有所收獲或者積極地決定他們將做一些除了獲得學歷之外的事情。
　　學業間斷年現在很時興，這反映在提供它們的慈善團體和私人公司的數目呈巨額增長。威廉王子在智利吃苦的事情發揮了作用，但這種趨勢十年來一直在加強。學業間斷年期間的一整套活動從背包旅行開始，包括和慈善團體一起工作，修建醫院和學校，以及常見的做語言助教、教英語。然而，隨著這種趨勢而來的也有危險。一旦父母相信那些學業間斷年公司介紹的內容，認為精心安排的一個間斷年對于想成為本科生的孩子進入更好的大學，獲得高學歷，得到令人印象深刻的簡歷和待遇良好的工作是至關重要的，那么他們就會開始組織并資助間斷年期間的活動。
　　按照學業間斷年公司綜合機構“走出學業間斷年團體”的負責人理查德·奧利弗埃的觀點，出現問題往往是因為計劃不周。他說，“這可能是公司或學生的責任，但是比較保險的方法是作好審慎的準備。當人們把它搞砸時，往往是因為健康問題，尤其是女孩，因為她們從未離開過家，或者期望與現實不符”。
　　學業間斷年的意義在于它應該是離校生開始做自己喜歡做的事情的時候。如果由父母來決定孩子怎樣成熟，那么他們不會真地變成熟。如果18歲時變成熟的方式是在倫敦漢普斯泰德石南園中無所事事地曬太陽，或者花上一年時間和康沃爾郡的漁夫一起工作，那么對于另外一個人來說將是有所收獲的。然而，多數人卻認為進行某種安排是有利的，而且行動的安排者應是學生自己。
　　如果18歲的年輕人兩周前得到父母的通知，被派去加拿大花5,800英鎊學習成為一名滑雪教練，回來后可能只會留下很少的感覺。同樣的18歲的年輕人，先通過工作賺錢，再用一年中剩下的時間在從新西蘭到瑞士的多個避暑勝地執教，回來后申請大學，這樣的經歷則是完全不同的積極的做法。