http://www.scribd.com/doc/56947287/In-a-Sunburned-Country-by-Bill-Bryson-Excerpt#.UW84Ir89_dk
You can download the extracts to your own device as a .pdf if that is easier for you.
Bill Bryson is a prolific Australian travel writer who, now living in the UK, has used his sarcastic wit to pick apart the more ridiculous and comical side of several nations in the world, often commenting on the less usual aspects.
As you will read, he is adept providing a balanced perspective on the true nature of the country about which he is writing: I've always felt he is almost saying, "Well it's a bit rubbish, obviously, but you've got to love it!"
Once you have read the article, I would like you to:
- Note the FIVE most surprising, interesting or profound facts you found out about Australia. If possible, your five choices together should, in themselves, give a good, balanced, holistic picture of what Australia is and what it means to him.
- Now do the same for your own home country (or another country you know well): five, unusual, unique, striking, light-hearted facts about that country which could enable us to compare it neatly to Australia. Basically, your two lists should offer us a distilled, concise comparison of the two places - witty, original and insightful.
Good luck!
1. One of Australia's prime ministers Harold Holt vanished into the ocean.
ReplyDelete2. It is the only nation that began as a prison.
3. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian.
4.Eighty percent of all that lives in Australia, plant and animal,exists nowhere else.
5. It is the home of the largest living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef.
1.Japan's literacy rate is almost 100%.
ReplyDelete2.Most toilets in Japan have a built-in bidet system for spraying your backside.
3.On average there are around 1,500 earthquakes every year in Japan.
4.Ovens are not nearly as commonplace as rice cookers in Japanese households.
5.Vending machines in Japan sell beer, hot and cold canned coffee, cigarettes, and other items.