1. Use an atlas, find the map of New Zealand and check whether the following statements about the country are accurate. Correct the wrong ones.

1) New Zealand is a flat territory.

2) The Tasman Sea is on the east side of the islands.

3) There are more lakes in South Island than in North Island.

4) There is a mountain named after Captain Cook, a British explorer.

5) New Zealand has only three container ports.

6) There is an international airport in Dunedin.

7) There are more skiing facilities on the South Island than on the North Island.

8) New Zealand’s principal agricultural activity is growing cereals.

9) New Zealand is well provided with forests.

10) New Zealand has no fishing industry.

11) New Zealand has no off-shore natural gas fields.

2. Look at the words below. What do you think they mean and how are they connected to New Zealand?

Wellington / Auckland / Kiwi / Māoris / rugby / the All Blacks / sheep / kiwis / Aotearoa / haka / bungee jumping / hongi / The Lord of the Rings / bush

1) Special national dance in which they stick their tongue out to scare enemies;

2) A national symbol, the most popular bird which cannot fly;

3) A nickname used for people who come from New Zealand;

4) Indigenous people of New Zealand, the first to settle on the islands, they tattoo their faces, caught birds and fish and lived in tribes;

5) A lot of New Zealanders are farmers and there are 12 times more sheep than people in New Zealand;

6) A native forest, which once covered most of the islands’ land;

7) An extreme sport, first popularized by a Kiwi, AJ Hackett, who made his first jump from Auckland’s Greenhithe Bridge;

8) The film trilogy was filmed on location in New Zealand and highlighted the country’s natural scenery and is widely associated with the country worldwide;

9) A favourite national sport in New Zealand;

10) The name of the national rugby union team;

11) The capital city of New Zealand;

12) The Maori name for the country of New Zealand;

13) The biggest city in New Zealand, with more than one third of New Zealand’s population (35 per cent) living there;

14) The traditional Māori greeting, performed by two people pressing their noses together; some include, at the same time, the touching of foreheads.

3. Read the text about New Zealand’s profile and tell which facts were new for you.

GEOGRAPHY&NATURE

New Zealand, also known as Aotearoa, is a remote, mountainous group of islands sitting on the Pacific Rim and separated by the Cook Strait. New Zealand has more than 50 volcanoes, some of which are still active today. Sharp snowy peaks, rocky shores, glaciers, fjords and pastures create a majestic landscape. The highest mountain peak in New Zealand is Mount Cook which rises to 3,754m; Maori people call it “Cloud Piercer”. New Zealand is rich in unusual wildlife, its native plants and birds, such as the kiwi, are unique in the world. The bats are the only mammals, nearly all the land animals are birds, with most species flightless. In the last 1,000 years, half of all animals on the islands have become extinct. Deforestation and draining of swamp land is still threatening the remaining species. However, several of them, including the kakapo, kokako, kiwi, and tuatara are recovering.

HISTORY

The Maori people were first arrived by canoe from islands in Polynesia near Tahiti around 1,000 A.D. In the 1600s, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman first visited the island, but his party was attacked and left the island; they named New Zealand after a region in the Netherlands. Only in 1769, English explorer Captain James Cook mapped the country’s coast. But the first British settlements were established there in 1840, when 500 Maori chiefs and representatives of Queen Victoria signed the Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand became a British colony. But soon the tribes’ lands were captured, and they got into war with British colonial troops; only in the 1870s, after 12 years, peace was restored. New Zealand became the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893; it was a dominion of Britain for 40 years and finally gained its independence from the colonists in 1947.

ECONOMY&GOVERNMENT

For many years on New Zealand’s economy has earned mainly from farm products, such as wool and dairy products. Recent developments of tourism, film production, and winemaking are also significant, but the country depends heavily on international trade, with the main exports of milk, meat, butter, cheese, etc.

New Zealand is nominally constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and thus the head of state. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General, whom she appoints on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is the head of the government. New Zealand’s government has 122 seats in the House of Representatives and each is elected for a three-year term. Seven seats are reserved for the Maori and chosen by their voters.

SOCIETY&CULTURE

The indigenous culture is widely respected by people of New Zealand and many lands under dispute were returned to the tribes in 1998. Maori cultural traditions include music and dance, carving, weaving, and oral story-telling. There has been a major revival of Maori language and culture since the 1970s. New Zealanders, often called “Kiwis”, are generally well-educated, healthy, and have a good standard of living. Most Kiwis are no longer farmers now, with 86 percent of the population living in cities. Rugby is their favourite sport and nearly everyone cheers on the national team, the All Blacks, but many Kiwis also enjoy cricket. New Zealand has produced many internationally significant musicians, writers, visual and performing artists. Today, New Zealand is a multicultural Pacific nation.

