Файл: English-speaking countries I,II.doc

Canada and the United Kingdom continue to work together through many organizations such as the Commonwealth, G-8, and NATO. The two countries share the same head of state, and have among the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world. _____________(7). The United Kingdom is Canada’s third largest trading partner and is the second largest source of tourists visiting Canada. A variety of close working partnerships in trade, economic, legal, security, and military matters Canadian government share with the U.S. Canadian and American politics place similar priorities on balanced budgets, tax cuts, and free trade.

Due to its colonial past, Canadian culture has historically been heavily influenced by British and French cultures and traditions. From as early the 1500s,___________________(8). During their colonization of Canada, settlers created a folklore about the land around them. Canadian culture has developed unique characteristics. Canadian identity refers to the set of characteristics and symbols that many Canadians regard as expressing their unique place and role in the world. Various tribes created unique styles of artifacts such as weaved baskets, painted pictures, and carved sculptures of animals. ___________________(9). The emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is the inukshuk, a stack of rocks in human form that is a part of Inuit culture. In more modern times, Canadian culture is now greatly influenced by American culture, due to the migration of people, ideas, and capital. However, in recent years, ___________(10).

1. …an Italian in the service of Henry VII of England…

2. …in what is now Nova Scotia…

3. …because of the valuable fisheries and fur trade…

4. …Canada was taken for…

5. European explorers, traders, and fishermen from England, Ireland and France helped form the basis of Canadian culture.

6. They still share many of the same customs, values, and traditions.

7. England extended its conquest…

8. Much of this artistic legacy remains celebrated in Canada to this day.

9. …mainly the Inuit (Eskimo)…

10. Canada has increasingly distinguished itself from the U.S.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Ex. 3. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the main periods in Canadian history?

2. What features has Canada in common with different countries of the world? Why?

3. What unique characteristics has Canada developed?

Ex. 4. Scan the text and say what happened in the years given below.

The 1500s; 1534; 1604; 1608; 1670; 1713; 1756–1763; 1759; 1763, 2010.

Ex. 5. Scan the text and say who these people were and what they are famous for. Useful language: 1) X was….; 2) It was Y who… .

John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Henry VII, General James Wolfe, General Louis Montcalm.

VOCABULARY

Ex. 6. Using the dictionary, give the Russian equivalents to the following words and expressions.

A) To share a common history, inhabitants, native Indian peoples, to reach the land, to be taken for France, to extend its conquest, to win a victory over, explorers, traders, fishermen, settlers, to be influenced by, customs, values, the second largest source of, to place similar priorities on, to distinguish itself from, identity, artistic legacy, artifacts, weaved baskets, painted pictures, carved sculptures of animals, the inukshuk., tribes.

B) the Inuit (Eskimo), Port Royal, the English Hudson's Bay Company, the Seven Years' War,The Treaty of Paris, the Commonwealth, G-8, NATO, The United Kingdom, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

FOLLOW UP

Ex. 7. Make up 5-7 questions about the Canadian history and culture and address them to your group mates.

Ex. 8. Do you know how the Canadian flag looks like? Prepare a short report about the national flag of Canada.

Ex. 9. What Canadian scientists, politicians, writers, poets, artists, actors or singers do you know? Prepare a report about 3-4 famous people of this country.

Ex. 10. Tell the class what you’ve leant about Canadian history, culture and people.

UNIT 3

WARM UP

Ex. 1. What words do you associate with Australia?

READING

Ex. 2. Read the following text and say what new facts you have learnt about Australia:

A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF AUSTRALIA

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent (the world's smallest), the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The population is 22 million, with approximately 60% concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory.

Australia is a developed country, with a prosperous multicultural society and ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance such as human development, quality of life, health care, life expectancy, public education, economic freedom and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. It is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, OECD, ANZUS, APEC, South Pacific Forum and the World Trade Organization.

History

The name Australia is derived from the Latin australis, meaning "southern". Human habitation of Australia is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago possibly with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now Southeast Asia. These first Australians may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians.

The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland belongs to the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in early 1606. During the 17th century the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called New Holland but made no attempt at settlement. In 1770 James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. Cook's discoveries prepared the way for establishment of a new penal colony. The British Crown Colony of New South Wales began a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip on 26 January 1788. This date was later to become Australia's national day, Australia Day.

Separate colonies were created from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia. South Australia was founded as a "free province"—that is, it was never a penal colony. Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free" but later accepted transported convicts. The transportation of convicts to the colony of New South Wales ceased in 1848 after a campaign by the settlers.

