The Commonwealth of Australia.

LESSON  3.

Read the text and do the tasks after it.

The Commonwealth of Australia

     The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal state within the Commonwealth of Nations. Its territories are the continent of Australia, the island of Tasmania and a number of smaller islands. It has area of about eight million square kilometres. The Commonwealth of Australia

 The continent of Australia is mostly a great plain with mountains in the east and south-east. The western part of the continent forms a plateau which occupies half of the continent. The Central Lowlands, a great part of which is very dry, lie between the Western Australian plateau and the Eastern Highlands. Through the eastern part of these Central Lowlands run Australia`s greatest rivers, the Murray and Darling. A number of short rivers flow from the Australian Alps and the Blue Mountains into the Pacific Ocean.

    The tropical forests in the north and north-east are displaced by savanna or grassland. In the south-east and on the sides of the mountains there are forests of eucalyptus and other evergreen trees. There are two hot deserts in the central and western parts of the continent. There are many wild animals in Australia. Some of them, such as kangaroo, the dingo, or wild dog, and the koala, are not found in any other country of the world.

Flora and Fauna

Endemic- Эндемический,свойственный данной местности

The kangarro- кенгуру

The koala- коала

The wombat- вомбат(травоядное сумчатое животное)

The echidna-ехидна

The plantypus- утконос

The emu-Эму (страус)

Isolation of the Australian island-continent for 55 million years created a sanctuary for the flora and fauna. Many species of animals and plants are found nowhere else in the world, they are endemics.

    Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo, koala, dingo ( wild dog) , Tasmanian devil, wombats, opossum, spiny anteater , platypus. The koala is one of the most famous and best-loved animals.

Two thirds of Australia’s native mammals are marsupials. Australia’s famous “teddy bear”, the koala is a marsupial too. It lives on eucalyptus leaves. The native marsupials suckle their young in a kind of pocket (called a pouch). A baby kangaroo called a ‘joey’ lives in a pouch on the mother’s stomach for the first eight months of its life.

The bearlike Australian wombat is a marsupial, like the kangaroo. It lives in a burrow and feeds on plants and roots. Sharp teeth and a vicious temper gave the Tasmanian devil its name. It sometimes kills sheep.

The only egg-laying mammals in the world come from Australia and its neighboring island, they are the platypus and echidna.

Some of Australia’s best-known birds are the emu ( which cannot fly) , lyrebird, bower-bird, kookaburra (or laughing jackass), black swan and many varieties of cockatoos and parrots. The emu is a light flightless bird related to the ostrich. The kookaburra’s characteristic laugh is the signal of some radio programs in Australia. Of more than 700 bird species listed in Australia, 400- including the large, flightless emu – are  found nowhere else. Many beautiful Australian birds have unmelodious voices.

Australia’s coastal waters and rivers contain many varieties of fish. Some of Australia’s fauna can be harmful to man. Poisonous snakes include the fearsome tiger snake, brown snake and death adder . Dangerous arachnids include the red-backed spider.

The arrival of the Aborigines about 40,000 years ago did not alter the ecological balance to any great degree, although they did bring with them the dingo. However, the arrival of European man altered millennia of stability within two centuries. He brought with him sheep, rabbits, rats, cats and foxes. Technological changes destroyed the habitat , and the native plants and animals of Australia suffered accordingly.

Though the emu and the kangaroo can be regarded as symbols of Australia there is a less exotic animal which also symbolizes the country. There is a monument to sheep in one of the Australia cities. A few sheep arrived at Botany Bay , on Australia’s east coast, with the first European settlers. Today, in good years, Australia’s sheep population numbers 150 million. So, sheep outnumbers Australia’s 18.3 million population greatly.

Three fourths of these sheep are merinos. Merinos are famous for their fine wool. A merino sheep is literally covered  with a fleecy coat of wool from the tip of his toes to the end of his nose. The other fourth of Australia’s sheep are raised in New South Wales. Most of the remainder are found on stations in southern Queensland, Victoria and coastal South Australia and Western Australia.

   Australia is famous for its sheep. The great sheep-farms are called sheep stations. They are found in many parts of the country. Cattle-farming is also developed in the Northern Territory, in some parts of Western Australia, along the east coast and in the south.

There are animal and bird emblems for Australian states and territories . They are ^ platypus and kookaburra for New South Wales , lead beater’s possum and helmeted honeyeater for Victoria , koala for Queensland, hairy-nosed wombat and piping shrike for South Australia, numb at and black swan for Western Australia. Unofficial faunal emblems for Australia are the red kangaroo and emu.

Task 1.

Read the text again . Write down a plan of the text.

Task 2

Saltwater crocodiles live in Australia, India and Asia. They live in rivers and places near the sea. They can adapt to 1__________(differ) types of water. They are very good 2__________(swim), and can swim distances of 1,000 kilometers in the sea. Saltwater crocodiles are 3__________(usual) very big–between three and five meters long. Not all types of crocodiles are 4__________(danger), but saltwater crocodiles attack humans.

Every year they kill one or two people.

Task 3.

1.     What is the symbol of Australia?

2.      Name the animals living only in Australia.

3.     What is the most exotic animal from your point of view?

4.     Name the birds of Australia.

5.     What is the name of the animal that kills sheep?

6.