РАЗРАБОТКА к серии уроков по английскому языку "English-speaking countries: AUSTRALIA"
учебно-методическое пособие на тему

AUSTRALIA

Источники: Английский язык. Страноведческий справочник.  Саратов, издательство «Лицей» , 2010

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         The Commonwealth of Australia is formed of Australia, Tasmania and several smaller islands (for example, Cocos Islands, Kangaroo Island and others). Australia itself is made up of the mainland of Australia and island of Tasmania in the South. It is located between the Pacific and the Indian oceans in the Southern Hemisphere.

        The Australian continent is washed in the North by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait, in the East by the Tasman Sea and the Coral Sea of the South Pacific Ocean, in the South by Bass Strait and the Indian Ocean.

        Australia’s neighboring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea in the North, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia in the north-east and New Zealand in the south-west.

        Australia is “the most” country in many ways. It is the world’s biggest island and the smallest continent at the same time. It is almost 25 times larger than the British Isles. And it is nearly as large as the territory of the USA without Alaska and Hawaii.

        Australia is the only country in the world which has territory of the whole continent. Australia’s total area is 7690000 sq. kilometers.

        It is also the oldest, the flattest and the driest continent in the world.

• Australia is the oldest continent, because some rocks are more than 3 million years old.
• Australia is the flattest continent at all. But still it has mountains.
• Australia is the driest continent of all after Antarctica. Most of it is a semi-desert. South-east is not so dry compared to the rest of the land, so it is good for living.

            Its main mountain chain is the Great Dividing Range which is known as “the Australian Alps”. It runs along the western coast. Australia’s highest point, Kosciuszko in the Australian Alps is only about 2000 metres high.

         Other mountains include the Kimberly Range, the Hamersley Range and the Flinders Range in south Australia.

        Australia is very dry. In the centre of the continent there are three deserts: Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert and Simpson Desert. In fact, Great Sandy and Great Victoria Deserts are among the largest deserts in the world.

        There are not so many rivers and lakes in Australia. Its best known rivers are:

 - the Murray ( 2600 km long);

- the Darling (the Murray’s tributary; is the longest river in Australia – 2740 km).

        Massive salt lakes are often dry for long periods. They are fed by a large river system which carries water to fill them. The largest lake is Lake Eyre.

Climate

        Australia is on the other side of the world. For us it is an upside-down world. In Australia hot winds blow from the North and cold winds blow from the South.

        Because of Australia’s great size there are different climatic regions here. The climate of Australia rages from tropical in the North, to cool temperate in the south-east where it even often snows in winter.

        There are such weather hardships in Australia as droughts, floods and cyclones along its coasts.

        The continent suffers from the lack of fresh water. There is not much rain in many parts of the country and they are very dry. South Australia is the driest state of the driest continent on the Earth.

Flora and fauna

        The most peculiar feature of Australian animals is the pouch (that is a kind of a pocket). The best known of them are the kangaroo and the koala bear. The kangaroo is a marsupial animal that carries babies in the pouch for eight months. It is the largest marsupial in the world. It can weigh 85 kilogrammes.

        The koala is a small bear – animal which lives in the eucalyptus trees. Most of its time the koala spends in these trees sleeping. However, they like to eat only some kinds of eucalyptus trees that grow in Australia. Koala has a black nose and thick funny coat. It can weight 10 kilogrammes. Though it looks very cuddly it has very sharp teeth and very sharp claws. The koala’s nickname is a “native bear”.

        The echidna and platypus are the only two egg-laying mammals in the world. The echidna is a toothless ant-eater.

        The dingo is a wild dog about 50 centimeters high and usually sandy-coloured.  

        There are also such endemic animals as the Tasmanian Devil and the opossum.

        Tasmanian Devils live on their own, and come out at night to hunt for food. They eat small birds and mammals, as well as insects. They have black coat and a small bear-shaped head.

        There are 800 varieties of birds in Australia. Among them there are emus, eagles, parrots, cockatoos, lyrebirds, bower-birds, kookaburras and black swans.

        The emu is a large bird which runs well but cannot fly. The emu and the kangaroo are represented at the emblem of Australia.

        The kookaburra is a popular Australian bird that sounds like a human laughing.

        Many beautiful Australian birds have unmelodious voices.

Some of Australia’s fauna can be very dangerous to people. There are crocodiles in the North. There are also spiders and poisonous snakes (death-adder and tiger snake, for example).

