[00:05.20]Lesson 73 1 Reading comprehension
[00:11.86]Read the text fast to find answers to these questions.
[00:17.14]1 From which countries have the people of New Zealand come?
[00:23.38]2 What parts of Maori life are mentioned in the text?
[00:29.94]THE MAORI OF NEW ZEALAND
[00:33.70]The earliest people of New Zealand,the Maori,
[00:38.45]came from the islands of Polynesia in the Pacific,which means"many islands".
[00:45.40]In Maori history,the first traveller to reach New Zealand in the year 950
[00:52.27]was a man called Kuper.
[00:55.93]He named the country Ao-tea-roa,which means"the land of the long,white cloud".
[01:03.87]Following his discovery many islanders travelled 3,500 kilometres by sea
[01:12.23]in their narrow boats to this new country between 1100 and 1350.
[01:18.89]They took with them dogs,rats and plants like the sweet potato,
[01:24.45]and settld mainly in North Island where the weather was warmer.
[01:30.10]As the Maori had no written language,
[01:34.17]the stories of Maori history were handed down from generation to generation.
[01:40.41]By 1840 about 2,000 Europeans,mainly British,had come to settle in New Zealand
[01:50.29]and the Maori signed an agreement with these settlers.
[01:54.73]However,in later years there were fierce arguments over land rights
[01:59.85]and many battles were fought between the settlers and the Maori.
[02:05.13]As a result of these wars and diseases,
[02:09.67]the Maori population fell from 100,000 to 42,000.
[02:16.44]Their population has now increased to 435,000
[02:22.92]and today they make up about 13% of the population.
[02:28.48]New Zealand is also home to about 170,000 Pacific Islanders
[02:35.85]from Oceania who have settled mainly in Auckland in North Island.
[02:43.58]Both Maori and Pacific Islanders are encouraged to use their own languages.
[02:50.74]The language which the Maori speak is related to the
[02:55.70]and the languages of Tahiti and Hawaii.
[02:58.65]Today there are special kindergartens for Maori children,
[03:03.41]and the Maori language is now taught in more and more schools.
[03:08.68]You can also take a degree in Maori
[03:12.44]or Maori Studies at five of the country's universities.
[03:18.30]The Maori have insisted on keeping their own customs and way of life.
[03:23.86]Maori families are often large,and uncnts,grandparents and other relations
[03:32.01]may come to stay with the family for long periods.
[03:36.87]Maori families enjoy sharing what they own and looking after one another.
[03:43.63]The common meeting place for Maori is on the marae,
[03:48.28]an area of land with a meeting house,
[03:53.14]where all the important events take place.
[03:57.58]This is how they keep their way of life alive.
[04:00.93]Maori children are taught at an early age what to do when they come to the marae.
[04:07.25]Special days for Maori are called"huis".
[04:12.40]A"hui"may be a wedding,burial or conference.
[04:17.75]The happier events are marked with speeches,singing and dancing.
[04:24.23]When someone dies,all the relations,old an young,
[04:29.37]come to the marae for the Maori burial service.
[04:35.54]Maori believe that the spirit stays with the body for three days,
[04:41.21]so during this time someone always stays with the dead person.
[04:47.14]Many people will sleep and eat on the marae during these three days
[04:53.59]and share their memories of the dead person
[04:58.03]Lesson 74
[05:06.36]1 Read the text fast.Then write these headings over the correct section.
[05:16.34]Agriculture Wildlife Sports and free time Politics Natural beauty
[05:25.20]NEW ZEALAND
[05:27.94]New Zealand is an important agricultural county with a small population.
[05:34.11]In size it is bigger than Guangdong Province,yet has a much smaller population.
[05:41.58]In 1893 New Zealand was the first nation in modern times
[05:47.92]to allow women to vote,long before many other countries
[05:52.50]In 1898 a law was passed which meant that all people above a certain age
[05:59.86]were paid a weekly"old-age pension".
[06:04.23]However,in recent times the "old-age pension"has only been paid to the poorest people
[06:11.38]because there has been an increase in the number of people out of work.
[06:17.26]Most of the cattle farming is in North Island.
[06:20.92]Sheep farms are found on the more hilly South Island.
[06:26.56]There are about 50 million sheep in New Zealand,
[06:31.71]about 14 sheep for every New Zealander!
[06:36.67]The main exports of the country are wool,
[06:41.53]lamb,beef,butter,forest products,fruit and vegetables.
[06:48.97]Ships carry live sheep to markets in the Middle East
[06:54.15]where they are killed at festivals.
[06:57.38]Some farmers have turned to keeping deer,
[07:01.75]and there are now about 3,000 deer farms in the country.
[07:06.92]The deer are farmed for their meat and fur,
[07:11.46]which are then shipped to many other countries.Goats are also kept.
[07:17.63]Apart from their milk,the wool from their coats is used in expensive clothing.
[07:24.11]New Zealand wine is of high quality and is sold all over the world.
[07:30.59]Living in a country with plenty of space and a good climate,
[07:35.94]New Zealanders love all kinds of sport.
[07:40.49]In summer,people like to go saiking,swimming,horse-riding,
[07:46.36]and rockclimbing in the mountains.
[07:50.52]The main school holidays are from mid-December till early February
[07:56.76]when the days are long and warm.
[08:00.42]Many families spend this time at a cottage by the seadide
[08:05.77]or go camping in the hills or on the coast.
[08:10.74]New Zealand,with its natural beauty,mountains,rivers and National Parks,
[08:17.68]attracts tourists from all over the world.
[08:22.13]North Island is famous for an area of hot springs,
[08:27.27]some of which throw hot water high into the air.
[08:32.26]Some of this hear near the earth's surface is used to make electricity.
[08:38.92]As in Australia,
[08:42.08]the first settlers found many strange birds and animals that exist no where else in the world.
[08:49.35]Some types of birds cannot fly.
[08:53.39]This is because they had no natural enemies until the arrival of humans
[08:59.74]and therefore did not need to develop flying wings.
[09:04.42]The kiwi,which is New Zealand's national bird,
[09:09.67]is one of these types of flightless birds |