Страноведение

    VOCABULARY

akin	похожий, сходный, такой же как
arachnids	паукообразные
arid	сухой, засушливый; безводный
bower-birds	беседковые  птицы, шалашники
bushland	бушлэнд (пространства, покрытые кустарниками)
coat-of-arms	герб, щит герба
cockatoo	какаду (попугай)
death-adder	шипохвост австралийский
eagle	орёл
hawk	ястреб; сокол
jarrah	эвкалипт окаймлённый
lyrebird	лирохвост
mallee	эвкалипт, малли (кустарниковый  вид эвкалипта)
marsupial	сумчатое животное
mulga	акация безжилковая
spider	паук
spiny anteater	ехидна
stunted	мелкий, низкий, низкорослый, чахлый
suckle	вскармливать, выращивать
tiger snake	тигровая змея
twig	веточка; ветвь, ветка
wattle	австралийская акация или мимоза

 

History

     It is probably also due to its geographical position that Australia was the last continent to be inhabited by the white man. It was just a little over 380 years that the Australian continent was discovered.

     The first landing by Europeans took place in 1606. More than a century and a half later an expedition headed by the British explorer James Cook added the land to the possessions of the British crown. Until the name “Australia” (meaning “South Land”) became generally accepted for the continent, it had been referred to as New Holland, New South Wales, or Botany Bay.

     During the War of Independence (1776) the former British colonies in America declared themselves independent. The British ruling circles tried to make up for this loss by the seizure of new territories. Besides, the convicts could no longer be transported to the American colonies (which had served this purpose for over a hundred years) and British jails were more than badly overcrowded. A plan to establish penal settlements in the new region was advanced.

     The first contingent of the convicts and their guards landed where Sydney stands today, on January 26, 1788. It was the so-called “First Fleet” and these people were called “first fleeters”. Now, Australia Day, January 26, commemorates the landing. Gradually more and more people arrived (they were convicts as well as free settlers) and a number of settlements were founded along the southern and eastern coasts.

     The discovery of gold in 1851 marked the beginning of a tremendous surge of immigration which tripled the population in ten years. Since that time the transportation of the convicts has been stopped and severe restrictions on immigration from non-European countries have been imposed (the so-called “white Australia policy” which is still in force). The economic and political effects of the gold rush in Australia were considerable. New settlers demanded a more just distribution of arable lands. The struggle between squatters and small farmers started. Rapid development of trade unions began, which was significantly accelerated by the arrival of the Chartists, revolutionary refugees from Germany and politically mature workers from other countries. As a result, the trade unions gained considerable rights for the working people. It was in the 1870s that the Australian workers were the first in the world to gain an eight-hour working day.

     The exploration of the outback was completed by the end of the 19th century.  A great number of sheep stations were established there. Some of these stations cover thousands of kilometers. The natural conditions of the country encouraged the development of sheep breeding and grain growing. The discoveries of mineral resources have stimulated development in many parts of the country and made Australia an important source of raw materials in the capitalist world.

     In 1901 the separate colonies in Australia merged together and became the States of the Commonwealth of Australia, which acquired the status of a dominion of Great Britain. Australia made valuable contributions  to the  British war efforts during World War  I. Raw materials, especially minerals, wool and foodstuffs, comprised the bulk of its economic aid to Great Britain. The armed forces of Australia figured significantly in the various British military campaigns in France and in the Middle East. Participation in World War I stimulated  the development of monopoly capitalism  Australia and sharpened class contradictions in the country.

     Australia benefited from the devastating effects of World War I because the prices on its exports to post-war Europe increased considerably. Then came the economic crisis of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Those were very hard years for the common people of Australia: their wages were drastically reduced, one-third of the workers became unemployed. After 1933 Australia began to benefit from the improving conditions in the world market. That period was marked by a rapid growth of manufacturing industries.

     Australia took part in World War II. In 1939 its troops joined the British forces in the Middle East, later in Western Europe, in the north of Africa and in the Pacific. In 1942 Australian ruling circles began to seek for military alliance with the United States of America. As a result of this alliance, the Australian government now has to take into consideration the decisions of Washington.

