THIS IS AUSTRALIA:澳大利亚(英语国家文化与生活4)(出国留学英文版)(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：凯伦•史密斯

出版社：天津人民出版社

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THIS IS AUSTRALIA:澳大利亚(英语国家文化与生活4)(出国留学英文版)试读：

“Nín hăo! ”

Or as we say in here in Australia —“G' Day”

Welcome to this unique guide to the “Land Down Under” for Chinese learners of English.

In these pages, you will learn not only the history, culture and language of Australia, but also intriguing details about the people and places there of this ancient land. You will be so carried away by reading about this fascinating country that you will almost forget you are practising your language skills.

Just in case you need some help… each chapter has vocabulary highlighted in bold and a list at the end of the chapter with their meanings. Turn there now if you like, to look up the meaning of the words that are bolded in this introduction.

Practice activities, comprehension exercises and answers are at the end of each chapter. These activities are designed to reinforce the practical information, help you practice your English language skills and enhance your cultural understanding. That way you can show your teachers and parents that you really are doing your homework!

So… let' s find out what you already know about Australia. Read the information below and say whether the statements are true or false. You will fi nd the answers as you read.

1. Australia is the largest island in the world. T/F

2. It never snows in Australia. T/F

3. The island of Tasmania is part of Australia. T/F

4. Australians call the toilet the “loo”. T/F

5. The Harbour Bridge is in Melbourne. T/F

6. Wild Australian dogs are called desert foxes. T/F

7. Christmas in Australia is in summer. T/FWelcome to the Land Down Under

G' Day mate. How ya goin?

All over Australia, people will greet you this way. Those who don' t know you may off er their right hand to shake. Australians who do know you will likely kiss you on either cheek when they meet up with you. Australians are friendly and casual and they love to have fun. Even when they have not met you before, they might talk to you exactly the same way they would talk to one of their friends. “Aussies” are not often formal and they call most males “mate” and most females “Sheila”.

Although English is the main language in Australia, there are over 200 other languages spoken there including Cantonese and Mandarin.

Both young and old Australians use many slang words in their everyday speech. They call Australia “Oz” and they say that they live “down under.” They use the word “loo” instead of toilet. When they want to know if you would like help they will ask: “You right? ” If they expect to see you later in the afternoon they' ll say: “See ya this arvo.”

When an Aussie is talking to you, it can seem like they are speaking a language other than English. When they thank you they might say“Cheers.” When they agree with something you have said they may say:“Fair Dinkum” or “Ya Reckon? ”

As if that weren' t enough, Australians are well-known for shortening words and ending them with an “o” or an “ie” like aggro to mean aggravated; smoko a coffee or cigarette break; stubbie a bottle of beer and sunnies which are sunglasses.

No worries (there' s no problem). Grab yourself a cuppa (cup of tea) and a bikkie (a biscuit), settle in under the doona (blanket) and read on. With a bit of hard yakka (hard work) you' ll soon know heaps (a lot) about Australia and be able to talk like a ripper (great) Australian!Geography of AustraliaDID YOU KNOW?

Australia is underpopulated. There is one square kilometre of land for every three people who call Australia home.

Australia is the world' s oldest landmass. It is known as the island continent. It is the largest island and the sixth largest country in the world. (China is the fourth largest country). It has a very small population for its size - just 24 million people live there. Because of that, Australia is almost the least densely populated country in the world. China has 146 people per square kilometre of land while Australia has just three. However, most Australians live within 100 km of the coast making it one of the world' s most urbanized populations. In fact, almost all Australians live in the eastern and southern areas of the country.

Unlike China, Australia has multiple time zones. In the winter, when it is 8:00 am in Perth, in Western Australia, it is 11:00 am on the east side of the country, in Sydney. It is easy to see that Tasmania, the large island in the south, is part of Australia, but there are also more than 8,000 islands in the surrounding oceans which make up the country. Lord Howe Island even has its own time zone which is 30 minutes ahead of mainland Australia. Some states put their clocks forward one hour in October each year and back again in April to get more daylight during times that people are awake.

