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文章InBritainandothercountries,youngpeoplesometimestakea"gapyear,"ayearoffbetweenhighschoolandcollege.ThisideanevergainedabigfollowingintheUnitedStates.Recentnewsreportshavesuggestedthatinterestmaybegrowing,thoughtherearenoofficialnumbers.

CharlesDeaconisthedeanofadmissionsatGeorgetownUniversityinWashington,D.C.Heestimatesthatinthecurrentfirst-yearclassofonethousandsixhundredstudents,onlyabouttwenty-fivedecidedtotakeayearoff.Hesaysthisnumberhasnotchangedmuchovertheyears.

MisterDeaconsaysthemostcommonreasonistohaveachancetotravel.Buthesaysinternationalstudentsmaytakeagapyeartomeetrequirementsathomeformilitaryduty.

Somehighschoolgraduatesseeayearoffasachancetorecoveraftertwelveyearsofrequirededucation.Butitcanalsogivestudentsachancetoexploretheirinterests.Studentswhothinktheywanttobedoctors,forexample,couldlearnabouttheprofessionbyvolunteeringinahospitalforayear.

Manycollegesanduniversitiessupportgap-yearprojectsbypermittingstudentstodelaytheiradmission.Expertssaystudentscangrowemotionallyandintellectuallyastheyworkatsomethingtheyenjoy.

TheHarvardadmissionsofficehasanessayonitsWebsitecalled"TimeOutorBurnOutfortheNextGeneration."Itpraisestheideaoftakingtimeofftostepback,thinkandenjoygaininglifeexperiencesoutsidethepressureofstudies.ItalsonotesthatstudentsaresometimesadmittedtoHarvardorothercollegesinpartbecausetheydidsomethingunusualwiththattime.

Ofcourse,agapyearisnotforeveryone.Studentsmightmisstheirfriendswhogoondirectlytocollege.Andparentsmightworrythattheirchildrenwilldecidenottogotocollegeoncetheytaketimeoff.

Anotherconcernismoney.Ayearoff,awayfromhome,canbecostly.

HollyBullisthepresidentoftheCenterforInterimPrograms.Hercompanyspecializesinhelpingstudentsplantheirgapyear.Shenotesthatseveralbookshavebeenwrittenaboutthissubject.ShesaysthesebooksalongwithmediaattentionandtheavailabilityofinformationontheInternethaveincreasedinterestintheideaofayearoff.

Andshepointsoutth