Most of the animals and plants found in Australia are native to Australia, they cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Some of the stranger and more famous animals include koalas, kangaroos, the platypus and the echidna.
Australia is also home to some of the most dangerous and poisonous animals in the world. Snakes, spiders, jellyfish, crocodiles and sharks, to name just a few.
Australia experiences regular drought, flood, and bush fires. The temperature and weather conditions are very different from one end of the continent to the other. The north is humid and tropical, with rain forests. The south, southeast and southwest have mountain ranges and a mediterranean climate. The centre is a dry desert.
Read the text then answer the questions.
What is unique about many of the plants and animals in Australia?
They are poisonous.
They are strange.
They are native.
Which animal is not poisonous or dangerous?
snake
echidna
spider
What can you find in the middle of Australia?
desert
mountain ranges
rain forest
Many Australian families spend their summer holidays at the beach. My family usually go camping on the Great Ocean Road or we visit my grandparents who live on the Gold Coast. Either way, we often spend the whole day at the beach. We build sand castles and play with our beach ball in the shallow water. Sometimes I look after my little sister. She hasn't learnt to swim yet and therefore she has to wear a swim ring in the water. My mum makes us put sunscreen on every two hours, even if it's not sunny or we're sitting in the shade. The sun is very strong in Australia and she doesn’t want us to get sunburnt. That’s why we always have to wear sunglasses and a hat as well. My silly brother usually puts on way too much sunscreen. He thinks it’s funny.
Sometimes we eat fish and chips on the foreshore, I love it! But I love it even more when my parents pack a picnic and we eat together as the sun sets over the water. After dinner mum sometimes buys us ice creams. While we wait, I sit in a beach chair and my dad sleeps in a hammock strung up between two palm trees. Once there was a dog that had crept over and was quietly trying to eat the rest of our picnic, no one noticed what was about to happen. Luckily mum saw the dog as she was returning with our ice creams. In a rush to shoo the dog away she tripped on my little sister’s bucket and an ice cream flew out of her hand, arched through the air and landed directly on my head. Eeeck, what a mess! Never mind. At least I was able to wash it off in one of the beach showers.
Hooray for mum! She had saved the picnic from the dog and she even gave me her ice cream!
Read the text. Are the following statements true or false?
Australian families often go to the Gold Coast for the summer holidays.
True
False
We put sunscreen on twice a day.
True
False
The story teller likes eating fish and chips more than having a picnic.
True
False
The family gives their picnic leftovers to their dog.
True
False
Not everybody ate an ice-cream.
True
False
“What a beautiful day!” Mrs. Smith is thinking to herself. “The sun is shining and the birds are singing. This weather is far too nice to stay at home.”
Mrs. Smith is a pensioner. She lives in a big city, in a tower block situated right by a large main road. She doesn't like it very much because life here is very anonymous. But at least there is a small park close by. Mrs. Smith likes to go there when the weather is nice, like today.
There is always something going on in the park. Here you can meet joggers, dog-owners, bikers and families with children. They often have a little picnic on the meadow by the pond. Because Mrs. Smith is very outgoing, she always meets new people who she can talk to.
There are benches on either side of the path. Some are in the sun between bushes, others in the shade of trees. Because it is not too hot today, Mrs. Smith is sitting on a bench in the sun. From here, she can watch the ducks and fish in the pond. And she loves the sound of the fountain.
Just as she is sitting down, she hears the pigeons cooing. Yes, the pigeons already know Mrs. Smith and they know that she always has something for them.
“There you are!” says Mrs. Smith and laughs. She places a bag of bird food next to her on the park bench. Of course she has thought of her feathered friends today as well.
Read the text.
Find words in the text for each of the definitions below.
a noun for an elderly person who no longer works →
an adjective that means unknown, or not identified by name →
a noun for a field with grass and wild flowers →
an adjective that describes a friendly energetic person who likes being with people →
a verb that describes the low soft sound made by pigeons and doves →
a funny name for birds → (2 words)