UNIT 7 AUSTRALIA

I. Read and memorize the following words and word combinations.

to include	включати
moderate climate	помірний клімат
coast	узбережжя
supplier of grains	постачальник зернових

species види

fall into впадати в

peculiar особливий

II. Read the text. Use dictionary if necessary.

Australia is a continent — island washed by the Indian Ocean and by the Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of 7,682,300 sq.km and is as big as the USA.

It was discovered by Dutch explorers in 1606 but only in 1770 the British explorer James Cook claimed New South Wales for Britain.

Administratively it includes six states and two territories. About 19 million people now live in Australia.

The federal capital of the country is Canberra. Its other major cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin, Brisbane.

The official language is English.

Australia is the flattest of the continents. The Australian Alps have several peaks exceeding 1,800 m in height, Mount Kosciusko being the highest. Australia's greatest rivers are the Murray and the Darling. Other rivers do not reach the sea but fall into Lake Eyre in South Australia.

As Australia is situated in the south hemisphere, it has winter when we have summer and vice versa.

Australia's climate is relatively warm and dry, with no extreme cold and little frost. There is comparatively little seasonal temperature change. Winds are light to moderate, except along the coasts, where tsunami occasionally occur.

It is believed that Australia's geological isolation has resulted in many species not found elsewhere. The best known peculiar animals and birds are kangaroo, duckbill, dingo or wild dog, koala bear, emu, eagles and parrots. The emu and kangaroo are represented on the national emblem of Australia. The best known native trees are the gum (eucalyptus) and wattle (acacia).

Australia is an important producer and exporter of primary products. It leads the world in wool production and is significant supplier of grains, dairy products, meat, sugar and fruit. Australia is famous for its sheep and almost all of Australia's wool has traditionally been exported.

Australia is among the major producers of minerals and metals. It is rich in black coal, bauxite, ores of iron, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, manganese, uranium and gold.

There are some educational and cultural institutions such as universities, museums, libraries, theatres.

Though an independent nation, Australia, like Canada, has close institutional links with Britain, and Queen Elizabeth II of England is also formally Queen of Australia.

The Queen is represented in Australia by the Governor-Ge­neral and six State Governors. The Commonwealth of Australia includes six states: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, south Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and two internal territories — the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.

Australia has a Parliament consisting of two chambers: the House of Representatives (the Lower House) and the Senate (the Upper House). House of Representatives is the more important Chamber of the Australian Parliament. The Prime Minister is normally drawn from among its membership. The government of the country is headed by the Prime Minister.

CANBERRA

Canberra is the capital of Australia. The site for the city was selected in 1908 between Sydney and Melbourne, rivals to be capital of the new country. Canberra is the heart of Australia and the seat of Federal Government. 325,000 people live in Canberra.

The city was specially planned as a capital.

Canberra is a quiet capital, even in high hours. All the government buildings are situated in the city. It contains the Parliament House, The Australian National University, The Canberra School of Music and the National War Memorial. There are no industrial plants in the city.

Frosty nights and sunny days characterize winter and autumn here. There are many flowers in spring and Canberra is at its best at that time.

III. Ask your group-mates 10 questions about Australia and Canberra.

IV. Did any facts about Australia surprise you? Why?

V. Work in pairs. Use key words to talk on history, agriculture, geography of Australia.

VI. Make up reports on the following topics:

- Political system

- Deserts of Australia

- Great Diving Range

- Fauna and Flora

- Indigenous population

VII. Think of 2-3 questions to ask your group-mates on your report.

VIII. Write a letter to your friend about:

- Why you’d like to visit Australia.

- Which cities/regions you’d like to visit and why

- Modern industry/arts of Australia

- Population of Australia

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

I. Read and discuss the following texts.

AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS

The king of Australian animals is the kangaroo (or «roo»). There are scores of varieties, from the red or giant grey kangaroo, taller than a man and weighing up to 90 kg, to the kangaroo-rat which only attains a height of 30 cm. Wallabiesor wallaroos are medium sized kangaroos. Kanga­roos can be found all over the country, except in those areas where they compete for food with sheep. Regarded as a pest by farmers, their numbers are culled by licensed hunters who keep the population down. Koalas are also marsupials, but they are almost impossible to snot in their natural habitat. Most live on the east coast of southern Queensland, one of the few regions where the variety of eucalyptus they feed on grows.

Another marsupial which is very common and very much loved in Australia is the wombat, a creature looking something like an enormous, slothful rat. Australia's wildlife includes 700 species of birds, 530 of which are endemic. Among the most famous are the emu, the Australian cousin of the ostrich; the cassowary, another running bird; the black swan; the kookaburra with its mocking laugh, etc.

AUSTRALIAN SKA PATHFINDER RADIO TELESCOPE

The tiny West Australian town once described as “the end of the earth” is about to become the centre of the universe.

Meekatharra, 800km north-east of Perth, is to be the site for the world’s most powerful and expensive telescope.

The $2 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is being built by a consortium of 17 countries in a bid to finally solve the biggest mysteries in the universe: when did time begin?; how did galaxies form?; and, is there anybody out there?

The SKA will consist of an army of thousands of antennas or arrays, spread over a kilometre and linked via high bandwidth cable, all collecting radio waves from deep space.

To do this, they need absolute radio quiet - and one of the quietest places on the planet is Mileura Station, 130km west of Meekatharra.

These telescopes will gather the visible and infrared light from the first stars and galaxies to be formed. Before these objects were born, the universe was entirely composed of hydrogen gas. As the first objects begin to glow, they heat the hydrogen gas so it starts to emit radio waves.

These radio waves will indicate the location of the first stars and the process by which they are born and grow.

Astronomers worldwide are also thinking about the radio telescopes necessary to catch these first radio waves. The SKA is the telescope that the global astronomical community wants to build to do this new science and to really “see” for the first time the creation of the stars and galaxies that surround us today.