GapyearisanEnglishexpression(alsoknownas“dropyear”,“deferredyear”,“bridgingyear”,etc.)referringtoaperiodoftime-notnecessarilyayearinwhichstudentstaketimeoffanddosomethingotherthanschooling,suchastravelorwork.Thegapyearismostcommonlytakenafterhighschoolandbeforestartinguniversity.However,overrecentyearstherehasbeenanincreasein21-to23-year-oldstakingayearoutaftercompletingtheirdegree.ThepracticeoftakingagapyeardevelopedintheUnitedKingdominthe1960s.Duringthistime,astudentmighttravel,engageinvolunteerworkoverseasorundertakeaworkingholidayabroad.ThegapyearhasgrownverypopularamongstudentsintheUK,Australia,NewZealandandCanada.Atrendforthegapyearistoparticipateininternationaleducationprogramsthatcombinelanguagestudy,homestay,culturalimmersion,communityservice,andindependentstudy.Takingagapyearcanbeanidealoption.Thebenefitsofthegapyeararethatyouwillmostlikelymakenew,interestingfriends,andyoucouldhaveexperiencesthatmightbenefityouforalifetime.Today,thistermisnomorejustamongstudentsbutalsothosewhowishtotakeayearoffbetweenlifestagestospendsometimetravelingaround,exploringandlearningfromdifferentpeopleandcultures,aswellasvolunteeringattheplacewheretheyaretraveling.GapyearisNOTknownas（）.