Lesson 5
1. Australia. General Outlook.
• Reading and speaking.
You are going to read about the Commonwealth of Australia.
Pre-reading task.
1). Check the meaning of these words in your dictionary.
self-governing |
island |
a member
|
important. |
Commonwealth
|
include |
occupy |
moderate |
Reading
Read about Australia .
THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
The Commonwealth of Australia is a self-governing federal state and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is situated in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, occupying the continent of Australia and a number of islands, of which Tasmania is the most important.
Australia is a continent — island washed by the Indian Ocean and by the Pacific Ocean. ,
The Commonwealth of Australia, which has an area of 2,965,000 square miles, includes six states and two territories. 16 million people (1987) now live in Australia. (
The federal capital of the country is Canberra.
The official language is English.
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 cyclones have occured.
As Australians situated in the south hemisphere, it has winter when we have summer ami vice versa.
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, duck-bill, dingo or wild dog, emu, parrots and cockatoos. 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's greatest rivers are the Murray and the Darling, other rivers do not reach the sea but fall into Lake Eere in South Australia.
Australia is the flattest of the continents. The Australian Alps have several peaks exceeding 1800 m in height. The highest terrain is Mount Kosciusko 7,328 feet high. —
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. Australians 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, marganese, uranium and gold.
Mast of the factories are situated near big cities. There are five big cities in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. These cities are also the country's main ports.
Australia has an Academy of Sciences. It conducts research in science and technology.
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. It has two chambers: the House of Representatives (the Lower House) and the Senate (the Upper House).
The 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."
All State Parliaments, except Queensland's, have also two chambers.
The States run such areas as education, police, health services, agriculture, transport and roads.
CANBERRA
Canberra is the capital of Australia. The city of Canberra is the heart of Australian's Capital Territory and the seat of Federal Government. 264,000 people live in Canberra.
The city was specially planned as a capital. The building of the city was started in 1913 and in 1927S Canberra became the capital of Australia.
Canberra is a quiet capital, even in high hours All the government buildings are situated in the city. 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 in spring.
Federal Parliament House stands in the setting of trees, lawns and shrubs so typical of Canberra.
The building of the Australian Academy of Sciences is situated on the territory of the Australian National University.
It is one of Canberra's most unusual buildings. It consists mainly of a copper dome resting on arches set in an angular pool. The Academy promotes scientific knowledge and research, represents Australian science at the national and international levels, holds symposia and arranges visits of scientists from other countries.
Australia has 19 universities.
The Australian National University was founded in Canberra in 1946.
LAND AND CLIMATE