Introduction

Some students delay university to take a year off travelling. The emphasis now is on doing a productive, purposeful gap year that will look good on your CV and help you get a job. Is it a good idea? Neil and Georgina hear two students with different views and teach you related vocabulary.

This week's question

According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which subject studied at university will lead to the highest average earnings five years after graduating? Is it…

a)???Law

b)???Veterinary science?

c)???Medicine and dentistry

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

Neil

Hello. This is 6 Minute English and I'm Neil. And joining me to do this is Georgina.?

Georgina

Hello.

Neil

Now, Georgina, I know you went to university to study for a degree but before you moved from college to university, did you take a year off?

Georgina

I did.

Neil

Well, you’re not alone. Many students choose to take a break from their studies to travel or gain work experience before moving on to university.

Georgina

Yes, and this is what we call a ‘gap year’.

Neil

And … in this programme we’re talking about taking a gap year and why doing this has become more important than ever. But first, as always, I need to challenge you and our listeners, Georgina, to answer a question. Are you ready?

Georgina

Ready and waiting, Neil!

Neil

According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which subject studied at university will lead to the highest average earnings five years after graduating? Is it…

a) Law

b) Veterinary science, or

c) Medicine and dentistry

What do you think, Georgina?

Georgina

Well, all are subjects that involve lots of studying – but as a guess, I think those studying veterinary science end up working as vets and earning the most money – so it’s b), I think.

Neil

OK. Well, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. Let's get back to talking about gap years – as the name suggests, it’s a break or gap in between your studies – we might also call it a year out. It’s not a new concept – meaning idea – and there are a number of reasons why someone may choose to take one.

Georgina

That’s right. The BBC’s Smart Consumer podcast looked at this and heard from two students – one, Meg, took a gap year and the other, Tom, didn’t. Let’s hear from them now…

Students – Meg and Tom

Meg: I knew I wanted to go to university, but... I decided I'll do it after a year out. That way I can wait till I get my official results and apply to university with those rather than getting?predicted?grades and then, you know, potentially being surprised and not being able to follow the path I wanted. I just always had?in the back my mind?that I'd spend a year doing something?productive?and something that would just be good fun.?

Tom: It's not something that I really knew about to be honest, I think, until I started university. It was a bit of?an alien concept?to me. It's something I've never thought about - it would have been far too expensive and it's not something that would have been able to rely on my parents or family members for.

Neil

Two different experiences there. So Meg said she had ‘in the back of my mind’ doing a gap year. That means she had the idea but didn’t think about it frequently – it was stored deep in her memory.

Georgina

And she had the idea of doing something?productive?– that means leading to a good or useful outcome – and, of course, having fun at the same time!

Neil

She also wanted to do something while she waited for her exam results to come in, rather than applying for a university place based on predicted results which may turn out to be wrong. If something is?predicted, it’s an estimation of what is likely to happen in the future based on current information.

Georgina

Now, Tom had a different experience. He wasn’t really aware of the gap year and described it as?an alien concept?– so an idea that is strange and not familiar.

Neil

Tom also mentioned a gap year would have been too expensive – but according to Chris Rea from the organisation Prospects, it needn’t cost a lot of money. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, he says it’s about gaining skills and being more employable…

Chris Rea, Higher Education Services Manager, ProspectsI think the experience of the gap year has become actually much more?practical, partly as I say to do with university participation increasing, but also because of the demands on developing skills, specifically employability skills.?Actually from an employer’s point of view, certainly, any form of experience and skills acquisition that you've undertaken is valuable.

Neil

According to Chris Rea, the focus these days is for a gap year to be more?practical?– this adjective describes the learning of real skills which can be usefully applied.

Georgina

Yes, and these are skills that help you compete for a place at university and ultimately make you more employable - they help you get a job.

Neil

Right, but which job might earn you the most money Georgina? Earlier I asked you, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which subject studied at university will lead to the highest average earnings, five years after graduating? Is it…

a) Law

b) Veterinary science, or

c) Medicine and dentistry

What do you say, Georgina?

Georgina

I said veterinary science. Was I correct?

Neil

Sadly you weren’t. The correct answer is c) Medicine and dentistry. According to research in the UK, graduates of medicine and dentistry earn an average of ￡46,700.

Georgina

That’s more than an English teacher I suspect, but that’s not going to stop us recapping today’s vocabulary.

Neil

OK. So, we’ve been talking about a?gap year?– that's a year between leaving school and starting university that is usually spent travelling or working.

Georgina

When we say something is?at the back of my mind, we mean an idea we don’t think about frequently but keep stored deep in our memory.

Neil

And when something is?productive?– it describes something that leads to a good or useful outcome.

Georgina

Next, we mentioned the word?predicted. If something is?predicted, it’s an estimation of what is likely to happen in the future based on current information.

NeilAn alien concept?is an idea that is strange and not familiar.

GeorginaAnd when you’re doing something?practical, you’re doing something that is real and useful because you learn skills that can be used in the future.