A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, and the Eureka Stockade rebellion against mining licence fees in 1854 was an early expression of civil disobedience. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government, managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire. The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs, defense, and international shipping. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, consultation, and voting. The Commonwealth of Australia was born and it became a dominion of the British Empire in 1907. The Federal Capital Territory (later renamed the Australian Capital Territory) was formed from a part of New South Wales in 1911 to provide a location for the proposed new federal capital of Canberra. (Melbourne was the temporary seat of government from 1901 to 1927, while Canberra was being constructed.) The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the South Australian government to the Commonwealth in 1911.

In 1914 Australia joined Britain in fighting World War I, with support from both the outgoing Liberal Party and the incoming Labor Party. The Australians took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front.

Britain's Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and the UK. The shock of the UK's defeat in Asia in 1942 and the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the United States as a new ally and protector. Since 1951, Australia has been a formal military ally of the US, under the ANZUS treaty. After World War II, Australia encouraged immigration from Europe; since the 1970s and the abolition of the White Australia policy, immigration from Asia and elsewhere was also encouraged. As a result, Australia's demography, culture, and self-image have been transformed. The final constitutional ties between Australia and the UK were severed with the passing of the Australia Act 1986, ending any British role in the government of the Australian States, and ending judicial appeals to the UK Privy Council. At the 1999 referendum, 54% of Australian voters rejected a proposal to become a republic with a president appointed by two-thirds vote of both houses of the Australian Parliament. Since the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, there has been an increasing focus on the expansion of ties with other Pacific Rim nations while maintaining close ties with Australia's traditional allies and trading partners.

Politics

The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional democracy based on a federal division of powers. The form of government used in Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General at federal level and by the Governors at state level. Although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to the Governor-General, these are normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister.

There are three branches of government:

• The legislature: the Commonwealth Parliament, comprising the Queen, the Senate, and the House of Representatives; the Queen is represented by the Governor-General, who by convention acts on the advice of his or her Ministers.

• The executive: the Federal Executive Council (the Governor-General as advised by the Executive Councillors); in practice, the councillors are the Prime Minister and Ministers of State.

• The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Ex. 3. Answer the following questions:

1. Where did the first inhabitants of Australia come from?

2. What is the origin of the name “Australia”?

3. How did Australia happen to become part of the British Empire?

4. How do you understand the term “penal colony”?

5. When and why did Australia drift away from the UK under the protection of the USA?

6. What was the Australian immigration policy like in the 2^nd half of the 20^th century?

7. Describe the Australian political system.

VOCABULARY

Ex. 4. Find the English equivalents for the following:

Предки, нанести на карту, осужденные (каторжники), восстание, сохранять контроль над, юридическая сила (конституционность закона), вторжение,

военный союзник, договор (международный), отвергнуть предложение, разделение властей, исполнительная власть

FOLLOW UP

Ex. 5. Question for discussion

Consider the reasons why Britain adopted a policy of sending convicts away from its territory. Why, beginning with the late 18^th century, did it choose to transport convicts as far away as Australia and not to any other colony in the empire?

UNIT 4

WARM UP

Ex. 1. What do you know about aborigines in Australia?

READING

Ex. 2. Read the following text and match the paragraphs with the titles:

1. Life

2. Appearance, looks

3. The immigration

4. Why the Aborigines seem to look primitive

5. Social organization

6. Way of life: Childhood

7. Family life and marriages

8. Religion

9. The History went on

10. The wiping out

11. How the Aborigines get grown-up

Australian aborigines

A. The Aborigines have the longest cultural history in the world, with origins dating back to the last Ice Age. The first humans traveled across the sea from Indonesia over a land bridge to Australia and Tasmania, about 70,000 years ago. The next immigration followed 20,000 years later. The members of this group which had spread over the western part of Australia are the Aborigines' ancestors. The whole continent was colonized within a few thousand years. When the Europeans came to Australia in the 18^th century, they found about 750,000 "primitive" natives, as they called them, who seemed to live there as in the Stone Age.

B. The Aborigines did not have agriculture and did not learn how to tame animals. They therefore had to live from what nature gave them. Hunting was therefore the only thing which they could do to get food. The men hunted animals such as kangaroos, snakes and emus. The women caught smaller animals and picked fruits, honey and seeds. They dug with graving tools for edible roots. The Aborigines had to walk around very much. Therefore they only carried the items they really needed with them: e. g. a spear, a boomerang, a wooden shield, a bag, wooden bowls, grindstones, graving tools and their cult objects (for example their famous paintings on barks).

C. Approximately 500 various tribes existed. Each had their own territory, dialect or language. The leadership, if we can talk of a leadership, consisted of some of the oldest men of the tribe. When the Europeans came they could not find any uniform language, because after the immigration the Aborigines dispersed very much.

D. Their appearance varies within the different tribes. Generally they have a small figure and long thin legs. The skin is brown and different from Blacks' and Indonesians'. The head is small, the face is flat and the noses are wide. The hair is developed on all parts of the body. On the head it is long, black and wavy.