And that' s not all. Because Australia is in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are the opposite of those in China. Australians celebrate the New Year in the summer and the hottest month is January. Is your favourite season spring when the Magnolia trees are in bloom? Don' t head to Australia in May to see them. They' ll all be dying off at the end of autumn there. Go in October instead. People who live in the northern hemisphere often say Australia is the upside down country because the seasons are reversed. The Australian seasons are:

Summer: December to February

Autumn: March to May

Winter: June to August

Spring: September to November

Like all countries, Australia gets most of its rain in spring. When you think of dry countries with deserts, Australia is not likely to be the first one that comes to mind. Probably you' ve seen lots of photos of Australians surfing, sailing and swimming. However, Australia has ten deserts in total some of which get less than 10 cm of rain each year. This means that 90% of the land is uninhabitable. The deserts are mostly located in the centre of the country which accounts for the number of people who live near the coast. One-third of the entire country receives little or no rain every year, making it the driest continent in the world next to Antarctica.

Some people think that because Australia is so dry it never snows there. That is true in the tropical parts of the country where they have a wet and dry season and temperatures average about 20 degrees. It is also true in the deserts which can be as hot as 40 degrees during the day. However, Australia has some mountainous areas where snow falls in winter.

The Australian Alps, in the southeastern part of the country, is the highest mountain range in Australia. More snow falls here every year than in Switzerland and there are many downhill ski resorts. The Snowy Mountains is a popular place to downhill ski. Many people also like to head to the national parks or to Tasmania to cross country ski.

Although Australia is a dry country, it is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans. All of Australia' s capital cities, except Canberra, are located on the coast. The country is known for many remarkable buildings and natural places, like the Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef, but probably it is best known for its unique animals.Australian AnimalsDID YOU KNOW?

Because Australia is an island, almost all of the native animals that live there are not found anywhere else in the world.

Australian kangaroos have powerful legs which they sometimes use in a fight. They can hop very fast on two legs and use their strength to jump up to three times their height. Baby kangaroos are called joeys and they can be as small as a grain of rice when they are born. They live in their mother' s pouch which is like a pocket on the front of her body. They stay living and travelling in their mother' s pouch until they are two or more years old.

Kangaroos can' t walk backwards which is why they are a symbol on the Australian coat of arms. Emus are the other Australian animal on the coat of arms because they can' t walk backwards either. They are good symbols for a country that wants to progress.

When the first Europeans saw koalas they thought they were bears. Today, some people still call them koala bears. Like kangaroos, koalas have pouches where their babies stay until they are old enough to live in trees. Although koalas eat only the leaves of eucalyptus trees, those leaves are actually poisonous. Koalas have a bacteria in their stomachs that help them digest the poison without causing them any danger. The leaves do not give koalas much energy so they are often tired. Koalas sleep up to 20 hours every day.

While koalas sleep most of their lives, the Great White Shark found in the oceans of Australia never sleeps. Sharks need to move constantly to keep water fl owing over their gills, so they don' t suff ocate. They like to swim near the bottom of the ocean. When they see something they want to eat, they quickly swim up and attack their prey from the bottom. Sharks have an excellent sense of smell. They can detect a single drop of blood in an Olympic sized pool of water. They use this ability to locate food to eat.

Everyone is aware that sharks are dangerous,, but not many peoplle know that the cute platypus can also kill. The males have venom that is powerful enough to kill a small animal like a dog, but not a human. The pllatypus llooks lliike a miixture off severall aniimalls.. It has webbed feet to help it swim; a fl at tail where it stores fat and a mouth covered with a bill. The first time a British scientist saw a platypus he thought it was a joke. He thought someone had sewn a duck' s bill onto a rat.

Dingoes are the wild dogs found in Australia. They are clever and they can open door handles with their paws. Most people think dingoes are native to Australia, but they were actually brought to the country from Asia, probably by traders who kept them as pets. Once they were set free in Australia, they became wild and their numbers grew. Dingoes began to kill farm animals to eat, especially sheep, so in 1885, a dingo fence was built to keep them out of the southeastern part of the country. It is the longest fence in the world, stretching 5,614 kilometres from Jimbour on the east coast to Nundoo on the south.

