The Out Skerries Islands, which are around 280km from the coast of Scotland, are home to about 70 people. The nearest town is Lerwick on the Shetland Islands. You can only get there by boat and it takes two and a half hours. Apart from Aron’s school, there are two shops and a community hall on the islands.
Aron isn’t the only child on the islands and he hasn’t always been the only student at the school. Until July there were several other children there, including Aron’s two brothers. But now they are older, so they go to the secondary school in Lerwick. They only go back to their homes at the weekend. Aron has been the only student since September.
The school is very small. It has two classrooms, an art room, a music room and a library. Each week Aron studies Maths, English, Science and Art with the same teacher. She also gives him PE lessons. This is usually an hour-long walk around the islands. He also has the school playground all to himself. Of course, there is one problem. He has no one to play with.
What’s more, Aron’s
education isn’t cheap. It costs the UK government £75,357 each year. That is twice the price it costs parents to send a child to Britain’s most famous
private school, Eton. Some people want to close down the school. They think it is too much money to spend on one child.
Aron has lived in Out Skerries since he was born and loves the outdoor life. He enjoys
exploring the islands on his bike and
diving into the sea. Like most boys at his age, he also likes watching TV and playing games.
But his mother, who works in one of the shops on the islands, is worried that Aron might get lonely. She would like to see more families with children coming to live there. A lot of people have moved away since the local salmon factory closed ten years ago. That’s why there are so few children on the islands and why Aron has found himself being known as the loneliest schoolboy in Britain.
词汇
imagine /ɪˈmædʒɪn/ v. 想象
apart from 除了
private /ˈpraɪvət/ adj. 私立的
dive /daɪv/ v. 跳水；潜水
remote /rɪˈməʊt/ adj. 偏远的
education /ˌedʒuˈkeɪʃn/ n. 教育
explore /ɪkˈsplɔː(r)/ v. 探索
句型
1. That is twice the price it costs parents to send a child to Britain’s most famous private school, Eton. 这个价格是父母送孩子去英国最著名的私立学校伊顿公学的两倍。
twice the price… ……价格的两倍
⇒ To get there on time, he decided to fly to the city and pay twice the price of a train ticket.
2. That’s why there are so few children on the islands and why Aron has found himself being known as the loneliest schoolboy in Britain. 这就是为什么岛上的孩子如此之少，也是为什么阿伦发现自己被认为是英国最孤独的学生。
That’s why… 意为“是……的原因”。该句型引导表语从句。
⇒ (1) That’s why I left early.
(2) That’s why so many tourists come here.
理解
1. Why do some people want to close down the school?
Because they think it is too much money to spend on one child.
2. What do you think people can do to help the loneliest child in Britain?
They can help the boy make some penfriends. Or the government can help the family move away from the island and send the boy to a big public school.
课外泛读
Over the porridge
They sat down to eat their porridge. The naughty little girl Amy turned her back upon her sister and put a large spoonful into her mouth.
“Oh oh oh!” she cried. “I have burnt (烫伤) my tongue.”
“Eat it slowly,” said the good little sister. She took up her porridge carefully, and after blowing(吹) it very gently and waiting for a minute or two while it cooled, she ate it and found it very nice.
“I shall not eat mine until it is quite cold,” said Amy, getting angry.
“Then it will be nasty(令人厌恶的),” said the good little sister, still going on with her own porridge.
“Oh, dear,” said Amy, “if I eat it too hot it burns me, and if I eat it too cold it’s nasty. What shall I do?”
“Take it as I do mine,” said the good little sister. “It is the right way.”
“There are two wrong ways and only one right way; it isn’t fair,” said the naughty little girl. “And, oh! My porridge is so nasty.” Then she asked, “Did you ever eat your porridge too hot and burn your tongue?”
“No,” answered the good little sister. “I never ate my porridge too hot and burnt my tongue.”
“Did you ever eat your porridge when it was quite cold and very nasty?”
“No,” answered the good little sister again. “I never ate my porridge when it was quite cold and very nasty.”
“Well, I have,” said Amy, “and so I know about two things that you do not know about.” And the naughty little sister got up and walked away. The good little sister sat still(静止的) and thought about many things.
理解
1. When the porridge is too cold, how does it taste?
It tastes nasty.
2. What is the right way of having the porridge?
Take up the porridge carefully, and after blowing it very gently and waiting for a minute or two while it cools, eat it.
3. What might the good little sister be thinking about at the end of the story?
略
