Pupil 1: Australia is called the land down under because it is below the equator. It is one of the seven continents of the world. It is also a country.
Pupil 2: Australia is made up of six states and two territories. It is about the size of the United States (not including Alaska.) 18.3 million people live there, about as many people as in New York. Canberra is the capital of Australia.
Pupil 3:Captain James Cook claimed Australia for England in 1770. It was first used as a prison colony by the English. The first free settlers landed in Sydney in 1793. Today Sydney is Australia's largest city. The Sydney Opera House is one of the most unique buildings in the world.
Pupil 4: The first people to live in Australia were aborigines. Aboriginal means first. They were like our Native Americans. Today there are still aborigines in Australia. Some live on reservations, some live on ranches (called stations or property) or in cities. You can see some examples of their beautiful art if you visit Australia.
The aborigines love music. They sing and play their instruments and dance. When they dance they put colours on their faces, arms and legs.
Танец: Аборигены.
Pupil 5: The middle part of the country is called the outback. The outback does not get very much rain and is very dry. Not very many people live in the outback.
Pupil 6: In the outback, there are some sheep and cattle ranches (property.) There are about ten times more sheep than people in Australia. Sheep are raised for wool and for meat. In Australia what Americans call a ranch is known as a station. Stations are very big. Some stations are so big they have to use planes to keep track of the animals.
Pupil 7: There are not many schools in the outback. Children who live on stations and can not get to school use a two way radio to hear their teachers' lessons.
Pupil 8: The most famous animals in Australia are marsupials. A marsupial is a mammal that has a pouch to carry its young. Some kangaroos can jump 30 feet. The koala sometimes stays in the same tree for days and is endangered.
Kangaroo
Pupil 9: There are many other interesting animals in Australia. When the kookaburra calls, it sounds like a laugh.
Duck-billed Platypus
Pupil 10: Australian song: Kookaburra.
Kookaburra sits on an old gum tree,
Merry, merry king on the bush is he.
Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra,
Gay your life must be.
Pupil 11: Australia's national sport is Cricket. Cricket is a little bit like our baseball but it is played with eleven players and wickets. Australia won the Cricket World Cup in 1999 and 2003. Another favorite sport in Australia is Australian Rules Football. It is a little bit like soccer and rugby. Rugby and soccer are also extremely popular. Australia is also famous for the boomerang. The aborigines used the boomerang as a weapon. Today, children use it as a toy.
Pupil 12: Australia is one of three countries of the world to have competed at every modern Olympic Games since 1896.
Australia staged the 1956 Olympic Games in 2000.
Pupil 13: Food: Among very popular products in Australia is vegemite. It is considered very healthy. Vegemite is a vegetable extract used as a spread. It is very salty.
What’s in a name?
Vegemite almost didn’t survive in the early days because its arch rival Marmite was already well accepted by Australians. This thick, dark, English spread must have given our Fred some sleepless nights. In fact, things got so bad that he decided to relaunch Vegemite as “Parwill”. What? “If Marmite… then Parwill”. Get it? The name was tried in Queensland and no one there got it. So it was back to Vegemite for Fred.
Pupil 14: The pav. It is a cake named in honour of the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, which originated in Australia.
Pupil 15: The flag of Australia is the only one to fly over a whole continent. The small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the large seven- pointed star represents the six states and the Territories, and the small stars form the Southern Cross- a prominent feature of the southern hemisphere night sky.
Pupil 16: A distinctive Australia flora and fauna is reflected in the country’s coat-of-arms by the symbols of Australia’s endemic animals; kangaroo and emu and a twig of wattle (a kind of acacia).
Australia officially adopted green and gold as its national colours in 1984.
Pupil 17: The Australia national anthem was adopted in the 1970ties. It is Advance Australia Fair/4/.
The national anthem is used on all official and ceremonial occasions. The vice-regal salute for the Governor-general consists of the first bars and the last four bars of Advance Australia Fair.
The royal anthem God save the Queen is used only in the presence of the Queen or a member of the royal family on appropriate formal occasions.
However, the popular song, Waltzing Matilda, is often played at international gatherings. It is widely thought to be the Australian anthem.
The Australia national anthem (song)
Australia all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.