Find as much information as possible about the wild animals that inhabit Australia. Make a presentation.

Prepare a short report about the importance of animals in our life.

TEXT 9 NEW ZEALAND

 

1. Read the text and point out the most important facts about the geographical position

New Zealand is an island country in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1 600 km southeast of Australia and about 10 500 km southwest of California. New Zealand belongs to a large island group called Polynesia. New Zealand, about 1,250 mi (2,012 km) southeast of Australia, consists of two main islands —the North Island and the South Island — and a number of smaller outlying islands so scattered that they range from the tropical to the Antarctic. The country is the size of Colorado. New Zealand's two main islands are separated by Cook Strait. The North Island (44,281 sq mi; 115,777 sq km) is 515 mi (829 km) long and volcanic in its south-central part. This area contains many hot springs and beautiful geysers. South Island (58,093 sq mi; 151,215 sq km) has the Southern Alps along its west coast, with Mount Cook (12,316 ft; 3754 m) the highest point. Other inhabited islands include Stewart Island, the Chatham Islands, and Great Barrier Island. The largest of the uninhabited outlying islands are the Auckland Islands (234 sq mi; 606 sq km), Campbell Island (44 sq mi; 114 sq km), the Antipodes Islands (24 sq mi; 62 sq km), and the Kermadec Islands (13 sq mi; 34 sq km).

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and Auckland is the largest city. English is the official language of New Zealand and is spoken throughout the country. Many native people speak their own language, Maori, in addition to English.

The country once belonged to the British empire. Today it is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of Britain and a number of its former colonies.

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is the monarch of New Zealand. She appoints a governor general to represent her, but the governor general has little power. The legislation, prime minister, and Cabinet run the national government. Britain gave New Zealand a constitution in 1852, when it was a British colony. But through the years the New Zealand legislature has changed almost all its provisions. Today, the nation has no written constitution.

New Zealand has one of the highest standard of living in the world. For many years, the economy of the country depended largely on agriculture. Today agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries are all important to the economy. New Zealand economy depends on trade with many countries - Australia, Britain, Japan and the United States.

 

2. Pay attention to the marked words and word combinations. Give your versions of translation

 

3. Match the English words to Russian ones:

service industry государственный язык

to appoint селиться

dozen назначать

to lie уровень жизни

manufacturing industry поселенец

governor general законодательная власть

brown-skinned находиться

standard of living положение

legislation представлять

official language с коричневой кожей

to settle дюжина

provision генерал-губернатор

settler потомок

trade обрабатывающая промышленность

to represent сельское хозяйство

agriculture торговля

descendant сфера услуг

 

4. Find the answers to the following questions in the text:

 

1) Where is New Zealand situated?

2) What city is the capital of New Zealand?

3) What languages do people in New Zealand speak?

4) What is the official language in New Zealand?

5) Who is New Zealand's head of state?

6) Who runs the national government?

7) Who were the first people to live in New Zealand?

8) What are the main industries of the country?

 

Finish the sentences.

1) New Zealand lies about…

2) New Zealand belongs to…

3) The largest of the uninhabited outlying islands are…