Prime Time 5, Transition, Coursebook mit Audio-CD

9 G’day from down under Reading: Australia – How we see ourselves a) Read the text about Australia. b) What is the function of the highlighted words? c) Rephrase these sentences without using these words. 1 G’day! Let me tell you something about my country, Australia. It’s the smallest continent and at the same time the largest island in the world. We once were a British colony and the Queen is still our head of state, but Australia is now independent. If you look closely at our ¬ag you can see a small Union Jack next to a group of stars called the Southern Cross. We also drive on the leŒ like the good old Brits. Even though about 90% of Australians are from families that once came from Europe, most immigrants who come today are from Asia and the Paci¡c. Lots of visitors to Australia love the endlessness of the hot and dry outback, where you can drive for days without seeing another car. In some parts of the outback there is sometimes no rain for months and even years, and bush ¡res are oŒen a big problem. But people are sometimes surprised to see just how much of the country is covered by rainforests, too. However, deserts and rainforests aren’t the best places for settlement. at’s why most people live on or near the coasts, and that’s where the big cities have grown. Now 85% of us Aussies live in cities. Not many people choose to live in the outback, apart from those who work there as farmers and, of course, Australia’s indigenous population, the 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 Grammar For more details see  G 10 Defining and non-defining relative clauses • A defining relative clause gives necessary information . Without it you don’t know who or what is being talked about. • A non-defining relative clause gives extra information about someone or something. • When a relative pronoun is followed by a subject and verb, you can leave it out and make a contact clause: Koalas are the animals which/that I like best. G Aboriginals. ese Australians had already been living on the continent and developing their unique culture for over 40,000 years before the British began settling here in 1788. Sadly, there was systematic killing of Aboriginals, and forced relocation tore families apart. During the 19 th century, Aboriginal culture was almost destroyed. Relations have improved a lot over the past years, and in 2008 the Australian government apologised to the Aboriginals for past crimes. For beach fans like me, Australia’s the perfect place with its warm climate and beautiful coasts! But there are huge holes in the ozone layer which mean a much higher risk of getting skin cancer. So at the beach, people wear more clothes than you would ever see on European beaches. Australia has been a continent for 50 million years, completely separated from the rest of the world, so it’s no wonder that Australia’s animal world has become unique. Platypuses, koalas and kangaroos (which we call roos) are just a few of the animals you can only ¡nd “down under”. Some of the world’s most dangerous animals can be found in Australia, too. You would not believe it, but each year many more Australians are killed by the red-back spiders that live in the cities than by crocodiles or sharks! 126 Australia Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv