Text 3. The Strange World of Australian Animals

 

Australia has been called «the land of differences» and «the continent of contrasts». It certainly is both. There are many ways in which it is different from other countries.

Early in the world’s history Australia was separated from the other continents and her animals have developed differently from theirs. Of these, the strangest of all are the water-loving platypus and the echidna. The appearance of the platypus is so unusual that when the skin of one was first sent to England some scientists said that no such animal could possibly exist.

Australia is also the home of the kangaroos. The koala is a tree-loving, comical-looking animal, that lives on the leaves of eucalyptus trees. It will eat nothing more. It usually sleeps during the day.

The dingo, or wild dog, is the only killer among the native animals. You can meet dingoes in many parts of Australia, but most of them now live in mountains or hills. In some places they were a very great danger to sheep and many of them have been killed for that reason.

The native birds of Australia are very interesting. The emu, for example, which, with the kangaroo, is represented on the Australian coat-
of-arms, is the next-tallest bird in the world after the ostrich.

Text 4. New Zealand

 

What is the name of the country which has volcanoes and rivers of ice, deer and sea-elephants? It is New Zealand, called the Land of the Long White Cloud by the Maoris.

It is an island country. It is made up of three islands: the North and South Islands and Steward Island.

New Zealand is an independent state. It has got a total area of
269 000 square kilometres. It is situated to the southeast of Australia. Nearly
3.5 million people live in the country. The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. It has been the capital since 1865. The official language is English.

The climate of New Zealand is wet. There are many mountains in New Zealand. The highest is Mount Cook (12 349 feet). There are many rivers and lakes in the country. The chief rivers are the Waikato and the Wairu.

New Zealand is rich in minerals. There are some important industries in the country, for example, the iron and steel industry. The country has gas and petroleum.

What do the people do? Farm mostly. New Zealand’s climate with rainfalls all year round, is very favourable for diarying, sheep-farming and cattle-farming, as well as growing fruit, vegetables and flowers. Dairy products, meat and wool are the main exports. Also New Zealand exports apples and honey.

You have heard of the country’s native animals. One of them is the kiwi. This interesting bird lives in the wet areas of the thick bush. In the day time the bird does not go out. It comes out only at night to find food. Kiwis cannot fly. Many years ago kiwis were hunted for food. Now the government does not permit the hunting of kiwis. Now the kiwi is the symbol of the New Zealand people. Small children are often called kiwis.

New Zealand has heavy industry. There are many plants in the
country. The paper and rubber industries are developed too.  

There are several big cities such as Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Nelson. Auckland, Dunedin and Wellington are the country’s main ports. Wellington, the capital of the country, is a financial centre too. The city was founded in 1840.

There are several educational and cultural institutions in Wellington. They are the University of New Zealand, Victoria University College and others. Victoria University was established in 1897.

New Zealand is a self-governing state and a member of the Commonwealth. The Governor-General represents the King or Queen of England. The Parliament consists of one House only, the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. There are several political parties in New Zealand. They are: the Labour Party, the National Party, the Party of Socialist Unity and others.

New Zealand is a very interesting and beautiful country.

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