Texts for extra reading

People

Today, New Zealanders are largely sophisticated and highly educated urban dwellers. Members of a unique and vibrant multicultural society, New Zealanders are embracing 21st century technology and culture in record numbers. But New Zealanders also have a background of quiet but rugged individualism, self-reliance, and a genius for invention - qualities still evident in the population today.

Unique in the World

New Zealand has a diverse population--but with some uniting features that make it unique in the world. Our relatively isolated South Pacific location and rugged landscapes still makes many New Zealanders quiet and independent, yet resourceful and self-reliant, with a famous 'Kiwi ingenuity'.

Early Voyagers

Over four hundred years before Christopher Columbus and the rest of Europe worried about falling off the edge of the world, the first New Zealanders, the Maori, voyaged thousands of miles across the vast unknown Pacific Ocean in small ocean-going canoes. In order to reach New Zealand, these brave adventurers developed their own navigation system using the stars and the currents.

Pioneers Rugged

New Zealand's European pioneers were also brave, rugged and independent. Before establishing farms and settlements, they had to first clear the land - a painstaking and sometimes dangerous activity.

Their isolation and exposure to the elements forced these early New Zealanders to become hardy and multi-skilled. This resourcefulness and ingenuity has greatly contributed to the New Zealand character.

The same qualities can be seen today in the new pioneers - a generation of young Kiwi business executives, computer software builders, film-makers, fashion designers, and sportspeople making waves around the world.

Backyard Genius

Since before Sir Ernest Rutherford 'split' the atom early in the twentieth century, Kiwis have been discovering and inventing things. Many of these inventions have literally been created in a backyard.

While frozen meat, the Hamilton Jet boat, and the bungy jump are probably our most famous Kiwi inventions, there are many others. New Zealanders are also responsible for the tranquillizer gun, seismic 'base' isolators (rubber and lead blocks which minimize earthquake damage), electric fences, the fastest motorbike in the world, freezer vacuum pumps, stamp vending machines, wide-toothed shearing combs, and the electronic petrol pump--to name a few!

Outdoor People

New Zealand has a low population density and spectacular scenery. As a result, many New Zealanders have a love of their landscape and the outdoors.

Hiking, mountaineering, and kayaking are enjoyed by many New Zealanders, while many more will explore their landscape with a trip to the beach or a bush walk. They are following in the footsteps of perhaps the most adventurous Kiwi, Sir Edmund Hillary, who conquered Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, in 1953.

Notes:

dweller – житель, обитатель

vibrant – живой, энергичный

rugged – суровый, строгий, прямой

self-reliance – уверенность в своих силах, в себе

genius – одаренность, гений

resourceful – изобретательный, находчивый

ingenuity – изобретательность, находчивость

painstaking – кропотливый, тщательный

to make waves - поднимать шум, выступать

shearing – стрижка

spectacular – впечатляющий, захватывающий

hiking – туризм

mountaineering – альпинизм

kayaking – каякинг, сплав по рекам на каяке

Ex. 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What qualities are still evident in the population of New Zealand today?

2. How did the first New Zealanders voyage across the Pacific Ocean? What did they develop and use?

4. What did European pioneers have to do first before establishing farms?

5. What has made great contribution to the New Zealand character?

6. Where have many inventions been created?

7. What are the most famous Kiwis inventions?

8. Do New Zealanders have a love of their landscape and the outdoors?