教育类的考题是雅思大作文考题中除了社会类以外最宽泛的一类，因为它经常会与其他类别的话题无缝链接，所以颇受考官青睐。GAP YEAR这样一个热门话题就是其中之一。本文将借助一篇Telegraph的相关报道，共同来分析一下这样的一种选择对于孩子来说的弊端以及涉及到的地道词句表达。

Volunteer holidays 'do more harm than good'

It is meant to be a life-enhancing experience which gives young people the chance to improve the world in their own small way.

But academics have said that the gap year may do more harm than good because students who volunteered abroad risked undermining local workers and exploiting the victims of poverty.

The increasing popularity of "voluntourism" is proving detrimental to long-term development in impoverished countries, claimed Linda Richter and Amy Norman, who are human rights researchers.

Their warning comes after a significant rise in the number of Britons who undertake volunteer work overseas. About 500,000 young people are expected to embark on a gap year during the next 12 months, often paying specialist travel companies several thousand pounds to do so.

"Because 'voluntourist' contributions are often brief, the work that can be done is usually low-skilled.

"As a result, there is a real danger of voluntourists crowding out local workers, especially when people are prepared to pay for the privilege to volunteer," wrote Prof Richter, the executive director of the South Africa-based Human Sciences Research Council, in a paper co-authored by Ms Norman.

She added: "Volunteer work is costly to host organisations because of the large overheads needed to host voluntourists."

Prof Richter said the problems associated with volunteer tourism were most acute when the projects involved children. It could be devastating for them to form a bond with a volunteer who then moved on after a few weeks, she said.

"Short-term volunteer tourists are encouraged to 'make intimate connections' with previously neglected, abused, and abandoned young children," they wrote in a paper, Aids orphan tourism: A threat to young children in residential care.

"However, shortly after these 'connections' have been made, tourists leave – many undoubtedly feeling that they have made a positive contribution to the plight of very vulnerable children, and, in turn, feeling very special as a result of receiving a needy child's affection.

"Unfortunately, many of the children they leave behind have experienced another abandonment to the detriment of their short- and long-term emotional and social development."

Prof Richter said Western gap-year students should be discouraged from trying to boost their own self-esteem at the expense of the lives their volunteering would touch.

"Well-meaning young people should be made aware of the potential consequencesof their own involvement in these care settings, be discouraged from taking part in such tourist expeditions, and be given guidelines on how to manage relationships to minimise negative outcomes for young children," she wrote.

Prof Richter urged governments in developing countries to increase their monitoring of volunteer tourism companies and ensure children were not exploited by the industry.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hubs/gapyear/8107555/Volunteer-holidays-do-more-harm-than-good.html

Useful Expressions (注意上下文词句搭配)

1．It is meant to be a life-enhancing experience which gives young people the chance to improve the world in their own small way.

这意味着这是一次提高生活质量的经历，它为年轻人创造了一次用自己的小办法改善世界的机会。

2. academics have said that the gap year may do more harm than good because students who volunteered abroad risked undermining local workers and exploiting the victims of poverty.

学者称间隔年弊大于利，因为在国外做志愿工作的学生可能会损害当地工人的利益，使他们变得贫穷。

3. Because 'voluntourist' contributions are often brief, the work that can be done is usually low-skilled.

因为旅行志愿者能做的贡献一般都是短期的，能做的事情都没什么技术含量。

4. As a result, there is a real danger of voluntourists crowding out local workers, especially when people are prepared to pay for the privilege to volunteer.

结果，这些旅行志愿者将当地工作者挤了出去，尤其是当人们赋予这些志愿者特权的时候。

5. Volunteer work is costly to host organisations because of the large overheads needed to host voluntourists.

志愿工作对举办方来说代价很高，因为有大笔的管理费用要用于旅行志愿者身上。

6. However, shortly after these 'connections' have been made, tourists leave – many undoubtedly feeling that they have made a positive contribution to the plight of very vulnerable children, and, in turn, feeling very special as a result of receiving a needy child's affection.

然而，在这些“联系”建立后不久，这些旅者离开了，这些旅长中的很多人无疑都觉得他们为解除这些易受伤害的孩子的困苦出了一份力，因感觉收到了这些孩子的喜爱而觉得很特别。

7. Western gap-year students should be discouraged from trying to boost their own self-esteem at the expense of the lives their volunteering would touch.

应该打消选择间隔年的西方学生从他们志愿活动中产生的自满情绪。

8. Prof Richter urged governments in developing countries to increase their monitoring of volunteer tourism companies and ensure children were not exploited by the industry.

Richter教授主张发展中国家政府应该加强他们对志愿旅行公司的监管从而确保孩子不会被这个行业利用。

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