Unit 5People & Places (I)

Part I

Australia is the world’s largest island and its smallest continent. Its total area of 3,000,000 square miles is about the same as that of the continental United States (excluding Alaska)

the area of Nepal is about 54,000 square miles. Within its borders are five of the world’s highest peaks.

Switzerland is a small, landlocked country, 15,944 square miles in area. It’s bordered by France, Austria, and Italy.

more than 20,000,000 people live in Argentine. About 97 percent are of European stock. Most argentines live on the eastern plains. Fewer than 19% live in the dry western and northwestern provinces.

Austria is 32,376 square miles in area. This makes it twice the size of neighboring Switzerland. There are about 7,150,000 people living in Austria. More than one third of the people live in or near Vienna, the capital city.

Colombia is the only country in South America with a coastline on the both sides of the continent. It is a big country with an area of 439,828 square miles and about 16,300,000persons live in Colombia.

Saudi Arabia’s area is estimated to be about 830,000 square miles. Almost all of Saudi Arabia’s 7,000,000 people are Arabs. Today Saudi Arabia’s vast oil resources are paying for the modernization of the country. Conditions there are changing more rapidly than they have for centuries.

Denmark proper has an area of only 16,575 square miles. It is the smallest of the

Scandinavian countries—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. But Denmark’s population of over 4,600,000 is greater than that of Norway and more than half that of Sweden.

Part IICanada

B.outline

A. second only/ B. 26 million peopleC. 1 the Great Lakes2 the Rocky Mountains 3 the Arctic islands

A. 1.2. overcoat/a fur hat

A. 1.American Indians2Germans3 Italians, / InuitB. English and French

A. seafoodB. meat dishesD.the sweet courseE. good beer but not good local wines.

A. most modern shopping centersB. 12. woolen3. wood4 leather5 maple

A. the Canadian dollarB. 10 am to 3pm Monday to Thursday, till later on Fridays.

Thank you for calling the Daily News information line on Canada.

Canada is a huge country, second in size only to the former Soviet Union. Yet it has only 26 million people, which is less than half the population of the United Kingdom. It extends from the Great Lakes in the south to the majestic Rocky Mountains in the west, and the bleak ArcticIslands in the far north. A third of the country is covered by forest and there are also vast grasslands and countless lakes and rivers.

There are great variations in climate. Winters are extremely cold except in Vancouver which has a milder climate owing to its location on the west coast, so take a heavy overcoat and a fur hat. Canadian summers are warm on the whole, especially inland, so you’ll only need lighweight clothing.

A quarter of all Canadians, mainly those living in the province of Quebec in the east, speak French as their first language. In addition, there are half a million American Indians, a million Germans and smaller numbers of Italians, Ukrainians and Inuit, Canada has two official languages: English and French, except in the province of Quebec where French alone is the official language. You’ll find English spoken virtually everywhere apart from Quebec and if you plan to visit Quebec City, you’ll definitely need a French phrasebook if you don’t speak French.

Eating out is a pleasure in Canada and you’ll find restaurants, coffee shops and snack bars to suit every pocket. Menus offer a wide choice with excellent seafood like Pacific salmon, lobsters and clams, meat dishes including moose steaks and beefsteaks, and also a range of ethnic foods. For the sweet course, the specialty /speciality is waffles, a kind of thick pancake, served with maple syrup. Beer is good but foreign wines, even those from neighboring America, tend to be quite dear and local wines are not particularly good.

Canada has some of the world’s most modern shopping centers. Clothes tend to be slightly expensive by European standards but there are some bargains to be had. Good buys include moccasins, a kind of soft leather shoe made by Indians, woolen gloves and sweaters, wood carvings, leather goods and maple syrup, of course.

The unit of currency is the Canadian dollar. Banking hours are from 10 am to 3 pm Monday to Thursday and till later on Fridays.

Have a good trip, and thank you for calling the information line.

PartIIITraveling around Australia

Sydney: harbor: take a boat trip in an old sailing ship/ at a backpacker’s hotel

The Sydney Opera House: see concerts

The great Barrier Reef: tropical fish/ glass bottom/at a resort hotel or at a guesthouse

Ayers Rock in UluraNational park: go hiking/ see cave paintings/ colors /at sunrise and sunset

KakaduNational Park:go hiking/ wildlife/ waterfalls/in one of the campsites.

1. T2F3F4. T5 F6. T7. F

Oh, David, hi! You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I’m planning a trip to Australia, and I wonder if you could give me some advice.

Sure! What do you want to know?

Well, I thought I’d start my trip in Sydney. What should I see there?

Well, the most important thing to see, of course, is the harbor, which is the most beautiful in the world.

Oh, right. Do they have boat trips?

Yeah, of course, they do. They have wonderful boat trips! The one that I recommend particularly is a trip around the harbor in an old sailing ship.

Oh, that sounds like lots of fun!

Yeah. And, of course, then there’s the Sydney Opera House, which everyone knows about. And, you can see wonderful things there…concerts and opera and theater.

Oh, I definitely want to go there! Now what about places to stay? Can you recommend some place inexpensive?

Yeah, let me see… Probably, of course, you know I don’t stay in these places, but probably the most inexpensive place would be a backpacker’s hotel. There are lots of those.

Ok, thanks. That sounds good. Uh, where should I go after Sydney?

