HouseSittingInmanycountriesoftheworldpeopledowhatiscalledhousesitting．Itmeansthatifownersofthehousearegoingaway，theywantsomeonetocomeintotheirhomeandlookafterthehouseandmaybepetswhiletheyareaway．InAust

　　House Sitting

　　In many countries of the world people do what is called house sitting．It means that if owners of the house are going away，they want someone to come into their home and look after the house and maybe pets while they are away．

　　In Australia，many people travel．After people retire，they might buy a van and travel all over the country．（71）___

　　So if someone wants to travel or go away for some reason，they might want someone in their home to care for it and keep the gardens tidy．House sitters might have to care for pets．Also，quite a few people have swimming pools in their back yard and they need cleaning．（72）___ I feel it is a great way of seeing the country，because you go and stay in a new city，get to meet new people，and have time to go sightseeing in a new area．

　　（73）___ There are websites where you find the advertisements by people who want to travel，and by replying to the advertisement，you can make arrangements to go and look after their home．

　　There are some requirements to be a house sitter．You must be a trusted person，so that the home owner knows you will not steal anything．You must be able to go when the house owner wants you to go，so you need lots of free time．（74）___You need to be good with pets，able to care for cats and dogs，or other pets they may have．

　　Some house sitting jobs are just for a few days or a couple of weeks while the house owner have a short holiday．Sometimes it is for much longer．We have had one house sit for six months，while the home owner travelled to Europe．

　　（75）___Then you can travel to many different countries and stay there．One of the important things to get are references from the home owners where you have stayed．A reference is a written letter to say that you are trustworthy and have looked after their home well．You can show these letters to prospective house sitting jobs and they know you will do a good job．

　　A．I have done house sitting many times．