Reading: Gap Fill - 2024 őszi

Imagine, for a second, that you are (0) _______ through the eyes of an alien unfamiliar with our culture. You see students struggling day after day with lectures, assignments, and tests (7) _______, signifying the completion of their studies. You see these students, in some instances, spending time and effort creatively decorating and (8) _______. You'd probably expect that they'd cherish these symbolic items forever, but to your surprise, at the end of the graduation ceremony, they all throw their graduation caps in the air! We've (9) _______, but has it always been like this? As with most cultural norms, there is an origin story. The first cap throwing ceremony took place at the US Naval Academy in 1912, where students spent two years as 'midshipmen' before graduating and becoming naval officers. With the new title came a new hat for their uniforms. During the ceremony, the soon-to-be Navy officers were (10) _______. At this point, realising that their midshipmen hats were now unnecessary, the graduating class began tossing their old hats in the air in celebration. This started the tradition at the US Naval Academy for every graduating class to symbolize the shedding of their midshipmen titles and preparing themselves for the role of naval officer. Other institutions began to follow the tradition, (11) _______ for starting a new chapter in a graduate's life. This tradition may be expected (12) _______ in the future. Believe it or not, however, in recent years, there have been some schools where banning the century-old tradition has become the norm, due to the fact that the graduation cap isn't the softest of hats, and has (13) _______ over the years. The University of East Anglia, for example, has asked bare-headed graduates (14) _______, and then added the caps back to the photos with photoshop. As you can imagine, this has been met with some resistance, and the tradition is likely to continue for years to come.