III. Are these sentences true or false?

1. Platypus lays eggs but nurses its young.

2. 1. Its snout /big nose/ is only for collecting food underwater.

3. Platypus does not use its eyes or ears underwater.

4. It can receive electric signals.

5. Platypus has a sixth sense that helps it "see" underwater.

6. The platypus has separate aquatic and terrestrial sensory systems.

7. Under water it opens eyes, ears and nostrils.

8. Scientists did not know what guides the platypus underwater.

9. The answer came in 1986.

10. The platypuses pinpoint a source of low-voltage emissions.

Speaking

IV. Discuss the answers to the questions with your classmates.

1. How did kangaroos come to Australia?

2. Are kangaroos good in boxing and karate?

3. What kangaroo graces Australia's coat of arms?

4. Who must rear, shelter and feed the young kangaroos?

5. Is kangaroo a nocturnal animal by nature?

6. How long do kangaroos live?

7. Who is the most devastating enemy of the kangaroo?

8. Is man the kangaroo's friend or foe?

9. As for you, how is to protect the kangaroos?

RESEARCH

V. Read the articles from the newspapers and say what is being done to protect animals.

Cash to Save Cook's Kangaroo

Zoological drawings from Captain James Cook's three voyages of circumnavigation between 1768 and 1780 described by the Natural History museum as 'unique beyond price", will be restored and conserved as a result of sponsorship.

IBM United Kingdom has given 45. 000 pounds to help save from deterioration a group of important works which includes the first drawings of kangaroos by a European, the Tahitian parakeet which became extinct in 1844, and many beautiful sketches of birds, fish and other sea creatures.

The museum counts the set as among its most important archival items, scientifically important because they show the first, and sometimes the last, remaining evidence of the wildlife of the Pacific recorded in the eighteenth century.

More than half a million items in the museum's collection are at risk from deterioration; additional funding of at least 1 m pounds has to be found because, being part of the science budget, it cannot apply for assistance for conservation projects from other government-funded sources.

The Missing Tiger

The Australian Government has issued an "endangered species" series of postage stamps, one of which features the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger. The last known thylacine, also called the Tasmanian wolf, died in Hobart Zoo in 1933. Since then, claims by people to have spotted the beast have proliferated but have defied confirmation - almost to the point where it has assumed the mythical status of such creatures as the abominable snowman or Loch Ness monster. The thylacine was a marsupial cat and, at 44 in. Long, excluding a 21 in. Tail, was probably the largest camiverous marsupial.

From "The Times", London.

ACTIVITY

VI. Read the tour ad, make up a dialogue and act as a travel agent.

After feeding the kangaroos, catch Madam Butterfly.

Australia, Land of contrasts. A place to see Puccini in the ultra-modern splendor of Sydney's Opera House. Cuddle a koala. Throw a boomerang. Savor vintage wine. Or stand on top of the world's biggest rock. Here is the home of the kangaroo, the duck-billed platypus and The Great Barrier Reef. Here, the people speak English, Friendship and Sports.

Our spacious DC-lOs depart daily to Australia from Los Angeles via New Zealand. Our in-depth Destination Down Under Tour starts at $ 3,776.

You get 30 days of Australia and New Zealand and a lifetime of memories.

Ask your travel agent. Or call us toll-free at 7800/ 421-0066. In California /800/ 252-0101.

A Dialogue:

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Passenger. Hello! Is it.

Tour agent

Passenger

Tour agent: Oh! Australia is __

You can see

One can cuddle __ You can stand on

Passenger: Can

Tour agent: Sure! Australia is the home of _

Passenger:

Tour agent: DC-lOs. It is. Passenger:

Tour agent: Via New Zealand.

Passenger:

Tour agent:

Passenger:

Tour agent: 30 days and

$3,776.

PROJECT