E. Their sophisticated view of life and their religious philosophy is not real primitive. There are other reasons, why the Aborigines live so close to nature. The most important reason may be that the Australian native sees nature as a process of spiritual power from their forefathers, who walked over the same paths and ground as the Aborigines today. It is therefore not allowed to interfere with sowing or plants.

F. The Aborigines say it had been the "Creation Ancestors" (animal and human) who created the landscape and the first people. When these creatures disappeared, they left their spirits in the mountains and rocks. The laws are for the Aborigines made by the Creation Ancestors. They turned animals or plants, which did not obey that law, into stones. The hills and mountains were made in that way. Some plants and animals were rewarded for obeying the laws and were made into people. Specific traditions, rituals, laws and art link the people of each clan to the land they occupy. All clans have places to which their spirits return when they die. The Aborigines believe that to destroy or damage a sacred site threatens not only the living but also the spiritual inhabitants of the land.

G. When a mother gives birth to her baby, the father is not allowed to be there. In some tribes, the father asks a "message stick" for the sex of the baby. If the stick is long, it is a boy and if it is short, it is a girl. A baby does not get its name until it is one year old. Before the naming the Aborigines say the baby is not a real person.

H. The boys and girls became men and women between the age of 10 and 15. There is a special ceremony called "initiation." After the girls' ceremony, they are women and therefore ready to get married. One tribe says that when the boys' beards begin to grow, it is yet time for the initiation. His body is painted with earth colours and he must dance around a fire. Then the men circumcise him, break him a teeth with a stone and he gets deep cuts on his chest, back, arms and legs. They put some ash on the wounds, in order that the wounds begin to swell. If there are scars, this is the symbol that he now belongs to the tribe. In the end, the young man must drink blood from the oldest man of the tribe. This is the ceremony of "blood brotherhood."

I. The western social structure, with the just-as-you-like-choice of your marriage-partner looks for the Aborigines very primitive. Marriage is more than a contract between parts of different tribes for the Aborigines. A man must choose a woman from another tribe. The daughter of one of the brothers of the mother is preferred in most of the cases. Marriage and relationship are a matter of various rights and commitments. One must obey complicated rules of etiquette after the degree of relationship. A woman usually has more than one husband. The first one is sometimes 30 years older than herself. She is allowed to choose her next husbands on her own after the first. A woman's status is improved by having many children. If she was unable to have any children, she was given a child. The man's status grows too, if he has many wives and children.

J. There were approximately 750000 Aborigines when Sydney was first settled by the British. The British thought they could take away the land from the natives, because they saw no system of government, no commerce or permanent settlements and no evidence of landownership. Many Aborigines were driven away from their land by force and a large number got numerous diseases. The balance between nature and the people was broken down, because many bought alcohol and drugs from the settlers. Sheep and cattle destroyed waterholes and many species disappeared. Whole tribes were massacred when the Aborigines fought back. The survivors were put into reservations and church missions. Many women were raped. Some Europeans saw the Aborigines as wild animals and hunting them was a kind of sport. Full-blood Aborigines in Tasmania were therefore wiped out. There were only 61,000 left in the early thirties of the 20th century.

K. The scientific interest for the Aborigines came. By the early 1900s, the British wanted to segregate and "protect" the Aboriginal people. Employment and property rights were restricted and the state removed children from mothers if the father was non-Aboriginal. The positive side was that full-blood Aborigines living in reservations were protected in some way. The assimilation policy of the 1960s completely controlled the peoples' life. They decided where the Aborigines could live and whom they could marry. The Aborigines were forced to adapt the European culture. The Aborigines became better educated and more organized after WW II. Citizenship was bestowed in 1967. The assimilation policy was replaced by policy of self-determination in 1972.Today 200,000 Aborigines live in Australia. They had begun to forget their traditions and culture. Many had become sick and had begun to fight one another, but recent laws made it possible to regain there land. The problems disappeared when they came back to their land and lived there their traditional way of life. They live like before on some of these outstations: The Aborigines collect berries and seeds and they hunt kangaroos and other animals. The children learn more about their culture and language as well as English and mathematics. They are proud of their culture and their life, although they live in very poor houses and water is far away.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Ex. 3. Answer the following questions:

1. Why is the aboriginal lifestyle called “primitive”? Do you think this is an appropriate term?

2. Describe the aboriginal way of obtaining food, their looks and social structure.

3. What are the aboriginal perceptions of nature and the Creation of the World?

4. What is involved in the “initiation” ceremony? Why does it have so much importance for any aboriginal boy and girl?

5. How are aboriginal marriage traditions different from those in the western culture?

6. What factors contributed to the wiping out of the Aborigines?

7. How has the state policy towards the Aborigines changed over the years?

VOCABULARY

Ex. 3. Find the Russian equivalents for the following:

Ice Age, to tame animals, edible, cult objects, sophisticated, forefather, to obey the law, sacred site, complicated rules of etiquette, landownership, massacre, survivor

FOLLOW UP

Ex. 5. Questions for discussion:

1. Do you think it is important to keep old cultural traditions alive in the modern globalized world? Why or why not?

2. Compare the current state of the Aborigines in Australia with that of the Native Americans in the USA. What is your opinion on the “reservation” policy? Has it delivered the final blow at the natives or has it been the last resort in an attempt to preserve the traditional lifestyle?