There are nearly 900 different types of birds in Australia. Many people' s favourite is the Kookaburra because of its bird call. Anyone who has heard it will not forget it because it sounds just like human laughter. Kookaburras call to other birds to defend their territory, find a mate or warn other birds about a predator in the area. They are social birds and will even take food out of your hand. Watch out, though. They have been known to swoop down and grab the meat right off of the barbeque (BBQ).Australian IconsDID YOU KNOW?

When something becomes so popular that people all over the world know it by sight, it becomes an icon.

More than only animals and language, Australia has many unique icons that are recognized all over the world. When people see these icons they associate them with Australia. The Sydney Opera House is one of these. It is one of the most distinctive buildings in the world.

The roof of the Sydney Opera House is covered in more than one million white tiles. They are designed to look like the sails of a ship. The site of the Opera House is so large that eight Boeing 747 airplanes could fi t there. Inside are six venues where visitors can listen to music or watch a play or a dance performance. There is even an outdoor stage which is possibly the Opera House' s most spectacular performance space with its views of the harbour and city.

Sydney is also known for Harbour Bridge. It is the largest steel arch bridge in the world, but not the longest. The bridge is 1,149 metres long and has 6 million rivets holding it together. Before opening the bridge in 1932, its strength was tested by placing 96 steam engines on it. The bridge is painted every five years or more to stop it from rusting, and 272,000 litres of paint is needed to complete the entire bridge. Australians have nicknamed the bridge “the coat hanger” because of its shape.

It was once called Ayers Rock, but Uluru is its Aboriginal and official name. The rock is 600 million years old and sits almost in the very centre of Australia. Uluru is 348 metres high and although it was once very popular to climb up it, the Aboriginal people of Australia believe Uluru to be sacred and have asked people to stop climbing on it out of respect for their beliefs.

Many Australians identify with the swagman and his image is another icon. He wears a hat that is often seen on men in the bush. He carries a billy can to boil water for his tea and he slings his bed rolled up into a swag on his back. Swagmen once walked from farm to farm looking for work and sleeping outside. The most recognized Australian song, Waltzing Matilda, is about a swagman.“Once a jolly swagman, camped by a billabong, under the shade of a coolabah tree. He sang as he watched and waited ' til his billy boiled...”Reading GuideI. Word ListsII. Answers to the quiz

1. Australia is the largest island in the world. True

2. It never snows in Australia. False

3. The island of Tasmania is part of Australia. True

4. Australians call the toilet the “loo”. True

5. The Harbour Bridge is in Melbourne. False

6. Wild Australian dogs are called desert foxes. False

7. Christmas in Australia is in summer. TrueIII. Comprehension Questions—Each of the sentences below is incorrect. Can you detect the problems? Find the information in your reading and change the sentence so it is correct.E.G. Australians who don' t know you will kiss you on your cheek to greet you. ( X )

Australians who do know you will kiss you on your cheek to greet you. ( √ )

1. Australians are serious and they work hard.

__________________________________________________________

2. Australians will say “Fair Dinkum” when they are thanking you.

__________________________________________________________

3. Australia is one of the most densely populated countries in the world so it is overpopulated.

__________________________________________________________

4. Australia, like China, has only one time zone.

__________________________________________________________

5. Winter in Australia is from March to May.

__________________________________________________________

6. Because Australia is so dry, 10% of the land is uninhabitable.

__________________________________________________________

7. The Australian Alps are found in the tropical northern part of the country.

__________________________________________________________

8. Kangaroos and koalas cannot walk backwards.

__________________________________________________________

9. Koalas have water in their stomachs to help them digest poisonous eucalyptus leaves.

__________________________________________________________

10. Sharks need to sleep so they don' t suffocate.

_________________________________________________________

11. Platypus venom can kill a small child.

_________________________________________________________

12. The Dingo is a wild dog that is native to Australia.

_________________________________________________________

13. Kookaburras laugh whenever it is about to rain.

_________________________________________________________

14. The roof of the Sydney Opera House looks like a fl ower opening up._________________________________________________________

15. A Swagman is a traveller from another country who sleeps outside.

_________________________________________________________Chapter 2Making History in AustraliaDID YOU KNOW?

Chinese explorers travelled to Australia centuries before any Europeans arrived.

