2018专八阅读理解练习题：英国学业间断期

2017-06-27 16:23:10来源：网络

2018专八阅读理解练习题：英国学业间断期

　　Talk to any parent of a student who took anadventurous gap year (a year between school anduniversity when some students earn money, travel,etc.) and a misty look will come into their eyes. There are some disasters and even the mostmotivated, organised gap student does require family back-up, financial, emotional andphysical. The parental mistiness is not just about the brilliant experience that has maturedtheir offspring; it is vicarious living. We all wish pre?university gap years had been thefashion in our day. We can see how much tougher our kids become; how much more preparedto benefit from university or to decide positively that they are going to do something otherthan a degree.

　　Gap years are fashionable, as is reflected in the huge growth in the number of charities andprivate companies offering them. Pictures of Prince William toiling in Chile have helped, but thetrend has been gathering steam for a decade. The range of gap packages starts withbackpacking, includes working with charities, building hospitals and schools and, verycommonly, working as a language assistant, teaching English. With this trend, however, comesa danger. Once parents feel that a well-structured year is essential to their would?beundergraduates progress to a better university, a good degree, an impressive CV and well paidemployment, as the gap companies blurbs suggest it might be, then parents will startorganising—and paying for—the gaps.

　　Where there are disasters, according to Richard Oliver, director of the gap companies' umbrellaorganisation, the Year Out Group, it is usually because of poor planning. That can be the faultof 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 havenot 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 thingthat he or she fancies. Kids don't mature if mum and dad decide how they are going tomature. If the 18-year-old's way of maturing is to slob out on Hampstead Heath soaking upsunshine or spending a year working with fishermen in Cornwall, then thats what will beproductive for that person. The consensus, however, is that some structure is an advantageand 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 bea snowboarding instructor at a cost of ￡5,800, probably came back with little more than ahangover. The 18-year-old on the same package who worked for his fare and spent the rest ofhis year instructing in resorts from New Zealand to Switzerland, and came back to apply foruniversity, is the positive counterbalance. [502 words]

　　16. 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

　　17. 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.

　　18. The word “packages” (Line 3, Para. 2) means________.

　　[A] parcels carried in traveling [B] a comprehensive set of activities