        Though the emu and the kangaroo are symbols of Australia, there is a very popular animal which is less exotic but it also symbolizes the country.  It is a sheep merino which is famous for its fine wool. There is even a monument to the sheep in one of the Australian cities.

        Because Australian climate is good for sheep-farming there are a lot of sheep farms (called “sheep stations”) in many parts of the country where wool is produced for export. There are around 150 million of sheep.

        The climate in Australia is very dry. Because of this there are places like deserts where very little or almost nothing grows. In the North there are tropical forests, in the north-east there are savannahs and grassland, in the south-east there are forests of eucalyptus or other ever-green trees which never lose their leaves, even in winter.

        Some plants cannot be found in other parts of the world either. They are endemic. Its main plants are wattle eucalyptus (or gum), mulga (mimosa), palm, fern and cedar.

platypus – утконос

kookaburra – кукабарра, смеющийся зимородок

marsupial – сумчатый

gum – каменное дерево (сорт низкорослого эвкалипта)

mulga – акация безжилковая

fern – папоротник

Population if Australia

        Australian continent has the least population in the world. There is a little more than 20 million people on this continent.

        Australian population is made up of 3 groups:

- original Australians (or Aborigines);

- old Australians (or Aussie);

- new Australians.

        The continent of Australia has been inhabited people or original Australians. They were dark-skinned Aborigines.  They are to the Australians. They came to the Australian continent from south-east Asia at least 40 000 years ago.

        The Aborigines suffered a lot from the early European settlers. White people who came to Australia destroyed their life. Many of Aborigines were killed. Other had to leave their lands. Now the Aborigines live in many reservations in the tropical and desert areas. There are almost 60000 of them.

        Old Australians or Aussies are people of Anglo-Saxon or Irish origin. They were actually born in Australia and speak English as their mother language.

        New Australians are immigrants who came to the country after World War II.

        So, Australia can be called “the land of immigrants” though the majority of the inhabitants of the country are of British origin. Now Australia is a multicultural society. People came here from all over the world (you can meet people of about 200 different nations here).

        Australia is a vast continent but still there is not enough land. Because of vast desert the population is distributed unevenly. So, most of the population of Australia (around 80 per cent) inhabit six capitals of the coastal line. These cities are Melbourne, Sidney, Adelaide, Brisbain, Hobart and Perth.

        Less than 15 per cent of the population actually lives in rural areas.

Australian territories and states

Territories

• Northern Territory
• Australian Capital Territory

States

• New South Wales
• Victoria State
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Western Australia
• Tasmania
• Tropic of Capricorn

Australia consists of six states and two territories. The North Territory has only one per cent of Australian population, though the territory of it is 20 per cent of the whole country (1346200 sq. km). This is because the region is very dry. But there are still rain seasons. The capital of this territory is Darwin. Its population “enjoys” thunder over 90 days per year. Isn’t it great?

        Another big and important city is Alice Spring.

        The other territory of Australia is Australian Capital Territory. It is the location of the Australian national capital Canberra.

        In 1901, when it was decided to build a national capital, two cities – Melbourne and Sydney rivaled. To settle this argument a new capital Canberra was built roundly between the two states – New South Wales where Sydney is and the State of Victoria where Melbourne is.

        New South Wales is Australia’s most populated state (6,2 million people). The capital of this state is Sydney. It is the largest and one of the most well-known Australian cities. New South Wales is the original landing place of Captain James Cook.

        The first European settlement in Australia was also built at the Sydney Harbour in 1788 when “First Fleet” of 11 ships with convicts came to its shores.

        Victoria state is the smallest mainland state, but its population is still relatively big – it is 4,6 million people. Most of them live in Melbourne, the capital of the state. Melbourne is thought to be country’s cultural, fashion and food capital. It is Australia’s second largest city after Sydney.

        Queensland is often called “a holyday state”. That is true because it has a lot of attractions: beautiful beaches, rain forests and National Parks. It is the second largest state after Western Australia. Its capital is Brisbane. The main industries here are agriculture and mining. Recently, tourism became very important.

        South Australia is the driest state of all Australian states. Adelaide is the capital of it and is called “the city of churches”. The city is also famous for the Festival of Arts. Adelaide was named after King’s of England wife.

