THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal state. It has got six states: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and two internal territories. The official language is English.
Australia is situated in the south-west of the Pacific Ocean.
The area of this country has got 7,687,000 square kilometres. Australia is the largest island in the world and it is the smallest continent. The Dutch were the first Europeans to visit Australia. In 1770 the English captain James Cook discovered the east coast of Australia.
Nearly 20 million people live in Australia.
Australia's climate is dry and warm. Australia is situated in the southern hemisphere and that's why there is summer, when we have winter and there is winter, when we have summer. It is interesting to know that January is the hottest month in Australia.
Australia is separated from many countries. The animals in Australia have a lot of original, and they are interesting, for example, dingoes (wild dogs), koala bears, kangaroos.
The kangaroo and koala have got the pouch in which they carry their cubs. There are many birds in the country, too. One can see parrots and cockatoos. The emu is the most interesting bird in Australia. It is big and can't fly.
There are many rivers and lakes in the country.
Australia is an industrial country. It has coal, nickel, zinc, gold. Several factories and plants work in the country. Australia is one of the most important producers of metals and minerals. It exports wool production, meat, fruit, sugar.
The capital of the country is Canberra. The city became the capital in 1927. Federal Government works in Canberra in the government buildings. It is interesting to know that there are no industrial plants in Canberra.
The population of Canberra is about 300,000 people.
There are many sights in the city. They are the Building of the Australian Academy of Sciences, the Australian National University and others. There are two big industrial cities in Australia: Sydney and Melbourne.
The habited part of the country is situated near ocean. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and others are the ports of the country.
Australia is a part of the British Empire. Formerly the head of the state is the Queen, but in fact Australia is independent, self-governing state. The Parliament consists of two Houses.
There are many universities, theatres and museums in Australia.
Youth problems
Problems of the youth (friendship, love, conflicts)
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─ What are the problems of the youth?
─ Youth is the time when a person is trying to find his place in the world. And during this search he or she comes across different problems which are as important as those of the adults. The youth of the twenty first century face almost the same the problems which were acute to their parents when they were young.
─ What is the most important problem of the youth?
─ One of them is a generation gap. Every generation is unique in its experience. It has its own ideals and a system of values concerning every aspect of human life. Adults always complain that the young are not what they were. These words are repeated from generation to generation. Undoubtedly it is correct. In fact today the young are better educated. They grow up more quickly. They derive joy from more freedom. At present the young do not blindly accept the ideals of their parents. For them everything that the adults bear in mind is past history. And this is inevitable, because different generations take different directions. Moreover, the young look forward and the old people look backward. The adult always teach the young how to live. They apply old standards to the new way of life. The past is hanging over them preventing them from appreciating the things around them anew. The young think that the adults have lost touch with everything that is important in life. They are right, because what is important to the adults is the past. The young know what they want. They prefer to make their own mistakes rather than to listen to the warnings of the adults. The past exists to help the young to avoid unnecessary blurs. But they do want to have them. The young want to live their own life. They want to overcome their own difficulties without turning back. Unfortunately the life of the young is frequently determined by the adults. The adults start the war but the young die in it. The young and adults have different points of view concerning everything. And it generates the conflict of the generations. In the 19th century Ivan Turgenev in his novel «Fathers and Sons» perfectly illustrated the eternal problem of fathers and children's misunderstanding. I think that parents will never understand their children.
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─ Why?
─ Every new generation is different from the one that preceded it. Today the differences are especially considerable. The adults always believe that they know best only because they have been around a bit longer. They don't want their values to be doubted. The young on the other hand are questioning the assumptions of the adults, they suspect that the world created by their predecessors was not the best one.
─ Was there any clash of values between generations?
─ It is known far and wide that the clash of tastes and values between generations occurs in the main in highly developed countries. Occasionally it was sharp, especially in the 1960s and '70s in Western Europe and the USA.
─ Can you see the solution to this problem?
─ Certainly. I think that the only way to solve this insoluble problem both the young and adults should be tolerant and patient. Despite our generation differences there are no clashes of values in our family and my parents are my best friends. They always help me, console me, and try to help me to solve my problems.
─ What is another problem of the youth?
─ Another problem of the youth is the relationship of the young people with their friends and beloved. I believe in male friendship, and I doubt that there can be any real female friendship.
─ Do you have a lot of friends?
─ I think it is impossible to have a lot of friends. A person can be on good terms with his or her classmates or university groupmates but have only one or two real friends. I believe that real friends will never betray each other. They will always understand and help each other. It is true that tolerance is the pledge of friendship. It is wonderful if your school friend will remain your friend for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, when one enters a university school friends are often replaced by the new ones.
─ Are there any other problems of the young?
─ The problem of love is very important for the young. Today they young fall in love when they reach the age of Romeo and Juliet. Romanticism and idealism very often accompany the love of the young. Their belief in eternal love can end dramatically. Today nobody doubts about the depth of their passion. It is regrettable, but the young are not always ready to have stable relations. For a happy family life two people must understand and respect each other. It should be said that the young have other problems as well. They are concerned with education, money, employment, hobby, spending their free time, communication, and the like. And of course one of the most urgent problems is the accommodations problem. Few young people in our country have their own apartments. In the main they share the apartments with their parents even after getting married.
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─ Do young Americans have the same housing problem?
─ I do not think so. As far as I know many young Americans do not live with their families.
─ Where do young Americans prefer to live?
─ They prefer to live in apartment blocks or residential areas where everyone is more or less of the same age. Young people often move away from home when they leave school (if they can afford it) into shared apartments or small, one-room «studio» apartments. They do their own cooking and cleaning, and go to the family home perhaps for the weekend.