     Australia is now an industrialized capitalist state. The Commonwealth of Australia is composed of six states and two territories: the State of New South Wales with its capital in Sydney, the State of Victoria with its capital in Melbourne, the State of South Australia with its capital in Adelaide, the State of Queensland with its capital in Brisbane, the State of Western Australia with its capital in Perth, the State of Tasmania with its capital in Hobart, Australian Capital Territory with its Federal Capital in Canberra, and Northern Territory with its capital in Darwin. The Commonwealth of Australia also includes' some islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

System of Government

     Though Australia is now an independent state, according to the Constitution the head of the state is the Monarch of Great Britain, represented by the Governor-General. His duties include assenting to bills, opening, proroguing and dissolving Parliament and commissioning the Prime Minister to form a government. Each of the six states has a Governor who carries out duties similar to those of the Governor-General.

     Legislative authority is vested in Federal and State Parliaments. The Federal Parliament consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of the House of Representatives (the Lower House) are elected for a three-year term. The number of members in the House of Representatives is determined on a population basis, with minimum of five members from each state. Each of the states is represented in the Senate (the Upper House) by ten senators and each territory by two senators. Senators are elected for a term of six years, half of them retiring every three years.

     Parliamentary elections are conducted by a statutory electoral office which is part of the permanent Civil Service. As a result of the elections, the leader of the political party with a majority in the House of Representatives, either in his own right or in coalition with another party, is called on to form a government, and becomes Prime Minister. The franchise for both chambers of the Parliament is compulsory. Those Australian citizens who are abroad at the moment of the elections vote “by mail”. Those who abstain from voting are fined.

     Though the system of Australian government resembles the USA and British systems of government, it also has its own individual features.

Education

     This is equally true of the Australian system of education. Its specific features are connected with the problem of reaching children in remote and sparsely populated areas. For these children a system of correspondence instruction has been established, the so-called “School Through the Mailbox”. Another Australian way of schooling is the “School of the Air”, using the two-way radio network. Children hundreds of kilometres apart share lessons during which teachers and pupils speak directly to each other.

Economy.

     Australia is the world’s largest wool producer and one of the world’s largest wheat exporters. The main sources of foreign earnings are wool, food and minerals which also provide raw materials for home processing industry.

 

Task 1. Answer the questions.

 

1. What is the capital of Australia?

2. What is the official language in Australia?

3. What kind of government does Australia have? Is it a multi-party

    democracy, an absolute  monarchy, or a constitutional monarchy?

4. Who is the leader of the country?

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

Text 4 
New Zealand

 

Capital: Largest city: Official languages:   Government:      Head of State: Governor-General: Prime Minister: Area: HM Queen Elizabeth II

Wellington Auckland English (98%), Māori (4.2%)   Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy   HM Queen Elizabeth II Anand Satyanand (2008) Helen Clark (2008) Total 268,680 km² (75th)

 

     New Zealand is situated in the southwest Pacific Ocean on two large islands: the North Island and the South Island.

      Less than 1/4 of the territory of the country lies below the 100 m contour line. The South Island is significantly more mountainous than the North Island. New Zealand has a temperate, moist ocean climate without marked seasonal variations in temperature or rainfall.

     The total population in 2007 was about 4.3 mln people with the average population density of about 15 persons per sq.km. About 85 % if the population is classified as Europeans. Most of them are of British descent. English is the universal language.

     The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. Like the United Kingdom New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy.

     Officially the head of the state is the British Queen (or the King). Elizabeth II, as the Queen of New Zealand, is the Head of State and, in her absence, is represented by a non-partisan Governor-General. The Queen 'reigns but does not rule.' She has no real political influence, and her position is essentially symbolic. Political power is held by the democratically elected Parliament of New Zealand under the leadership of the Prime Minister, who is the Head of Government.

     The economy of New Zealand has traditionally been based on pastoral farming. The last decades have seen a large expansion in the light industries. New Zealand draws many thousands of tourists to its shores because of the beauty, diversity, and compactness of its natural attractions.

     Tourism plays a significant role in New Zealand's economy. Tourism contributes $12.8 billion (or 8.9%) to New Zealand’s total GDP and supports nearly 200,000 full-time equivalent jobs (9.9% of the total workforce in New Zealand) Tourists to New Zealand are expected to increase at a rate of 4% annually up to 2013.