After Sydney, lets’ see… I’d recommend that you travel up the coast to the Great Barrier Reef, which is in North Queensland.

Right. I’ve heard a lot about it! But what is there to do there?

Well, you can go scuba diving and see the coral reef and the tropical fish up close…

You know I don’t like to get wet.

Well, there are always these glass-bottom boats you can travel on. They’re fabulous! Yeah,

and there’re literally hundreds of islands you can explore.

Wow! And are there places to stay?

Yeah, sure. If you want to spend lots of money, you can stay at one of these fabulous resort hotels or, if you want o do it on the cheap, you can go to a guesthouse, which are much cheaper.

Right. That sounds good. Well, what next?

Next, well, I guess you should go inland to Ayers Rock In Uluru national Park.

Ayers Rock? What is that? How do you spell it?

It’s Ayers Rock. Its’ the largest rock in the world! You must know about it!

No kidding! No, I’ve never heard of it! What do you do when you visit it?

Well, it’s mainly hiking and trekking. You can walk right round the base of it if you like. It takes about five and a half miles, I guess, but it’s really well worth it. And there are cave paintings in the rock, and the colors of the rock at sunrise and sunset are just fabulous.

Sounds like I should bring my camera!

You sure should! Finally, let’s see, I guess you should travel north to visit the KakaduNational Park.

Kkadu? How do you spell that?

It’s a tropical forest where you can go hiking and see all sorts of wildlife…

Oh?

Oh, and there are some beautiful waterfalls there as well.

And do they allow camping there?

Yeah, there are lots and lots of campsites. The only thing is that you’ve got to watch out

for the crocodiles!

Ugh! Well, David, thanks a lot! You’ve been a big help!

No problem.

I can’t wait to go!

Statements:

When David was in Sydney, he didn’t stay there for night.

The Great Barrier Reef is in South Queensland in Australia

From what Nancy says, one can know that she is fond of swimming

In Uluru national Park, Nancy can see the largest rock in the world.

If Nancy likes to walk around the base of the rock, she has to walk about five miles.

Nancy will bring her camera with her when she travels in Australia.

There are no crocodiles in the tropical forest in Australia.

Part IV. The Story of Denver

Outline

I. A. 1l6 kilometers/ one mile above the sea level

B. population:

C. 1. 300 days of sunshine a year

2. about 35 centimeters

II. Business and Marketing center

more than 1500 manufacturing companies

Main activity: food processing

other factories making equipment for the defense, space, high technology and transportation industries.

gold production

the computer and communications industries

1. offering the third highest number/2. that do business in other countries

III. A. HistoryB. Natural HistoryC. North America/ 90,000E. city park systemF. a business area filled with old buildings, gas lights and vehicles pulled by horses

Tapescript:

Denver is the largest city and capital of the western state of Colorado. There’s a marker on the step in the StateCapitolBuilding. Standing there, you are exactly 1.6 kilometers above sea level, one mile high. Denver is known as “the-mile-high city”, but it does not appear to be that high. This is because it is built almost completely on smooth flat land. Denver is the largest city of the Rocky Mountains. Many people believe it is actually in the Rocky Mountains. However, it is about 50 kilometers east of them.

The city of Denver has a population of about 470,000 people. This makes it the 26th largest city in the United States. The area around Denver has more than 1,600,000 people. City

officials are proud of the fact that Denver receives more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Storms moving east across the country lose much of their strength in the Rockies. So Denver gets only about 35 centimeters of rain and snow a year. The nearby mountains, however, get a lot more than that.

Denver is the business and marketing center for all the RockyMountain area. It has more than 1500 manufacturing companies. Food processing is the main manufacturing activity. Other factories make equipment for the defense, space high technology and transportation industries. Gold production is also important. Denver is home to companies that control half the gold produced in the United States.

The computer and communications industries have become increasingly important in recent years. Denver has the third highest number of high technology jobs in relation to the population. The area also has become a center for companies that do business in other countries. This is true throughout the western states. In fact, more jobs in the American west are linked to foreign trade in any other part of the country.

Tourism is also an important industry in Denver. For example, the ColoradoHistoryMuseum shows the history of the native American Indians, gold miners and other people who moved to Colorado. The Denver Museum of Natural History shows Indian objects and examples of local wildlife. Many visitors to Colorado and Rocky Mountains use Denver’s new international airport, which opened in 1995. it was the first major new airport built in the United States in 21 years. It cost almost 5,000 million dollars. It is the largest airport in North America, almost 90,000 passengers land at DenverInternationalAirport each day.

There is a lot to see and do in Denver. The StateCapitolBuilding is in the center of the city. The top is covered with more than 500 g of gold. On a clear day, a visitor to the Capitol can see for a distance of almost 250 kilometers. 87 years ago, city officials began to purchase land to make sure it would be protected from development. Today, the city owns 8000 hectares. On this land, Denver has built the largest city park system in the nation. Finally, there’s Larama Square. It is a business area that is said to look like Denver of the early 1900s. Larama Square is filled with old buildings, gas lights and vehicles pulled by horses. It is a part of the new Denver that lives in the past.

Part V. Do you Know…?

ICELAND----- in the Atlantic/a small population / an island country

Brazil----- a newly-built capital /a pretty large country/famous for its jungles/a South American country

New Zealand----- hotter than Britain/ a small population/ a mountainous country/a wet climate/divided into two islands.

or pigs.