Vocabulary

commonwealth – содружество, государство

hemisphere - полушарие

mainland - материк

indigenous – туземный, местный

penal – уголовный, карательный

realm – королевство, государство

subsequent - последующий

establish - установить

capital - столица

prosperous - процветающий

Exercise 1. Make up sentences with the words above.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1. Where is Australia situated?

2. What type of the state is it?

3. What are the neighboring countries?

4. When was it discovered?

5. When was the country founded?

6. What is the population of Australia?

7. What Australian cities do you know?

Exercise 3. True or false.

1. Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Northern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

2. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1608, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 1760 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, formally founded on 7 February 1798.

3. The nation's capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.

4. Approximately 65 per cent of Australia's population live in either Victoria or New South Wales, and approximately 74 per cent live on the mainland's east coast.

5. A prosperous developed country, Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy.

Exercise 4. Complete the sentences from the text.

1. Neighbouring countries include … .

2. … and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed.

3. Since Federation, … .

4. The population is 22 million, … .

5. Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of … .

6. Australia is a member of … .

Exercise 5. Tell your group-mates what other interesting facts you know about Australia.

Тема: Традиции стран изучаемого языка

TEXT A

So many countries so many customs, an English proverb says. The combination of the words tradition & custom means a usual manner of doing something, a belief of principal of conduct passed on from generation to generation. English traditions can be subdivided into the traditions dealing with private life of the English national & religious holidays, public celebrations, traditional ceremonies & traditional sporting events. A great number of customs traditions date back to the early days of GB & we can justly say that they are the reflection of the country's history & the people's psychology. To know the customs & traditions means to understand the people, their art & culture better. In the matter of holidays the British are less well off than other Europeans.

The British have many traditions, manners & customs of which they can be proud. England has preserved its old ceremonies & traditions to a greater extend than any other country in the world. Most of these traditions have been kept up without interruption since the thirteenth century. Foreigners coming to England are impressed by a great number of ceremonies which seem to be incompatible with the modern traffic & technical conditions of a highly developed country.

Some British customs and traditions are famous all over the world. Bowler hats, tea and talking about the weather, for example. There are a lot of others that we are going to tell you about.

From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions. A lot of them have very long histories. Some are funny and some are strange. But they're all interesting. There are all the traditions of British sport and music. There's the long menu of traditional British food. There are many royal occasions. There are songs, sayings and superstitions. They are all part of the British way of life.