Table Of Content

UPPER LEVEL JENNIFER GASCOIGNE Australia $$ MACMILLAN ---S -/X §t <w*—% ( -§-- -----M---A--C-M---I-L-L--A--N-- -C--U--L-T--U--R-A--L-- -R--E-A-—DE-R--S---------------------------- efTj upper level S’RtV Founding Editor of the Macmillan Readers: John Milne The Macmillan Readers provide a choice of enjoyable reading materials for learners of English. The series is published at six levels - Starter, Beginner, Elementary, Pre-intermediate, Intermediate and Upper. The Macmillan Cultural Readers are a factual strand of the series. Level Control Information, structure and vocabulary are controlled to suit the students’ ability at each level. The number of words at each level: Starter about 300 basic words Beginner about 600 basic words Elementary about 1100 basic words Pre-intermediate about 1400 basic words Intermediate about 1600 basic words Upper about 2200 basic words Vocabulary Some difficult words and phrases in this book are important for understanding the text. Some of these words are explained in the text, some are shown in the pictures and others are marked with a number like this: 3. Phrases are marked withp. Words with a number are explained in the Glossary at the end of the book and phrases are explained on the Useful Phrases page. Answer Keys Answer Keys for the Points For Understanding and Exercises sections can be found at www.macmillanenglish.com/readers. Audio Download There is an audio download available to buy for this title. Visit www.macmillanenglish.com/readers for more information. Contents The Places In The Book 4 Welcome To Australia 6 1 Climate, Landscape and People 8 2 The First People 17 3 Aboriginal Culture 23 4 Making Modern Australia 31 5 Nature and the Environment 40 6 Food Culture 48 7 The Arts 54 8 Sport 61 9 The Big Things of Australia 68 10 Talented Australians 75 Points For Understanding 82 Glossary 86 Useful Phrases 94 Exercises 95 The Places In The Book SOUTHERN OCEAN Population: 23.2 million (Oct 2013) Capital city: Canberra Biggest city: Sydney Land Area: 7.6 million square kilometres Coast: 35,877 kilometres (main island only) Highest Point: Mount Kosciuszko, NSW (2,228 metres) Lowest Point: Lake Eyre, South Australia (-15 metres) Main Language: English CORAL SEA Gold Coast PACIFIC OCEAN sjSydney Caob^rra / Botany Bay AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY \r t nr D T A i) A The Snowy Mountains V 1C 1 U K 1A I^Mount/Kosciuszko TASMAN SEA TASMANIA NEW ZEALAND Hobart ^£f*Port Arthur 5 Welcome to Australia Australia is the sixth largest country in The Australian National the world, and the only one that covers a Flag was chosen by the whole continent. It is very dry and much Australian people in the year of of the centre and the west of the country is national federation1 (1901). Its latest design became official desert, but there are tropical3 rainforests in in 1953. The Union Flag the north and very rich land for farming in represents Australia’s links the south-west and south-east. Many of the to Great Britain. The Southern animal and plant species4 of Australia are Cross (5 stars) represents the not found anywhere else in the world. This southern hemisphere2, and is because the country was isolated5 from the large, white star represents other land masses6 for millions of years, so the states and territories of no new species arrived. The existing species Australia. could not mix with others and so did not change or develop. Between 1788 and 1901 the country was a British colony7. Today Australia is an independent8 federation of six states: Queensland, New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the island of Tasmania, and two territories: Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The largest state, Western Australia, is about the same size as Western Europe. Despite its size, Australia has a small population with most people living in cities on or near the coast. The indigenous9 or native people of Australia, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, arrived from Asia about 50,000 years ago and today they make up nearly 3% of the total population. The rest of the population is a mix of many different cultures, in particular people from the United Kingdom (UK) and other European countries, but also people from North Africa, Vietnam, China and the Middle East. In 2013 four Australian cities were in the Top Ten of the best places to live in the world according to a survey10 done by the American magazine TIME. Melbourne was number one for the third year in a row, Adelaide number six, Sydney number seven and Perth was number nine. 6 Warm-up quiz 1 What is a common name for 6 What was Australia’s most Australia? important product in the a ‘in the middle 19th century? b over there a meat C ‘down under’ b cars C wool 2 Which oceans are to the east and west of Australia? 7 If you were at a Test Match in a the Atlantic and Pacific Adelaide, which sport would b the Pacific and Indian you be watching? C the Indian and Arctic a football b cricket 3 In which Australian city would C surfing you find the famous Opera House? 8 Which of these actresses is a Sydney Australian? b Melbourne a Nicole Kidman C Brisbane b Angelina Jolie C Emma Watson 4 At Christmas time, what season is it in Australia? 9 When did Europeans first begin a winter to live in Australia? b autumn a 1688 C summer b 1788 5 What is a didgeridoo? C 1888 a a type of cake 10 What is a baby kangaroo called? b a musical instrument a a bobby C an insect b ajonny C a joey i Climate, Landscape and People The name Australia comes from the Latin phrase Terra Australis Uluru, the largest rock in the world meaning ‘land of the south’. In the The island continent of Australia 16th century, this was the name given lies between the Indian and Pacific to the unknown continent believed to exist south of the equator. A Oceans in the region of Oceania11 common name you may hear for in the southern hemisphere. It is Australia is ‘down under’. often described as the Earths largest island but smallest continent (the other continents are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica and Europe, in order of size from largest to smallest). It is also the lowest, the flattest and, apart from Antarctica, the driest continent. The country is unique12 and varied in every way - in climate, landscape, people, history, culture and animal and plant life. Climate, Landscape and People Australia’s way of life has traditionally been influenced by European culture, but today Australian society is multicultural: in 2011, about 21% of the population had been born in the UK, 9% in New Zealand, 6% in China, just over 5% in India and 3.5% in Italy More than 85% of Australians live near or on the coast, and 89% of the population live in urban areas (towns or cities), which makes Australia one of the most urbanized countries in the world. Climate About 70% of the country is very dry and nearly 40% of the country is desert. Most of the desert areas are in the centre and in the west. Parts of northern Australia are tropical and have heavy rainfall in the summer, but are dry in the winter. In the south-east and the south-west corners the climate is temperate13. As a result, most of the biggest cities are found there. Snow in Australia is rare, but there are places for skiing in the Snowy Mountains region of south-eastern New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria, a few hours from Melbourne and Sydney. The most popular time to ski is late August. Because of the large differences in climate and natural environment, as well as its size and position, Australia is a land of droughts (times when there is no water), floods, fires and tropical storms. Large fires occur somewhere in Australia every month of the year. The frequency of these fires is not just a result of the hot, dry climate but also of the changes in the climate. Wet periods allow plants to grow quickly. In dry times the leaves die and become fuel for fires. Some features14 of the Australian landscape The desert outback IM . . Uluru is about 335 m tall, The outback covers most of the centre 3.6 km long, 1.9 km wide of the country. Few people live there and 9.4 km around the bottom, because life is very difficult. However, one Most of it is underground! of Australia’s most amazing and famous sights is in the outback - Uluru (better known outside Australia as Ayers Rock), the largest rock in the world! It rises like an enormous whale’s15 back from the flat red-soil desert that the Australians call the Red Centre, and is sacred16 to the Aboriginals. 9