American school year begins in late August or early September. It ends in May or June, and then it's time for summer vacation.
Why is the summer vacation so long? Because young people have to help their family harvest（收割） the summer crops（庄稼）. The students living on farms can have vacations for about four months in a year—half in summer, half in winter. They work on family farms when they don't have classes.
City school year is often much longer. Many city students want a shorter school year and a longer summer vacation, but their parents are not happy about that. They don't want their children to stay at home and play on the computers all day while they are at work.
Teachers in America, especially （尤其）in cities, would like to have a longer summer vacation, too. A long summer vacation gives teachers more time for other jobs to earn more money.
