Online Class Notes (Li)[R]

Homework

Imagine you are taking a gap year next year. What would you like to do for the year? Where would you like to travel to? Where would you like to work/volunteer at?

Read this article and write down the words that you don’t know: https://www.enfamily.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=857423

Vocabulary

acquire: to get something

eg. He has acquired a reputation for being difficult to work with.

eg. You can acquire valuable experiences from volunteering.

embark: to go somewhere

eg. Most people embark on a trip after they graduate.

eg. Before you embark on a course at university, you’ll want to recharge your batteries.

hanging out: to spend a lot of time in a place or with someone

eg. They spent the whole day hanging out by the pool.

eg. I hang out with my best friends every weekend.

undoubtedly: very likely, almost certainly

eg. It is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year.

crafts: skills

eg. I learnt many crafts along the way.

podcast online radio programme

contemplate: think deeply

eg. I’m contemplating going abroad for a year.

eg. He was contemplating his future.

Grammar

help people to borrow the books – help people to check out books

Reading

https://www.enfamily.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=973250

When you’ve finished your studies at school and college, do you feel like a well-earned rest? If you’re about to embark on a course at university, you’ll want to recharge your batteries, let your hair down and have some fun. But how long should you do that for? Now the idea of taking a year off before you move into further education seems to be the thing to do.

A year off – also called a gap year – is not a new concept, but there’s now a focus on making the most of this break from academic life. Long gone are the days of just hanging out on a beach or backpacking round the world. While that is still an option, a gap year is now more about gaining skills that will help you in later life. The BBC’s Smart Consumer podcast spoke to a student called Meg, who said “I just always had in the back of my mind I’d spend a year doing something productive and something that would just be good fun.”

Doing something productive is exactly what students are being encouraged to do because doing more purposeful things like work experience or charity work helps them acquire skills to use when competing for a place at university. It looks good on their CV and ultimately makes them more employable. Chris Rea is a Higher Education Services Manager from organisation, Prospects. He told the BBC that he thinks “the experience of the gap year has become actually much more practical, partly to do with university participation increasing, but also because of the demands on developing skills, specifically employability skills.”