UNIT 5

WARM UP

Ex. 1. What words do you associate with New Zealand?

READING

Ex. 2. Read the following text and say what it adds to your knowledge:

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean consisting of two main landmasses (commonly called the North Island and the South Island), and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori language name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud. The Realm of New Zealand also includes the Cook Islands and Niue (self-governing but in free association); Tokelau; and the Ross Dependency (New Zealand's territorial claim in Antarctica).

New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation: it is situated about 2,000 km (1250 miles) southeast of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and its closest neighbours to the north are New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga. During its long isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive fauna dominated by birds, a number of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and the mammals they introduced.

The majority of New Zealand's population is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority. Asians and non-Māori Polynesians are also significant minority groups, especially in urban areas. The most commonly spoken language is English. New Zealand is a developed country in terms of quality of life, life expectancy, literacy, public education, peace, prosperity, economic freedom, ease of doing business, lack of corruption, press freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Its cities also consistently rank among the world's most livable.

Elizabeth II, as the Queen of New Zealand, is the country's head of state and is represented by a ceremonial Governor-General who holds reserve powers. The Queen has no real political influence, and her position is essentially symbolic. Political power is held by the democratically elected Parliament of New Zealand under the leadership of the Prime Minister, who is the head of government.

The first European name for New Zealand was Staten Landt, the name given to it by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European to see the islands. Tasman assumed it was part of a southern continent connected with land discovered in 1615 off the southern tip of South America by Jacob Le Maire, which had been named Staten Landt, meaning "Land of the (Dutch) States-General". The name New Zealand originated with Dutch cartographers, who called the islands Nova Zeelandia, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. No one is certain exactly who first coined the term, but it first appeared in 1645 and may have been the choice of cartographer Johan Blaeu. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.

History

New Zealand is one of the most recently settled major landmasses. The first known settlers were Eastern Polynesians who, according to most researchers, arrived by canoe in about AD 1250–1300. Some researchers have suggested an earlier wave of arrivals dating to as early as AD 50–150; these people then either died out or left the islands. Over the following centuries these settlers developed into a distinct culture now known as Māori.

The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand, they are Polynesian and comprise about 14 percent of the country's population. Maoritanga is the native language which is related to Tahitian and Hawaiian. In 1840 representatives of Britain and Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi. This treaty established British rule, granted the Maori British citizenship, and recognized Maori land rights. Today many of the treaty's provisions are disputed and there is an effort from the New Zealand Government to recompense Maori for land that was illegally confiscated. The present Maori population is around 600,000 or 14% of the population, and the Maori live in all parts of New Zealand, but predominately in the North Island where the climate is warmer.

Maori Traditions

Before the coming of the Pakeha (White Man) to New Zealand, all literature in Maori was orally passed onto succeeding generations. This included many legends and waiata (song). The most recognised tradition today is the "Haka" which is a war dance. The Haka was performed before the onset of war by the Maori last century, but has been immortalized by New Zealand's Rugby Team the All Blacks, who perform this dance before every game. The traditional Maori welcome is called a powhiri, this involves a hongi which is a greeting that involves pressing noses as opposed to a kiss. Another prominent feature of Maori culture is the striking tattoos that were worn. Full faced tattoos or "moko", amongst the Maori tribes was predominantly a male activity. Female forms of moko were restricted to the chin area, the upper lip, and the nostrils. Today the Moko still lives on as an increasing number of Maori who are opting to receive their Moko, in an effort to preserve their culture and identity. A traditional form of cooking called a Hangi is a feast cooked in the earth. Stones are heated in a fire in a dug out pit and covered in cabbage leaves or watercress to stop the food from burning. Mutton, pork, chicken, potatoes and Kumera (a sweet potato) are then unusually lowered into the pit in a basket. The food is covered with Mutton cloth or similar and traditionally with flax. Finally earth is placed on top to keep in the steam. The food takes about 3 hours to cook. The Hangi is still popular and is a viable alternative to a weekend barbecue. The unique taste of food cooked in a Hangi can best be described as steamed food with an earthen flavour.