Final answer:
The ratio of the United States gold medals to Russian Federation gold medals is approximately 2 to 1. Canada has about half as many total medals as Australia.
Step-by-step explanation:
To answer the student's question, we will calculate the ratios of gold medals and total medals between different countries.
For part a), we need to determine the ratio of the United States gold medals to Russian Federation gold medals. This is calculated by dividing the number of the United States gold medals by the number of Russian Federation gold medals, yielding a ratio of 46 to 24, or when simplified, approximately 2 to 1.
For part b), to find out how Canada's total medals compare to Australia's, we divide Canada's total medals by Australia's total medals, resulting in 18 divided by 35. This gives a ratio of approximately 1 to 2. Therefore, Canada has about half as many total medals as Australia.