10.
Answer the questions.
Australia
is almost as large as China (China is about 9, 600, 000 km 'while Australia is
7, 682, 300 km), but
Australia has a much smaller population(just over 19.5 million), Most people
live in cities along the coast of Australia, and huge areas of the rest of
Australia are uninhabited(无人居住的), In
some areas, families live a long way away from one another and from towns and
cities. Australians call this part of the country" the Outback(内陆)"or" the Bush". Most people who live
in the outback work on huge sheep or cattle stations(农场), Some of these properties are as large as 3, 000~5,
000 km2 and their nearest neighbours may be 100 km or more away.
Many
children in the outback are too far from town to travel to school. Instead, they
attend one of the sixteen Schools of the Air. The schools are located in towns
and teachers use high frequency radio to talk to their classes. They also post
work to the students who post it back for their teacher to mark. Students also
use the Internet, fax and phone to communicate with their teacher and with
other students. Sometimes students are sent a video or audiotape to help them
with their lessons.
Tim
Benton's brother George is the manager of a large cattle station in the
Northern Territory. When they were in primary school, George's children.
Rebecca and Oliver, attended the Alice Spring School of the Air. Their mother
and father took it in turns to help them with their lessons. After they
finished primary school. Rebecca and Oliver went to a high school in Alice
Springs. They lived with their Aunt Mary during the school term and returned
home during the school holidays. At first, high school was difficult because
they weren't used to being in a class with other students. In some subjects, they
did not know as much as the children from the town. However, they soon caught
up because they had very good study skills, thanks to the School of the Air.