 

Movies

 

     Although films have been made in New Zealand since the 1920s, it was only from the 1970s that New Zealand films began to be produced in significant numbers. Films such as Sleeping Dogs and Goodbye Pork Pie achieved local success and launched the careers of actors and directors including Sam Neill, Geoff Murphy and Roger Donaldson. In the early 1990s, New Zealand films such as Jane Campion's Academy Award-winning film The Piano, Lee Tamahori's Once Were Warriors and Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures began to garner international acclaim. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jackson filmed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy in New Zealand, using a mostly New Zealand crew and many New Zealand actors in minor parts. Whale Rider, originally a novel by Witi Ihimaera, was produced in 2002 and received recognition from various festivals and awards. Many non-New Zealand productions, primarily from Hollywood but also from Bollywood, have been made in New Zealand. Film industry insiders are divided on whether this benefits or harms the New Zealand film industry; however some New Zealand actors, such as Lucy Lawless (Xena) have clearly benefitted from these overseas productions.

 
 

CHAPTER  IV 
READING EXERSISES

Exercise R1.

Read the text and choose the correct answer to questions 1-3.

     The most traditional American food may well be cornmeal. Cornmeal, as we know it today, began as a Native American staple. The Native Americans grew corn of six different colors -black, red, white, yellow, blue, and multicolored. They ground the corn kernels into cornmeal and mixed it with salt and water, then baked it. This recipe was introduced to the early colonists, who experimented with it and developed their own uses for cornmeal. Succotash (a meat stew with cornmeal added) and mush (leftover cornmeal porridge cut and fried) are two meals invented by early colonists.

     Visitors can travel to the South and enjoy spoon bread, a smooth puddinglike dish, or to New England for johnnycakes, a kind of flat pancake. But probably the most common forms of cornmeal nationwide are cornbread, cornmeal muffins, and the “hush puppy” - a round ball of cornmeal batter that is fried in oil.

Question 1.

According to the passage, cornmeal was originally used by

1.  the early colonists
2.  the New Englanders
3.  the Native Americans
4.  the people in the South

Question 2.

According to the passage, mush is

1.  a batter that is fried in oil
2.  fried leftovers from a cornmeal dish
3.  added to meat stew to make succotash
4.  one of two meals developed by the Native Americans

Question 3.

According to the passage, common forms of  cornmeal are

1.  no longer popular
2.  restricted to certain regions
3.  found nationwide
4.  multicolored

 

Exercise R2.

Read the text and choose the right answers to questions 1-3.

     Generations of American school children have been taught the story of how the Great Fire of Chicago of October 1871 was started by Daisy, a cow belonging to one Mrs. O’Leary. The cow, stabled in a barn behind Mrs. O’Leary’s house, apparently kicked over a kerosene lamp, which set fire to hay and other combustible materials stored there. The blaze quickly spread, and fanned by a strong southwest wind and aided by intensely dry conditions, the conflagration engulfed and entirely destroyed more than three square miles of built-up area. Almost one hundred thousand people were left homeless, and about three hundred lost their lives. Property damage was estimated at two hundred million dollars, an immense sum in those days.

     Soon after the fire, the O’Leary-cow story became an almost unchallenged truth and, over the years, took on the status of a modern-day myth - a staple ingredient in the fabric of American folklore. However, there are good reasons to believe that neither Mrs. O’Leary nor Daisy was culpable. First, a police reporter later claimed to have invented the whole story. Of course, this is not a conclusive refutation, but his reasoning was valid and his alternative suggestions credible. Furthermore, the testimony of one of the main witnesses, a neighbor called “Peg Leg” Sullivan, is now thought to be questionable. Some claim he invented the story to avoid censure, since he himself was not above suspicion and there were inconsistencies in his account. Other accusers have focused the blame on a variety of targets - some local boys smoking in the barn, a different neighbor, an unnamed terrorist organization, spontaneous combustion, and, most recently, an asteroid. This last theory gains credence from the fact that on the same night as the Chicago fire, neighboring states suffered more than a dozen major fires. One fire destroyed the entire town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, with the loss of more than twelve hundred lives.