        Western Australia is the biggest state which occupies almost one third of Australian continent. In spite of its size, the population of this state is less than 1.8 million. Perth is the capital of Western Australia. This state has very long coast lines with white sandy beaches. So, tourism is the fastest growing up industry here.

        Tasmania is one and only state in Australia which is on the island. Bass Strait separates it from the mainland. To the east, there is the Tasman Sea and to the South and to the South – the Southern Ocean. Tasmania’s capital is Hobart.

        Most of Australian population lives in the cities. So, Australia is mostly urban.

        Less than one third of inhabitants lives outside its area. And still more people are moving away from rural areas.

        There are 5 big cities in Australia, which are capitals of the states in which they are. These cities are Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.

        Melbourne is the capital of Victoria State.

        Sydney is the capital of New South Wales. It is the largest and one of the most well-known cities in Australia. It is often called “Paris of the Pacific”.

        Adelaide is the capital of South Australia.

        Brisbane is the capital of Queensland.

        Perth is the capital of Western Australia.

        Sydney and Melbourne are the fourth and fifth largest cities in the Southern Hemisphere. Sydney and Melbourne have more than three million inhabitants. Both of them are modern seaports.

        Canberra is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is the country’s largest inland city. Its population is more than 332000 people.

        Canberra is now the administrative and cultural centre of the country. Previous capital of Australia was Melbourne. And the government moved to Canberra in 1927. There are a lot of trees and flowers in the city, so it got the name “bush capital”.

The symbols of Australia

        The flag of Australia was chosen in 1901, and in 1954 it became the Australian National Flag. It consists of many elements. In the canton (left upper corner) there is the Union Flag. Under the Union Flag there is a large seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star. To the right of them there are five white stars (one small and four big ones) – they are the Southern Cross constellation.

        The flag of Australia is the only one which flies over the whole continent. The Commonwealth coat of arms is the formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia. Symbols of Australia’s six states are together on its shield. Australian endemic animal and plant symbols are present on the coat of arms.

        The national floral emblem is the golden wattle (acacia). It frames the coat of arms.

        The kangaroo and the emu are Australian native animals that hold the shield on it.

        The platypus and the kookaburra are the symbols of New South Wales; the koala is Queensland’s symbol, of Western Australia is the black swan.

        Australian national colours are green and gold. They are on the floral emblem of wattle. Gold is for beaches, harvest, wool and green is for landscape, forests and eucalyptus trees.

        The Australian National Anthem is called “Advance Australia Fair”. It was adopted in 1974 and is used in important public ceremonies, sport and community events.

The political System of Australia

        Australia’s formal name is the Commonwealth of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The form of government in Australia is a constitutional monarchy. “Constitutional” – because the powers of the Commonwealth government are limited and set by a written constitution. “Monarchy” – because according to the constitution the formal Head of State is the Monarch of Great Britain (now Queen Elizabeth II), represented by the Governor-General.

        Still, Australia is an independent state.

        The constitution of Australia was adopted on January 1st, 1901. Each state has its own constitution, governor (the monarch’s representative), executive legislative and judicial systems. Each territory has its own legislative Assembly.

        Australia has a Parliament in each state and the Federal Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia in Canberra.  The federal government is headed by the Prime Minister.

        The Federal Parliament consists of 76 members (12 for each of the six states, two for the Australian Capital Territory and two for the Northern Territory). Senators serve for six years.

        The House of Representatives consists of 148 elected members. Members of the lower House serve for three years.

        The main Australian political parties are the Liberal Party, the National Party, the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Democrats.

        Australia doesn’t have many traditional holydays.

        Australia Day on January 26th is like America’s Independence Day. It is the day of landing of the First Fleet in Botany Bay. Many Australians do not like these convict past memories that are why on this day they just have barbecue, go to the beach or attend a music festival. Many want to transfer Australia Day to another date.

        St. Patrick’s Day is a popular tradition.

        Christmas is also very popular, though it is a little bit strange to see Santa Clause dressed in his North Pole costume in the middle of summer. As the temperature at that time is around 40o C, instead of roast turkey Australia’s favourite Christmas food is seafood on ice.

        The Boxing Day marks the beginning of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

        New Year’s Eve is also in summer, so it is likely to be spent somewhere in the park on the grass under fireworks.

        Australian cuisine originally was formed on the English cooking tradition which was brought by the British settlers. Mainly there are two things that Australians like – vegetables and meat. The barbecue is important for Australians. The “barbie”, as they call it, became a nice party or gathering tradition.