Text D. The Discovery of Australia

Australia was unknown to Europeans and no Europeans settled there until 1788. Though, long before the seventeenth century, people thought there was land in the southern ocean, nobody had seen it. So it was called Terra Australia Incognito - the Unknown South land.

Between latitudes 10^о S and 44^о S and longitudes 114^о E and 154^о E, Australia covers about 3,000,000 square miles, the size of Europe or the United States.

Dutch navigators first found the South Land. Janszoon entered the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606. Hartog visited the West coast at Shark Bay in 1616. Further expeditions followed in the north and west, and the famous Dutch navigator, Tasman, sailed round to the south, discovering Tasmania in 1642.

By the mid-seventeenth century most of the North, West and South coasts had been charted. But the Dutch were disappointed with their new discoveries. Cartenz reported in 1623: “This is the most arid and barren region that could be found anywhere on earth”. So, too, thought the first British captain to see the new continent. This was William Dampier, who visited the northwest in 1688 and 1699 and considered the natives to be “the miserablest people in the world.”

Part III

These words will help you to understand and discuss the text:

derive (v) — происходить

confront (v) — сталкиваться

time consuming — требующий много времени

archive (n) — архив

volume (n) — объем

explosion (n) — взрыв

up-to-date (v) — усовершенствовать в соответствии с требованиями времени

distribute (v) — распределять

reference documents — справочная документация (материалы)

fibre optics — волоконная оптика

storage (n) — хранение

networks — сети

Read Text E and say: “What new problems do the researchers and scientists have to solve?”