Vocabulary
to occupy entire to include dates back to commonwealth term to be represented by Governor-General entirely ceremonial significant executive power to delegate governing party current to descend from penal colony convict gradually Gold Rush rapidly overshadowed free settlers inhabitants indigenous population demographic shift to retire aging population to absorb to survive native language considerable second generation bilingual to be derived from distinctive features aborigine culture
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Questions to the text.
What are the neigbouring countries of Australia?
Where does the name Australia come from?
Who is the Head of State of Australia?
How is the Queen represented in Australia?
Who chooses the members of the Cabinet?
What are the States and Territories of Australia?
What was Australia founded as?
What is the percentage of Australian aborigines?
What are the roots of Australian culture?
EXERCISE 1 Translate the following sentences into Russian.
Australia is the only country in the world which occupies the whole continent. However, its population is very small.
Australia's neighbours are: Papua New Guinea to the north and New Zealand to the south.
Governor-General of Australia represents the Queen.
The role of the Queen is almost entirely ceremonial.
Cabinet has the real power. Its members are chosen by the governing party or by the Prime Minister.
Most of the Australian population descends from the immigrants from Europe.
Australia was founded as a penal colony for criminals. During the Gold Rush in the late 19th century hundreds of thousands of free settlers came to Australia.
Now many Australians are of Greek, Italian and Asian descent. Australia is very interested in new immigrant because its population is aging.
Australia absorbs tens of thousands of people each year. That is why there are so many bilinguals in Australia.
EXERCISE 2
Translate the following sentences into English.
Страны — соседи Австралии — это Индонезия, Новая Зеландия и Папуа — Новая Гвинея.
Слово «Австралия» происходит от латинского слова "южная".
Содружество Австралии является конституционной монархией.
Королева Австралии представлена генерал-губернатором.
Власть генерал-губернатора передается кабинету, который формируется из членов парламента.
Перевозка британских осужденных постепенно прекратилась между тысяча восемьсот сороковым и тысяча восемьсот шестьдесят восьмым годом.
В конце пятидесятых годов девятнадцатого века около двух процентов населения Британии и Ирландии эмигрировало в Австралию.
Австралия имеет одну из самых активных в мире иммиграционных программ.
Австралийская культура по большей части заимствована из европейской культуры.
PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Very often New Zealand culture is compared to the culture of Australia. Indeed, two nations have much in common. The Australian Constitution allows New Zealand to join Australia as its seventh state. While there is no prospect of political union now, there is still a great deal of similarity between the two cultures, with the differences often only obvious to Australians and New Zealanders. However, if you want to insult one of the nations, all you have to do is to forget that Australia and New Zealand are two different countries and mix them up! People of both countries are proud of their cultural heritage and expect you to know the basic facts about it. It is surprising how different two countries that share a language and a monarch can be!
First of all, people created different nicknames to refer to their people and cultures. Australians like to call themselves Aussies. The word kiwi was adopted by New Zealanders as a nickname for themselves and as an adjective for their culture. It originates from kiwi — the Maori word for flightless birds living in New Zealand.
There are serious psychological differences between two peoples. New Zealanders see Australians as loud and rude while Australians laugh at New Zealanders for their closer relationship with 'Mother England'. These differences and attitudes of two nations are based on their historical origin. Australia's European population came on the island dragging chains and balls. Australia began in the 1700's as a British penal colony. New Zealand was never used as a prison.
The two countries treated their native population in very different ways. In New Zealand, the Maories still occupy the substantial amount of the country's good land. Maori words entered the English language. About 10% of New Zealanders are Maori. Australia has been far less friendly for its indigenous population. The aborigine population makes up 2.2% of the population, according to the 2001 Census.
There are other differences. New Zealand has refused to become involved with nuclear weaponry and is declaring itself as a nuclear free zone. New Zealand prohibits ships from entering its ports if they are carrying nuclear arms. Since US won't confirm which of its ships have these arms, New Zealand had to ban all US military ships. This resulted in the suspension of the New Zealand and US military treaty.