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- 1 -

TARTING OFF

What do you plan to do when you finish school? Which of the ideas below seem most interesting? Can you add any other
ideas?

rest as much as I can

do some charity work

travel as much as I can

take a holiday

get a summer job to make

some money

What are the pros and cons of each idea? Which are realistic for you?

EFORE YOU READ

‘Gap’: ‘a space between two things’ What do you think a ‘gap year’ might be?

IRST READING

Read the first paragraph and check your ideas.

ENTENCE CONSTRUCTION

Below are five jumbled questions. Put the words in the right order to make correct questions.

1. of / year / a / popular / why / idea / so / the / is / gap

2. year / what / a / is / gap

3. year / a / ways / gap / spend / popular / some / are / to / what

4. year / organise / gap / you / how / do / a

5. what / now / do / do / you

- 2 -

Students worksheet

ECOND READING

Read the whole text this time and match the questions you made above to the gaps (A - E) in the text.

OCABULARY

Find words or phrases in the text to match the definitions below.

1. more and more (introduction)

2. something important or useful, or which you gain
something from (introduction)

3. now, compared with what happened in the past (2

paragraph)

4. worth a lot of money or very important to somebody
for personal reasons (2

paragraph)

5. to give something to someone or make it available to
them, because they need it or want it (2

paragraph)

6. without being forced, also without being paid (3

paragraph)

7. having very little food or money (3

paragraph)

8. a deep hole in the ground from which people take
water (3

paragraph)

9. making you feel happy and satisfied because you
feel you are doing something useful or important,
even if you do not earn much money (3

paragraph)

10. the money you need to spend in order to live, for
example on food or a house (4

paragraph)

(all definitions adapted from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

OCABULARY

Complete the sentences using one of the words or phrases from Vocabulary 1. You may need to change
the form of the word.

1. I’m really glad I agreed to help with the project. It’s been a very ____________________ experience.

2. Be careful with that painting -

it’s extremely ____________________.

3. He did not like what we were saying and grew ____________________ irritated as he listened.

4. In the old days we would go down to the ____________________ every morning with a bucket.

5. The organisers will ____________________ you with any help you need.

6. You won’t be paid much for this but we will cover your ____________________ while you are there.

7. We collect money from people on the streets and give it to others who are ____________________.

8. People are much less friendly ____________________. In the past they had much more time to talk.

9. This will help many people and

make a big difference to our town. It’s a very ____________________ project.

10. No-one is forced to do it. You do it only if you want to -

it’s completely ____________________.

PEAKING

Imagine you are going to take some time off this summer and do something which will help others, in your country

or abroad. Plan your trip, thinking about the points below:

Where are you going to go?

What are you going to do?

How long are you going to stay there?

How are you going to prepare?

Prepare a short presentation to the rest of the class about your plans. Be ready to answer their questions!

- 3 -

So you

’ve finished school. A. ________________________________________

For many, the next step will be university and further qualifications; for others, the world of work will
beckon. There is a third choice, however, which is increasingly popular these days: a gap year - a
year spent doing something new and worthwhile before work or studies. But is it worthwhile for you?

B. ________________________________

A gap year is a
year taken off
between finishing
school (at 18 or 19
years old) and
starting university
studies or starting
work. It is not a
holiday - a gap
year must be
planned carefully and have a clear goal which should
be something more worthy than just having fun or
making money.

C. ________________________________

The idea of taking a gap year started after World War
II, when governments thought it would be a good way
to help young people from different countries to
understand one another better. Naturally, then, many
gap year projects involve going to another country for
some time - a great way to learn about other countries
and cultures.

Gap years became popular in the 1960s and 1970s,
when travelling to the third world became a trendy
thing for young people to do. Nowadays gap years are
seen as a great way of getting some experience of the
world and a very valuable thing to put later on a CV
when applying for a job. There are now many books,
websites and organisations which will provide help in
planning a gap year. Many people who take a year off
in this way later look back on it as a grand adventure -
sometimes even as the best year of their lives.

D. ________________________________

There are many ways to spend a gap year. One of the
most popular and worthwhile is to spend the time
doing voluntary work in a needy country. This could
be teaching or helping to build wells in an African
village, for example, or planting trees or cleaning
rivers in Asia. Remember that this is voluntary work,
though - you will be paid enough to live on, but no
more.

Another option is to gain paid work experience in an
area which you are interested in - ecology, forestry,
construction, medicine. These kinds of jobs are not
well paid - usually you earn enough to live on and to
travel a little - but the experience is rewarding and the
experience looks very good on your CV.

E. _________________________________

A gap year must be organised carefully. Quite apart
from the normal preparations for going abroad for any
length of time (visas, vaccinations etc.) it is important
to understand what you will be doing and to be sure
that you can do it for however long you will need to.
Building wells in Africa may sound very exciting, but it
is hard work and you need to be sure you can last
three, six or nine months doing it.

A gap year can be expensive as well. Your living
expenses are covered by your pay for your work, but
you will probably have to pay your own travel
expenses - and if you plan to go to Asia or Africa
those expenses might be considerable. So think
carefully before deciding on taking a year off. It can be
a wonderful experience, but it is certainly hard work
and certainly something you need to think through
very carefully.