Neil

Thank you, Georgina, for that practical run through of our vocabulary. So that’s all from 6 Minute English for now. Goodbye!

Georgina

Bye!?

Vocabulary

gap year

year between leaving school and starting university that is usually spent travelling or working?

at the back of my mind

an idea we don’t think about frequently but keep stored deep in our memory?

productive

something that leads to a good or useful outcome?

predicted

what is likely to happen in the future based on current information?

an alien concept??

an idea that is strange and not familiar??

practical

relating to the learning of real skills which can be usefully applied

雙語版Transcript

Hello. This is 6 Minute English and I'm Neil.

大家好。這里是六分鐘英語，我是尼爾。

And joining me to do this is Georgina.

這期和我搭檔的是喬治娜。

Hello.

大家好。

Now, Georgina, I know you went to university to study for a degree but before you moved from college to university, did you take a year off?

喬治娜，我知道你上了大學去攻讀學位，但是在你從學院到大學之前，你休學了一年嗎？

I did.

是的。

Well, you’re not alone.

嗯，不是你自己一個人這樣。

Many students choose to take a break from their studies to travel or gain work experience before moving on to university.

許多學生在進入大學之前選擇從學業(yè)中抽出一段時間去旅行或積累工作經驗。

Yes, and this is what we call a ‘gap year’.

是的，這就是我們所說的“間隔年”。

And … in this programme we’re talking about taking a gap year and why doing this has become more important than ever.

在今天的節(jié)目中，我們要談論的是間隔年，以及為什么這樣做比以往任何時候都重要。

But first, as always, I need to challenge you and our listeners, Georgina, to answer a question.

但首先，像往常一樣，喬治娜，我需要考驗一下你和我們的聽眾，來回答一個問題。

Are you ready?

準備好了嗎？

Ready and waiting, Neil!

準備好了，尼爾！

According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which subject studied at university will lead to the highest average earnings five years after graduating?

根據財政研究協會的數據，大學學習的哪一門學科在畢業(yè)5年后的平均收入最高？

Is it… a) Law, b) Veterinary science, or c) Medicine and dentistry?

是a)法律，b)獸醫(yī)科學，還是c)醫(yī)學和牙科？

What do you think, Georgina?

你覺得呢，喬治娜？

Well, all are subjects that involve lots of studying

嗯，所有學科都需要大量的學習

– but as a guess, I think those studying veterinary science end up working as vets and earning the most money – so it’s b), I think.

——但是作為猜測，我認為那些學習獸醫(yī)科學的人最終會成為獸醫(yī)，并且掙最多的錢——所以我認為是b選項。

OK. Well, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme.

好的。我們將在節(jié)目最后揭曉你是否回答正確。

Let's get back to talking about gap years – as the name suggests, it’s a break or gap in between your studies – we might also call it a year out.

讓我們回到對間隔年的討論上來——正如它的名字所暗示的，它是你學習間的休息或間隔——我們也可以稱它為在外的一年。

It’s not a new concept – meaning idea – and there are a number of reasons why someone may choose to take one.

這并不是一個新概念——意思是觀念。而且有很多原因使人們選擇間隔年。

That’s right. The BBC’s Smart Consumer podcast looked at this and heard from two students – one, Meg, took a gap year and the other, Tom, didn’t.

是的。BBC播客Smart Consumer關注了這一問題，并聽取了兩名學生的意見——一名是選擇了間隔年的梅格，另一名是沒有選擇間隔年的湯姆。

Let’s hear from them now…

現在讓我們聽聽他們所說的……

I knew I wanted to go to university, but... I decided I'll do it after a year out.

我知道我想上大學，但是……我決定在外一年后再去上大學。

That way I can wait till I get my official results and apply to university with those rather than getting predicted grades and then, you know, potentially being surprised and not being able to follow the path I wanted.

那樣我就可以等到我拿到正式成績并用那些成績申請大學，而不是得到預測的成績，然后，你知道的，可能會對成績感到意外，無法追求我想走的道路。

I just always had in the back my mind that I'd spend a year doing something productive and something that would just be good fun.

在我腦海里一直有這種想法——我要花一年的時間做一些富有成效的事情，做一些有趣的事情。

It's not something that I really knew about to be honest, I think, until I started university.

說實話，在我上大學之前，我并不知道這些。

It was a bit of an alien concept to me. It's something I've never thought about.

它對我來說是一個陌生的概念。它是我從來沒有想過的事情。

It would have been far too expensive and it's not something that would have been able to rely on my parents or family members for.

它太貴了，而且它不能依靠我的父母或家人實現。

Two different experiences there.

有兩種不同的體驗。

So Meg said she had ‘in the back of my mind’ doing a gap year.

所以梅格說她“在我腦海里”有選擇間隔年的想法。

That means she had the idea but didn’t think about it frequently – it was stored deep in her memory.

這意味著她有那個想法，但并不經常去想它——它被深埋在她的記憶中。

And she had the idea of doing something productive – that means leading to a good or useful outcome – and, of course, having fun at the same time!