─ Where do young married couples reside in the USA?
─ In the USA young married couples may move to new suburbs where most people have young families. In the countryside, some even build their houses themselves. If a family's income goes up, they often move" to another suburb, where the houses are bigger, with two or even three garages, a swimming pool, a games room for the children and everything a family could want.
─ Do grown-up children live with their old parents in the USA?
─ Old people do not live with their grown-up children. Many live in old people's homes. Some live in special towns, built for old people, where there are no young children and the atmosphere is quiet.
─ Is it typical for Americans?
─ I am sure it is. Americans are always on the move, and sortie families change their homes every few years.
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─ Where can average Americans start and end their lives?
─ For example, Mr. and Mrs. Smith could start life in an apartment in New York, go on to a white painted wooden home in New England with small windows to keep out the cold in winter, move to a sunny house in California where oranges grow in the garden and big windows give a wonderful view of the swimming pool and the sea, and end their life in a town for old people.
─ What are the problems of the American youth?
─ It is difficult for me to answer this question. From the information derived from the mass media I can conclude that their problems are connected with their beliefs and values. Hard work is part of the American Dream. To be a success is important in America. Society frowns upon those who don't achieve it, that is why all young Americans want to work hard and be a success. The first step to it is a high school diploma. Without it, it is almost impossible to be successful. In order to get, it is necessary to compete, as rivalry is the spur to achievement. Winning is an American passion. In this case it is very important to be conscious of the society around and never do dirty tricks. Another problem that worries the young is to be well-liked. This feature is associated with the American Dream too. On the social level it is part of people's personalities. And of course communication can be one more problem not only of the young Americans but of all young people of today.
─ How do the young communicate nowadays?
─ Today the young can choose either traditional way of communication or a modern one. Traditionally the young meet after classes with their school or university friends at a cafe or a club to get fun, relax and acquire new friends. They go to the cinemas, theatres, concert halls or disco clubs. But if the young people do not like noisy clubs and other places of entertainment, they can find friends without leaving their apartments - the Internet gives such an opportunity. Although this international Web Wide Web is intended for getting knowledge, only few users employ it in this way. Other users employ the ICQ programme only for chatting. They can sit for twenty two hours at their displays carrying on endless chats with newly made friends. And it is a great problem of the present and future. Such young people do not eat, sleep, work or learn properly. They are only interested in their e-mail boxes. The best way for them is to go on chatting with their ICQ partners without meeting them. In general all the problems of the youth are linked with the present rather then with the past or future.
All people have problems. Some of them have many problems, the others have one or two problems only.
Young people have as many problems as the grown-ups. It is possible to solve some problems but sometimes we can not solve this or that problem. The first problem is to choose a good friend. I know the proverb "A friend in need is a friend indeed." I agree with it, that's why I try to make friends with gay and true persons.
I want to have a friend who understands me. It will be simple and interesting to speak to him or her.
I think that young people have problems with their parents. What are they? Sometimes we have different tastes. I like the proverb "There is no accounting for tastes." For example, I go to the shops with my mother. She likes this dress but I like that one. My mother wants me to buy this dress. But I am sure, that dress is much to my taste.
My parents want me to be a teacher as they are skilled teachers but I have a taste for music, and my dream is to be a composer.
Where can we go? What can we do if we have free time? My friend Nastya lives in the village. Her village is far from Moscow. It takes her three hours to go to Moscow. She says that there is nowhere to go and there is nothing to do in her village. There are no clubs, museums, cinemas, parks there. If she wants to go to Moscow it'll take her a lot of money. She can't afford it.
It is a problem to get a good education.
It is necessary to pay for a good education. I think it is difficult to learn English, for example, without additional classes.
I can't enter the Institute without good knowledge. To get it it is necessary to pay for it and have heavy expenses.
Many good teachers leave schools because they haven't got enough money, persons without special experience can't teach the pupils well.
I am sure that all teenagers want to have a lot of money to dress well, to go to the theatres, to visit foreign countries, to eat what they want, to buy books... How can they solve all these problems?
They have to earn money. I think it is possible to do it. Some boys wash cars, the others sell newspapers, some of my friends help old persons. Many of my friends have load of care.
We have some problems but we are sure that we solve them in a proper way.
I think that the young people in other countries have many problems too. I have a pen-friend in Italy. He usually writes that his parents make him to do a lot of house-work. It is strange for us, but my friend Jack from London has his biggest problem - his freckles.
Introducing yourself
My name is Kostya. My surname is Laznev. I was born in Moscow on the 23rd of June in 1981. I am a tall thin boy. My hair is dark and short. My face is oval, my nose is straight. My eyes are large and brown. My friends say that I am a good-looking boy. I like to dress well. I usually wear black trousers, light shirts, clean boots.
I have a dream to enter the Institute.
I worked hard at school. We studied many subjects such as History, Russian, Physics, Geography and others. I was fond of English and Physics. And I was good at them.
I think that I am honest, serious and polite.
I want to get a good education and find an interesting and useful work. I have a hobby. I like to sing songs. My father likes to sing songs too. He knows many good songs and we usually sing songs together.
Nowadays young people don't like classical music. They prefer pop music. My parents invite me to some very good concerts of classical music. It is great. I am very grateful to my parents because now I begin to understand how wrong I was going only to pop concerts.
I am proud of my mother and father. They are musicians. We like to spend our free time together. We often go to the museums, to the Concert Halls, to the theatres.
I want to say that I respect my parents.
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