23. 46. Australian english

Any visitor from abroad who thinks Australian (that's 'Strine') is simply a weird variant of English/American will soon have a few surprises. For a start many Australians don't even speak Australian — they speak Italian, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Turkish or Greek.

Those who do speak the native tongue are liable to lose you in a strange collection of Australian words. Some have completely different meanings in Australia than they have in English-speaking countries north of the equator; some commonly used words have been shortened almost beyond recognition. Others are derived from Aboriginal languages, or from the slang used by early convict settlers.

There is a slight regional variation in the Australian accent, while the difference between city and country speech is mainly a matter of speed. Some of the most famed Aussie words are hardly heard at all — 'mates' are more common than 'cobbers'. If you want to pass for a native try speaking slightly nasally, shortening any word of more than two syllables and then adding a vowel to the end of it, making anything you can into a diminutive (even the Hell's Angels can become mere 'bikies') and peppering your speech with as many expletives as possible. The list that follows may give you an idea of what it is like:

arvo - afternoon

barbie - barbecue (bbq)

beaut, beauty - great, fantastic

bikies - motorcyclists

bloke - man

sheila - woman

yahoo - noisy and unruly person

24. 48. New Zealand Way of Life

New Zealand have a high standard of living. New Zealanders eat more butter and meat per person than do the people of any other country. The government's medical program provides excellent health care. About 70% of New Zealand people own their houses. Almost every family has a car.

Most New Zealanders live in singlefamily houses with a small vegetable gardens. In the larger cities, some people live in highrise apartment buildings. Almost in every New Zealand home there are refrigerators, wash mashines, and other modern electrical appliances. But air conditioning and central heating are rare because the weather rarely becomes extremely hot or extremely cold. In summer, New Zealanders prefer to keep windows open. In winter, fireplaces or electric heater keep the homes warm.

Although about fourfifths of New Zealand's population live in urban areas, cities are uncrowded. Traffic jams seldom occur, even in downtown areas. Large cities have excellent restaurants, milk bars, theatres, concert halls, and other places of entertainment. City life in New Zealand tends to be rather quiet However it is changing in larger cities, where international tourism is developing rapidly.

Near a fifth of New Zealand's people live in rural areas - in some of them, small settlements are linked by good roads. But in other areas, rancher's nearest neighbours may live kilometers away Some ranchers live almost in isolation. Nevertheless, most farms and ranches have electricity. Many farm families run their farms with little or no hired help.