Question

Malia Obama, the elder daughter of former US President Barack Obama, would postpone enrolling in Harvard. She would take a gap year.

Gap years are so popular in Britain that more than 200,000 students take them every year. However, they are virtually unknown to many students in the US. Only about 1 percent of graduating seniors, or about 30,000 Americans students, decide to take a year off between high school and college.

Gap years, as defined by most US colleges, are structured educational periods of travel, volunteering or other kinds of learning through experiences. They usually have to be approved by the colleges which students plan to attend, and more American students, like Malia Obama, have started to take gap years.

According to American Gap Association(AGA)surveys, there was a 22 percent increase in students taking gap years in 2015 over the previous year.

While many colleges and particularly public universities don’t allow students to postpone enrollment, Florida State Universality has begun encouraging its freshmen to take a year off from their studies in order to get some extra maturity and new experience.

“We know very clearly now that gap years can be an educational experience that changes you completely,” said Joe O’shea, the president of(AGA),“Gap years help increase students’ focus while their identities and future plans take shape.”

She believes gap years are good ways for young people to get away from their comfortable lives or pressures from society, and to see their lives from a new angle. “It helps you choose your path, instead of letting it choose you.

Karis Engle spent a year with a charitable organization in Haiti at age 18. The experience has made her realize that she wants to help others. Now Engle has become the president of the Glades Initiative, a non-profit organization that helps with food security in communities in southern Florida. She said the immersion in a very different culture completely changed her worldview. By the time she entered Bethel College in Kansas a year later, her life had changed. “I felt like I was different from most people there. I knew clearly what I wanted to study, which was international development with an emphasis on social work.”

1.The example of Malia Obama is to show ________.

A. some American students begin to take gap years

B. taking gap years is necessary for American students

C. fewer students want to take gap years in America

D. famous persons encourage their children to take gap years

2.From the passage, we can infer that ________.

A. American governments support seniors to take gap years

B. American students taking gap years will have a sharp increase soon

C. students who take gap years needn’t apply to college

D. students taking gap years are not just for making money

3.Karis Engle thinks ________.

A. taking gap years has influenced her cultural choices

B. taking gap years seldom affects participants’ worldview

C. taking gap years is very valuable for her to choose her career

D. taking gap years is helpful for her entry into college

4.What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. To advertise for taking gap years.

B. To introduce the situation of gap years in the US.

C. To discuss how to take gap years.

D. To share opinions about taking gap year.

Answer 1