The changing of the seasons
[1] In Great Britain, from four-year-olds being
bundled off to pre-school to freshers embarking on
their undergraduate studies, autumn has traditionally
[4] been the start of the academic year. But is there any
reason why it should be?
Seemingly not. Plenty of universities —
[7] though primarily the newer ones — now offer dual —
or even triple — entry start dates for undergraduate
courses, and students seem to appreciate the benefits.
[10] But first, a bit of history: what prompted the
original September/October start?
“It could well be that the start of the
[13] Michaelmas term reflected the needs of an agricultural
economy”, says a professor of history at the University
of Buckingham, which operates three undergraduate
[16] start dates and uses the traditional long summer break
as a fourth term.
“Obviously, harvest was the time when
[19] demand for labour was greatest. Without modern
machinery, it was essential to use every hand available
to get the crops in before the weather broke. This
[22] explanation is open to the objection that those going
up to Oxford or Cambridge would have been of a
social status incompatible with manual labour of any
[25] kind. This may have been true from the late 17th
Century to around World War II, but in earlier times
the proportion of undergraduates from quite humble
[28] origins was rather higher.”
The other explanation, he continues,
concerned the need to avoid contact with disease.
[31] “Most epidemics, particularly plague, tended to occur
in the summer months, and towns were especially
vulnerable.” Hence the long vacation away from
[34] centres of learning in July, August and September.
Internet:
Based on the text, judge the following item.
According to the text, undergraduates tend to prefer universities with a single entry to those with multiple entries.