Vocabulary

harbour ['ha:bə] — гавань

Mediterranean [,medɪtə'reɪnjən] — середземноморський

bay [beɪ] — бухта, залив

cove [kəuv] — бухточка

to jog [dʒɔg] — спорт, бігати підтюпцем

at least [li:st] — принаймні; щонайменше

QUESTIONS

1. Do you agree that Sydney is the most beautiful city on eaith ? Why?

2. What is Australia's oldest city? Prove this.

3. What is the most modern place in Australia? How can you prove this fact?

4. Why do Sydneysiders, as well as many visitors to Australia, come to Bondi Beach ?

5. What is Paddington ?

6. What is the population of Sydney?

Climate and nature of Australia

Australia is situated to the southeast of Asia. It is washed by the Timor Sea in the north, by the Coral and Tasman Seas in the east, and by the Indian Ocean in the south and west. Australia is the most droughty continent in the earth. It is an extremely hot country. Summer months are December, January and February. The average summer temperature is from 20 to 30 degrees above zero. Winter months are June, July and August.

The average winter temperature is from 12 to 20 degrees above zero.

The most part of the territory lies in tropics.

Its southwestern territories lie in subtropics.

As droughts are rather common and the amount of rainfall is rather small there are not many rivers in Australia.

The largest rivers are the Darling and the Murray.

The isolation of Australia from other continents explains much of the unusualness of Australian plant and animal life.

There are forests in the southern and eastern parts of the country.

The commonest tree of Australia is the eucalyptus.

In the drier areas there is the Australian acacia or mimosa.

In those areas one can also find strange bottle trees.

They preserve water in their trunks.

Australian animals are also very unusual.

Among them there are kangaroos, duck-bills, koala-bears, and others.

Nine tenth of animal species of Australia do not exist in other parts of the world.

Questions:

1. How many seas is Australia washed by?

2. What are winter and summer months in Australia?

3. What is the average summer and winter temperature?

4. What are the longest rivers?

5. What are the commonest trees in Australia?

Australian Cities and Towns 

The capital of Australia, Canberra, is a young and comparatively small city.

It was founded in the 20th century and now has a population of about 260 000 people.

The centre of Canberra is a small hill.

Several streets run from that hill.

Special charm is given to Canberra by an artificial lake in the centre of the city.

A fountain more than 100 metres high is in the western part of the lake.

At night powerful lights illuminate the water.

It is the Captain Cook Fountain, one of the main places of interest in Canberra.

Another one is a memorial military museum.

The building of the Australian Academy of Sciences is quite unusual in form — it is like a huge overturned bowl.

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia.

It was the capital of the country till 1927 and now is the centre of Australian business world.

It is also one of the largest ports in the country.

Melbourne is a beautiful city with numerous skyscrapers, straight boulevards and large parks and gardens.

One of Melbourne’s places of interest is the house of Captain Cook, the famous British navigator.

Sydney is Australia’s largest and oldest city.

It was the first British settlement.

Sydney has the oldest in the country botanical gardens and the Zoo.

One of the main places of interest of the city is the famous bridge over the Bay of Port Jackson.

Another one is the Opera House, which resembles large white shells in form.

It is surrounded by the sea on three sides.

Sydney is the city of three universities.

Questions:

1. What is the capital of Australia?

2. When was it founded?

3. What are the main cities of Australia?

4. What are the main places of interest in Sydney?

5. What can you say about Melbourne?

Political System of Australia

Australia is a constitutional monarchy, with the Queen of Great Britain at its head.

It consists of six states and two territories.

The queen is represented by the Governor General, who is appointed by the Australian government.

The Governor General appoints members of the Executive Council, his advisory cabinet.

The main legislative body in the country is Federal Parliament.

It consists of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The members of the Senate are elected for a six-year term.

There are ten senators from each state and two from each territory in the Senate.

The House of Representatives is elected by general direct vote for a three-year term.

The executive power belongs to the queen and the government.

It is headed by the Prime Minister.

The ministers are chosen from members of Parliament and the Executive Council.

There are two major political parties in Australia: the Australian Labour party and a coalition of the Liberal and the Agrarian parties.

Till the 1930s Australia mostly de-pended upon Great Britain in its political affairs.

But in 1931 Australia became fully in-dependent from Great Britain.

Questions:

1. What is the political system of Australia?

2. How many states are there in it?

3. Who is the head of the country?

4. What is the main legislative body in the country? What does it consist of?

Outstanding Historical events of Australia

Geologically Australia is the most ancient of the continents.

But for many centuries it was marked on the maps as “terra incognita”.

The first man who reached the Australian coasts was Willem Jansz, a Dutch seaman.

He landed on the northern coast of the continent in 1606.

The northern and western coasts were investigated by the Dutch in the 17th century.

The sailors named the continent New Holland.

In 1770 James Cook, a British navigator, reached the coasts of Australia.

He was the first to investigate Australia and named a lot of its mountains and bays.

The beginning of the British colonization of Australia was connected with the loss of the thirteen American colonies during the War of Independence.

The British government lost the right to send criminals from England to North America.

The loss was compensated by seizing new territories.

The first group of criminals arrived in Australia in 1787 and founded a settlement named Sydney.

And only in 1793 the first group of settlers who were not convicts came to Australia.

The 50s of the 19th century were the turning point in the history of Australia.

The deposits of gold were found then, and it led the country to the rapid economic development.

Till that time Australia had held the first place at the world wool market.

Since that time the industry started to develop in the country.

The discovery of gold also led to a large wave of immigrants to the country.

In 1900 the British colonies got the rights of states.

In 1901 they united in a single state.

That was the beginning of the modern Australia.

Questions:

1. How did they call Australia for many centuries?

2. Who was the first man who reached the Australian coasts?

3. When did James Cook reach Australia?

4. What years were the turning point in the history of Australia?

5. What deposits were found?