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今年5月，奥巴马大女儿玛利亚被哈佛大学录取，她决定推迟入学，先体验间隔年，再入学。过把间隔年的瘾。 不过奥巴马家大公主并没有透露具体要干些什么。大家可能要问了，这么任性，学校不管管吗？别说，还真不管。不仅不管，实际上哈佛大学非常鼓励学生这样做。
CNN报道
Harvard College encourages admitted students to defer enrollment for one year to travel, pursue a special project or activity, work, or spend time in another meaningful way.
哈佛大学鼓励已录取的学生推迟入学，去旅行一年，追求一个特别的项目、活动、一份工作或以另一种有意义的方式度过。
A gap year is a year before going to college or university and after finishing high school or taking a year off before going into graduate school .
间隔年指的是高中毕业后进入大学前，或大学本科毕业后进入研究生学校前的一年。（现在也可指毕业后工作前的一年，或者工作中休息的一年。）
During this time students may engage in advanced academic courses and non-academic courses, such as yearlong pre-college math courses, language studies, learning a trade, art studies, volunteer work, travel, internships, sports and more. 在这段时间内，学生可以学习高级学术课程或选择非学术课程，比如为期一年的大学预科数学课，语言学习，学一门手艺，艺术研究，志愿工作，旅行，实习，运动等。
早在20世纪60年代，间隔年的做法就在英国兴起了，并逐渐成为欧洲，澳大利亚，新西兰等各地青年的普遍选择。像雷励国际（Raleigh International）、纬度全球志愿（Lattitude Global Volunteering）都是间隔年海外活动的知名组织。（想过间隔年，知道去哪儿找组织了吧，不用谢~）
看到欧洲人辣么会玩，美国人可不甘落后，现在越来越多的美国年轻人也加入间隔年的行列。
据《大西洋报》（The Atlantic）报道，
While there are no official statistics that track participation in gap year programs, the Associated Press reports that 30,000 to 40,000 students take advantage of the break each year, and the year 2015 showed a 22 percent increase in students taking gap years over the previous year, according to surveys taken by the American Gap Association. 目前还没有跟踪间隔年项目的官方数据，不过《美联社》报道称，每年有3万到4万学生选择休息一年，美国间隔协会调查显示2015年选择间隔年的学生数比前一年上涨22%。
话说有哪些名人大咖都体验过间隔年呢？！
After completing his studies at the prestigious Eton College, The Duke of Cambridge's gap year included: training with the Welsh Guards in Belize, working in English dairy farms, visiting several charities in Africa and taking part in a ten week volunteering programme in southern Chile where he helped to construct a school and taught English as a foreign language. 完成了伊顿公学的学业之后，大英帝国的剑桥公爵这样度过了他的间隔年：在伯利兹与威尔士卫队一起训练；在英国一家奶牛场工作；访问了非洲几家慈善机构，而且作为英语教师在智利南部参与了为期十周的志愿活动。
Before changing the face of music forever, the Beatles were a band of five young lads from Liverpool covering songs of other artists and trying to make it in the industry. Although technically more of a musical 'apprenticeship' rather than an official 'gap year', the Beatles had left the UK to pursue their interest in music in Hamburg,Germany, shortly after completing high school. The early days in Hamburg proved to be vital as it was here that the Beatles refined their musical skills and adopted that iconic mop-top hairstyle. John Lennon once famously said of his Hamburg days with the eternal line:'I was born in Liverpool but grew up in Hamburg.'
在掀起全球的“披头士狂热”前，乐队成员还只是五个来自利物浦的年轻人，翻唱着其他音乐家的歌曲，希望能在音乐领域有所作为。他们的间隔年其实更像是作为音乐学徒的历程。高中毕业后，他们离开英国去德国汉堡追寻自己的音乐梦想。在这至关重要的一段期间，他们重新定义了自己的歌路，提高了专业技能，并且开创了他们标志性的“披头士”造型。约翰·列侬曾经这样总结过那段汉堡时光：“我生于利物浦，长于汉堡。”
In 1991 J.K Rowling was experiencing a difficult time with her mother passing away. Hoping to escape the pain, she relocated to Porto, Portugal, bringing along with her an uncompleted manuscript about a boy wizard named Harry Potter. While in Porto, J.K Rowling would teach English at night while spending her days slaving away on her novel.1991年，罗琳的母亲去世，在这个难熬的阶段，她选择到葡萄牙的波尔图去独自疗伤，与她同行的，还有未完成的《哈利·波特》手稿。在那里，她白天躬耕于小说的世界里，晚上做英语老师。
“The manuscript had changed a lot since my mother had died. Now, Harry's feelings about his dead parents had become much deeper; much stronger; much more real, somehow.”
她说：“我母亲过世后，手稿的内容变了很多。哈利对于失去双亲的感受更深刻，更强大，也更真实了。”
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