她想到了做一些富有成效的事情——這意味著有好的或有用的結果——當然，同時也能得到樂趣！

She also wanted to do something while she waited for her exam results to come in,

她還想在等待考試結果的時候做點事情，

rather than applying for a university place based on predicted results which may turn out to be wrong.

而不是根據預測結果去申請大學，結果可能是錯誤的。

If something is predicted, it’s an estimation of what is likely to happen in the future based on current information.

如果某事是預測的，它是基于當前信息對未來可能發(fā)生之事的估計。

Now, Tom had a different experience.

湯姆有不同的經歷。

He wasn’t really aware of the gap year and described it as an alien concept – so an idea that is strange and not familiar.

他并沒有真的想到間隔年，并把它描述為一個陌生的概念——一個陌生而不熟悉的觀念。

Tom also mentioned a gap year would have been too expensive – but according to Chris Rea from the organisation Prospects, it needn’t cost a lot of money.

湯姆還提到間隔年的花費太大了，但根據Prospects組織的克里斯·雷阿的說法，那并不需要花很多錢。

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, he says it’s about gaining skills and being more employable…

在BBC廣播4頻道的You and Yours節(jié)目中，他說它是關于獲得技能及更具資格任職的。

I think the experience of the gap year has become actually much more practical,

我認為間隔年的經歷實際上變得更加實用了，

partly as I say to do with university participation increasing,

部分原因正如我所說的，增加大學參與度，

but also because of the demands on developing skills, specifically employability skills.

但同樣是因為提高技能的需求，特別是就業(yè)技能。

Actually from an employer’s point of view, certainly, any form of experience and skills acquisition that you've undertaken is valuable.

實際上，從雇主的角度來看，你所獲得的任何形式的經驗和技能都是有價值的。

According to Chris Rea, the focus these days is for a gap year to be more practical

根據克里斯·雷阿的說法，現在的重點是間隔年更實用

– this adjective describes the learning of real skills which can be usefully applied.

——這個形容詞描述的是對實戰(zhàn)技能的學習，它可以有效地應用。

Yes, and these are skills that help you compete for a place at university and ultimately make you more employable - they help you get a job.

是的，這些技能可以幫助你在大學里競爭一席之地，并最終讓你更具資格任職——它們可以幫助你找到工作。

Right, but which job might earn you the most money Georgina?

好吧，但是喬治娜，哪份工作能給你賺最多的錢呢？

Earlier I asked you, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which subject studied at university will lead to the highest average earnings, five years after graduating?

早些時候我問你，根據財政研究協會的數據，大學學習的哪一門學科在畢業(yè)5年后的平均收入最高？

Is it… a) Law, b) Veterinary science, or c) Medicine and dentistry?

是a)法律，b)獸醫(yī)科學，還是c)醫(yī)學和牙科？

What did you say, Georgina?

你說是什么，喬治娜？

I said veterinary science. Was I correct?

我說是獸醫(yī)科學。對嗎？

Sadly you weren’t. The correct answer is c) Medicine and dentistry.

很遺憾你沒答對。正確答案是c)醫(yī)學和牙科。

According to research in the UK, graduates of medicine and dentistry earn an average of ￡46,700.

英國的一項調查顯示，醫(yī)學和牙科專業(yè)的畢業(yè)生平均薪水為4.67萬英鎊。

That’s more than an English teacher I suspect, but that’s not going to stop us recapping today’s vocabulary.

我猜想那比英語老師掙得還多，但那并不能阻止我們回顧今天的詞匯。

OK. So, we’ve been talking about a gap year

好的。所以，我們一直在談論“間隔年”，

– that's a year between leaving school and starting university that is usually spent travelling or working.

也就是離開學校到開始上大學之間的那一年，通常用來旅行或工作。

When we say something is at the back of my mind, we mean an idea we don’t think about frequently but keep stored deep in our memory.

當我們說某件事在我的腦海中時，我們指的是一個我們不經常想起但卻深埋在我們記憶中的想法。

And when something is productive – it describes something that leads to a good or useful outcome.

當某事是富有成效的——它描述的是某事導致一個好的或有用的結果。

Next, we mentioned the word predicted.

接下來，我們提到了“預測的”這個詞。

If something is predicted, it’s an estimation of what is likely to happen in the future based on current information.

如果某事是預測的，它是基于當前信息對未來可能發(fā)生之事的估計。

An alien concept is an idea that is strange and not familiar.

一個陌生的概念是一個陌生，不熟悉的觀念。

And when you’re doing something practical, you’re doing something that is real and useful because you learn skills that can be used in the future.

當你在做一些實用的事情時，你是在做一些實際，有用的事情，因為你是學習一些將來會用到的技能。

Thank you, Georgina, for that practical run through of our vocabulary.

喬治娜，謝謝你對我們詞匯的實用運用。

So that’s all from 6 Minute English for now.

以上就是本期六分鐘英語的全部內容。

Goodbye!

再見！

Bye!