✔ 最佳答案
The term gap year (also known as "year out", "deferring" ;, "Overseas Experience") is given to a prolonged period (often, but not always, a year) between a student's completion of secondary school and matriculation in college or university, or also between college and graduate school or a profession. It is generally a practice undertaken by young people from anglophone nations with a great proportion of gap year students from one country effectively swapping with gap year students from another.
Some students spend the time travelling, others spend the time working, and many combine these into an international Working Holiday. A popular option for gap year students, also known as "gappers", is international volunteering. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, a great deal of volunteers who helped in Asia were on a gap year. Also, many gap year students earn money while overseas by working cash in hand, often in the hospitality industry.
Gap years, which became prevalent in the 1990s, could be considered a modern equivalent of the Grand Tour.
In America, the practice of taking a "gap year" before college has been slower to take hold, owing in no small part to the enormous capacity and marketing prowess of the higher education sector. Several organizations have offered young Americans structured gap year programs. These include Dynamy, with sites in Worcester, MA and Santa Rosa, CA. [1] The Dynamy program, called Internship Year, features mentored internships, independent apartment living, college and career advising, community service, a wilderness experience (in partnership with Outward Bound, and optional academic credit. Another popular American gap year option is City Year, with locations in urban centers around the country.
參考資料:
http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Gap_year