Long before any European people ever saw Australia, indigenous people called Aborigines and Torres Straight Islanders made the country their home. Because these Aboriginal people arrived in Australia as early as 50,000 years ago, it is difficult to say where they first came from or how they got there. It is likely that they were Africans and over many generations they walked through Southeast Asia and into Australia when it was connected by a land bridge.

However, there is an unsolved mystery about the first people to populate the country. In 1974, scientists discovered a man who had been buried up to 60,000 years earlier. They named him Mungo man.

They compared his DNA to 3,500 other people including Asians, Neanderthals, Africans and Aborigines. Mungo man' s DNA was different to the DNA of all other people now living on Earth. Unlike every other human, Mungo man' s ancestors cannot be traced back to any people from Africa in the last 200,000 years. So, not only are Australia' s animals and plants unique, but so are the indigenous people who live there.

About 50,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Australian Aboriginal people settled in the country. They arrived by way of Indonesia, so their first trade experiences were with Indonesians. Later, Chinese sailors and fishermen went to Australia in the 1400s looking for sea-cucumbers. The indigenous people of Australia began to trade with them also.

When European explorers began to look for new land, they sailed around Australia for more than 100 years, sometimes stopping on land to have a look. The British explored a bit of Tasmania, the Dutch sailed their ships through the waters surrounding Australia and the French claimed Western Australia without even stepping onto the land there.

Captain James Cook is given the honour of being the first European to land on Australia' s east coast and to explore it. He arrived in 1770 in Botany Bay in Sydney. He made contact with the Aboriginal people living there, then sailed north along the east coast of the country and claimed everything he discovered along the way as British territory. Eighteen years later, the British returned to colonize Australia which began two hundred years of suff ering for the native people.Aboriginal AustraliansDID YOU KNOW?

The culture of native Australians called the“Dreamtime” is the foundation for aboriginal art, stories and traditions.

Aboriginal Australians are the oldest, surviving culture in the world. For thousands of years, there were three distinct groups of natives who lived in the country. Tasmanian Aborigines who were likely descendants of Africans, lived on that island to the south. The Torres Strait Islanders who lived on the 100 islands of Papua New Guinea and the people who we call Aboriginal Australians that lived on the mainland.

In ancient times, Aboriginal Australians were strongly dependent on the abundance of food on the land and in the water found in the country. They were skilled hunters, gatherers and fishermen. Aboriginal people lived near the water and harvested food from the ocean and the surrounding land. They had no need to travel as there was an abundance of food and the various tribes traded with each other. Indigenous Australians only needed to spend about five hours each day working to care for themselves. Because they had so much leisure time, they were able to develop their traditions. By the time Europeans arrived in Australia, the Aboriginal tribes living there had a rich culture that included customs, laws and spiritual practices that connected them to the land.

Australian aboriginal people called the beginning of the world the Dreamtime. Their beliefs said that their ancestors rose up from below the earth and became all of nature-the animals, water, trees, sky, rocks, etc. Humans were not more important than nature, so they believed they were equal to nature. Their stories, dances, art and songs tell about creation. Many ancient rock carvings and paintings can be found in various places throughout Australia.

Aboriginal music is best known for the didgeridoo which men played in formal ceremonies or social gatherings. The first didgeridoos were made from hollow branches of trees that had been eaten by termites. Some scientists think this is the world' s oldest musical instrument. Many musicians think the didgeridoo is the most difficult instrument to play. It requires circular breathing to make the vibrating, hum noise.The musician must breathe in air at the same time as he pushes air out to make the sound.

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