【51Talk-双语阅读】疫情之下选择间隔年的高中毕业生人数增多(1)

1、疫情之下选择“间隔年的高中毕业生人数增多Devon Tyrie had a plan for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Massachusetts native wanted to take a gap year between graduating from high school and starting university, combining volunteer work, international travel and internships. But with the world still in the grip of Covid-19

2、r its clear her year will not pan out as envisaged.来自美国马萨诸塞州的德文泰瑞原本对2020-2021学年的计划是在高中毕业后休整 一年再开始上大学。她打算在这个间隔年做志愿者、出国旅行和实习。但由于世界依然笼罩 在疫情的阻影下，显然她的间隔年不会像设想的一样顺利。Tyrie, 18, says shes had to make a decision based on worst-case scenarios. Shes been accepted by Middlebury College in Vermont, which like ma

3、ny US institutions, has not yet released plans for the upcoming semester. But some higher education institutions in both the US and the UK have already said they will shift to a predominantly online learning environment for part or all of the next academic year.18岁的泰瑞表示，她必须基于最坏的情况来做决定。她已经被佛蒙特州的明德学院录

4、 取。和许多美国高校一样，明德学院还未发布新学期的计划。但是美国和英国的一些高等教 育机构都已经表示，下一个学年的部分或全部时间会转换成以线上教学为主的模式。Tyrie says shes had to weigh up the risks; if she goes straight to college her first year may be far from the traditional experience, yet if she takes a gap year, her activities will likely be limited. In the end, shes ap

5、plied for a deferral to the next academic year. Ifs kind of tough right nowf not knowing, but Fm doing my best to make a plan；1 says Tyrie.泰瑞说，她必须权衡风险；如果她直接去上大学，她的第一年也许会和传统的大学经历 大不相同，然而如果她休整一年，她的活动将很可能受到限制。最终，她申请了延期入学。 泰瑞说：现在挺难办的，因为一切都不确定，但我会尽力做好计划。”Her reluctance to start her university education v

6、irtually is by no means unique. For students, its not an attractive prospect especially given most universities continue to charge full tuition fees. Madelyn Mackintosh, 17r was looking forward to studying physiology and political science at McGill University in Canada. Five months ago, a gap year w

7、as definitely not in the cards/ she says. But McGill is in Montreal Canadas Covid-19 hotspot, leaving Mackintosh anxious. Then she found out that McGill was making most of its classes online. That morning, I wrote to the deferral department and I requested a deferral.实际上，她对于是否开始上大学的犹豫不决不是个例。对于学生来说，这

8、时候上大学不 是很令人向往，尤其是在多数大学继续收取全额学费的情况下。17岁的麦德琳麦金托什本 来很期待在加拿大的麦吉尔大学学习生理学和政治学。她说：五个月前，我想都没想过休 间隔年。但是麦吉尔大学位于加拿大的新冠疫情重灾区蒙特利尔这让麦金托什感到焦虑。 接着她又发现，麦吉尔大学的大部分课程都要在线上进行。那天早上，我写信给入学部， 申请延期入学。”Taking a gap year between high school and university is fairly common in many parts of Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zea

9、land. In the USr the practice is less common, but attracted mainstream attention in 2016 when Barack Obamas daughter Malia took a gap year before attending Harvard University. Critics point out that the gap year is often an opportunity reserved for the wealthy. Yet the concept - and its pros and con

10、s - is under increased scrutiny now as students all over the world weigh up their options for the year ahead.在高中和大学之间休一个间隔年在欧洲多地、英国、澳大利亚和新西兰都相当普遍。在 美国，这种做法没那么常见，但是在2016年吸引了主流媒体的关注，当时奥巴马的女儿玛 利亚在入读哈佛大学前休了一个间隔年。批评人士指出间隔年通常是富人才能享有的机会。 不过现在间隔年的概念及其利弊随着世界各地的学生都在权衡新学年的选择，正 受到越来越多的审视。In a recent study on Co

11、vid-19 and university access, the London-based Sutton Trust found that one in five university applicants (19%) in the UK had changed their mind about university attendance for the 2020 academic year - whether in terms of their preferred university or by deferring a place in favour of a gap year.总吾陋伦

12、敦的萨顿信托在最近的一项针对新冠肺炎和大学入学的研究中发现，英国有五 分之一(19% )报考大学的学生已经改变了主意或者是心仪的大学改变了，或者是选择 延期入学，先休整一年。In the USr a survey conducted in April by Baltimore-based consulting firm Art & Science Group found that 17% of students had changed their college plans due to Covid-19. Of those students, 16% indicated that t

13、hey would take a gap year, while 17% said they would wait until the spring semester (which would start in January 2021) to enrol in university full-time. A third said they would enrol in university on a part-time basis.在美国，总部在巴尔的摩的咨询公司艺术和科学集团四月份开展的一项调查发现，疫情 导致17%的学生改变了上大学的计划。在这些学生当中，16%的人表示他们会休一个间隔

14、年，17%的人表示他们会等到春季学期开学时(2021年1月)再入学进行全日制学习。三 分之一的学生表示他们会采取非全日制的形式入学。Its far from being an easy decision. Gabriel Hostinr 17, had decided before Covid-19 that he would take a gap year before attending Harvard. Now, he says, there are uncertainties surrounding his plans to travel internationally - somet

15、hing he hopes will change at the start of 2021. In terms of the immediate future, hes looking at domestic volunteer programmes including community work closer to the New York area, where hes from. For his peers who are going straight to university, he says theres concern about not being able to be o

16、n the campus when the academic year starts. For me, thafs not college；* says Hostin.这绝不是一个轻松的决定。17岁的加布里埃尔霍脱了在疫情暴发前就决定要在入读哈 佛大学前休一个间隔年。现在，他表示自己出国旅游的计划有太多不确定性一他希望这一 情况能在2021年初发生改变。眼下他计划在国内参加一些志愿项目，比如，在他所在的纽 约附近参加社区工作。对于他那些打算直接上大学的同伴，他表示新学年开始时恐怕无法进 校园。霍斯汀说：对我来说，这不是大学生活。Its a sentiment that Joshua Kim a

17、nd Edward Maloney, authors of Learning Innovation and The Future Of Higher Education, understand. But Kimr the director of online programs and strategy at Dartmouth College, says JI think you really have to distinguish between true gap year experiences and simply stopping for a year or waiting for a

18、 year.学习创新和高等教育的未来一书的作者约书亚金和爰德华马龙尼能理解这种感受。 但是在达特茅斯学院担任在线课程和策略部主任的金表示：我认为你真的必须将真正的问 隔年经历和停一年或等一年区分开来。Kim, whose daughter took a gap year in South Korea through a US-government funded initiative, says that for a gap year to be valuable# it needs to be educational and ideally have a structured componen

19、t. Thats extremely difficult to do right now, says Maloney, with social distancing rules and travel restrictions likely to be in place for the foreseeable future. Having an unplanned and unstructured gap year that essentially equates to a leave of absence1 can be detrimental to students, say Kim and Maloney, because theyYe more likely to lose their momentum and decide not to at