Reading

The Loneliest Schoolboy In Britain

Track 2.01

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Pre-reading

Skim The Text First

A remote island school

Before choosing answers, find the basic situation: who, where, and why it is unusual.

1 Who is Aron?

Aron Anderson is a ten-year-old boy. He is the only boy at his school.

2 Where does he live?

He lives in Out Skerries, a group of small, remote islands in Scotland.

3 Why is the school unusual?

There is only one student at the school now. This makes his school life very different.

Imagine a school where you are the only student – where you come first in every test. Welcome to the life of ten-year-old Aron Anderson, who goes to school in Out Skerries, a group of small, remote islands in Scotland. Aron has been the only boy at his school for two months.

The Out Skerries Islands, which are around 280 km 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, a church 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’s education.

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 from the pier. Like most boys his age, he also likes watching TV and playing on his games console.

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.

Choose The Correct Answer

Read Again And Find The Evidence

Exercise 4 Read and listen to the article again. Choose the correct answer to these questions.

1 What do we learn about the Out Skerries Islands from the text?

Question type: Detail

这题找具体信息。题目问 islands，先回到介绍 Out Skerries Islands 的段落。

Answer: C. 线索在第二段：去最近的城镇 Lerwick 只能坐船，而且需要 two and a half hours。注意 A 是陷阱，文中说 around 280 km from the coast，不是在海岸上。

2 Why is Aron the only child at the school?

Question type: Reason

这题问 Why，要找原因。注意 but now / so，这些词常常告诉你“为什么”。

Answer: D. 线索是 But now they are older, so they go to the secondary school in Lerwick. 不是岛上没有孩子，而是其他孩子年龄大了，去中学了。

3 Why do some people complain about Aron’s education?

Question type: Reason

complain 表示“抱怨 / 不满意”。先找 Some people want to close down the school，再看后一句原因。

Answer: C. 这一题问 complain 的原因。文中说 They think it is too much money to spend on one child’s education. 所以核心是 cost too much。

4 How has the island changed over the last ten years?

Question type: Inference Synonym Replacement

不要只找一模一样的词。题目里的 less work 对应原文里的 salmon factory closed。

Answer: D. 线索是 local salmon factory closed ten years ago，工厂关闭以后很多人搬走。工厂关闭说明工作机会变少，所以选 D。

After

Post-reading

Understand the Text Better

Para 1Imagine a school where you are the only student – where you come first in every test. Welcome to the life of ten-year-old Aron Anderson, who goes to school in Out Skerries, a group of small, remote islands in Scotland. Aron has been the only boy at his school for two months.

Para 2The Out Skerries Islands, which are around 280 km 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, a church and a community hall on the islands.

Para 3Aron 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.

Para 4The 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.

Para 5What’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’s education.

Para 6Aron 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 from the pier. Like most boys his age, he also likes watching TV and playing on his games console.

Para 7But 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.