9 Your turn: A talk about Australia Give a three-minute talk about what interests you the most about Australia. Make notes first. Or: You were in Australia and had an adventure. Give a three-minute talk about it. Writing: An e-mail about your holiday On your last holiday you have seen and done a lot of interesting things. After the holiday you write An e-mail to a friend in which you tell him/her about your experiences. In your e-mail you should • describe the place where you spent your holiday (country, location, accommodation, …), • explain to your friend what you did (activities, food, shopping, …), • describe your plans for your next holidays. Write around 200 words. Reading: Surviving the outback Read the text about surviving the outback, then choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) for questions 1–4. Put a cross ( ✘ ) in the correct box. The first one (0) has been done for you. “Mate, if you make a mistake out here, you’re dead,” I am warned by a cowboy called Grinner at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse on the Savannah Way in the north of Queensland. “The heat will suck the life out of you faster than you can suck beer out of a tinnie.” This warning is meant seriously. The Savannah Way is Australia’s most extreme driving adventure, but it can also be one of the most dangerous. At 2,500 miles, it is one of the longest routes in Australia, connecting Cairns in Queensland with Broome in Western Australia on the other side of the continent. The Burke and Wills Roadhouse is a good place to talk about the dangers of the outback where temperatures reach 40°C. It is named after two explorers who died when they tried to cross Australia in 1861. “It is no different today,” said police officer Anne Bryant. “A breakdown or an accident could all cost you your life. It’s not just visitors, it’s people who live here, too. Actually they’re often the ones that get into trouble because they think it’ll never happen to them.” Most of the route is well used and has roadhouses. Drive even ten miles off the main road, however, and travellers risk disappearing in the huge outback. This is what happened to a tourist couple from Europe. They drove into the outback and became trapped when the wheels of their camper van sank into the sand near Lake Eyre. “It seems that both tried to walk to William Creek, over 30 miles away,” I was told. “Then the husband returned and his wife kept going.” Days later the woman was found dead halfway to William Creek. The word HELP was written in the red earth next to her. Her husband was discovered alive with the van. About 40 lives are lost each year in the outback. “The most important thing if you have a breakdown is to stay with your car. Walking off could kill you,” said Ben Pascoe, an Aboriginal who helps the police find 1 ➀ ➁ ➂ ➃ ➄ I can briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions, plans and actions. (B1) 2 ➀ ➁ ➂ ➃ ➄ I can write very brief reports to a standard conventionalised format, which pass on routine factual information and state reasons for actions. (B1) 3 Now you can • Talk about Australia (Aboriginals, settlers, nature, animals). • Discuss discrimination. • Take better notes while you listen for gist and details. • Recognise when to use let, make and have. • Add information with relative clauses. Self-evaluation Tick the buttons on the scale to evaluate your language skills. ➀ I can do it easily and correctly. ➁ I can do most of it but I am not fully sure. ➂ I need to have a look at some things again. ➃ I should go over the whole chapter again. ➄ I need to ask my teacher for help. If you do the tasks again at a later stage, you can add a tick to show your progress. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 128 Australia Check-out Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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