4. Look through the text once again and say which facts in the history of New Zealand are connected with these figures.

5. Look at the words in colour in the text. Match them to their definitions below.

1) land consisting of swamps/an area of swamp

2) a long strip of sea between steep hills, found especially in Norway

3) a drawing that gives you a particular type of information about a particular area

4) grass or similar plants suitable for animals such as cows and sheep to eat

5) not able to fly

6) the process of becoming more active or popular again

7) a shape or pattern cut into wood or stone or the skill of doing this

8) to take something by force

9) refers to various military units recruited from, or used in colonial territories

10) an extended area of land

6. Listen to an interview with the people, who tell about the most exciting things to do while you are staying in New Zealand. Answer the questions about the recording.

1) Monica recommends the _____ Island. 

3) She says you should drive _____. 

4) She recommends a farm stay for _____ 

5) Where can you find the Maori culture? 

7. Complete the sentences with the words below. Explain their meanings. Listen to the recording again and check your answers.

1) For me, a _______ is the West Coast of the South Island. It’s very pretty.

2) Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers, which are _______ to look at.

3) You can pay for a helicopter ride that takes you up and shows you an _______ of the area.

4) There’s a lot of _______ opportunities available for tourists who come to New Zealand.

5) Rotorua is a nice city to go and visit, and then _______ down to the capital of New Zealand, which is Wellington.

DEGREES OF COMPARISON – ADJECTIVES

Some adjectives are gradable and some are non-gradable or extreme adjectives, which do not have a comparative or superlative form because they already mean something very … or express something which cannot be graded like dead or alive:

E.g.: The clown on the show was funny, but this clown on TV is funnier. The clown is hilarious. (very funny) NOT: The clown has a huge (very big) red nose.

NOT: The clown seems angry. NOT: seems so angry.

Some common extreme adjectives include: empty, full, pregnant, perfect, unique, round, square, awful, excellent, terrible, horrible, immortal, starving, brilliant, gigantic, ultimate, ancient, complete etc.

Intensifiers are used with comparative adjectives:

We use these words as intensifiers with superlative adjectives: easily, by far, much

E.g.: This car was by far the most expensive. – The blue whale is easily the biggest animal.

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE – ADVERBS

We use -er/-est to form the comparative of single-syllable adverbs, and of adverbs which have the same form as their adjectives:

E.g.: hard – harder – the hardest/early – earlier – the earliest

We use more/most to form the comparative of all adverbs that end in -ly (except for adverbs whose form is the same as the adjective; see above):

E.g.: happily – more happily – the most happily

9. Choose the correct option for each of the following sentences.

1) This pair of glasses is as __________ as that pair. (fashionable, more fashionable, fashionably)

2) Iron is __________ than other metals. (less useful, more usefully, most useful)

3) His Chinese is getting _________ and _________. (worse/worse, worse/worst, badly/badly)

4) He worked __________ than I did. (as efficiently, more efficiently, more efficient)

5) Her promotion was the __________ moment of her life. (proud, prouder, proudest)

6) The __________ he gets, the _________ he becomes. (older/wiser, elder/wiser, older/ wisest)

7) Ann does not swim as __________ as her coach claims. (quick, quickly, quicker)

8) Which is __________, grammar or vocabulary? (more important, most important, important)

9) The ______ money you spend, the ______ you can save. (little/much, less/more, least/most)

10) The new job is the __________ one that I have had. (most challenging/more challenging)

11) Hawaii is __________ from Hong Kong than Japan. (far, farther, farthest)

12) This ring is too __________ for me. (small, smaller, smallest)

13) Grace’s work is __________, but Joan’s is __________. (good, better, best)

14) Do you support his __________ proposal? (late, later, latest)

15) Prevention is __________ than curing. (good, better, best)

10. Transform the given sentences using the correct comparative structure without changing the meaning.

1) He is taller than his sister. – His sister is _____ he is/him.

2) Ann dresses more smartly than Erika. – Emily dresses _____ than Ann.

3) Tom is noisier than his brothers. – His brothers aren’t _____ him.

4) If you work more, you will earn more. – _____ you work, _____ you will earn.

5) She is the quickest runner of all. – She is _____ any other runner. No other runner is _____ she is/her.

6) If you try harder, you will do better. – _____ you try, _____ you will do.

7) Wealth is not as precious as health. – Health is _____ than wealth.

8) Ann studies less diligently than she did in the past. Ann does not study _____ in the past.

9) He is a terrible driver. – He drives _____.

10) Tom has got the same number of books as John. – John has got _____ Tom.

11) She hasn’t made as many mistakes as last time. – She has made _____ last time.

12) No one else on the team plays better than he does. – He plays _____ on the team.

11. Work in pairs. Write, then ask and answer the questions about English-speaking countries using the prompts below. Contrast them in different aspects (geography, nature, history, economy, politics, culture) using the appropriate comparative structures.

For example: “What’s the most expensive city in America?” – “It’s New York” “London is not as expensive as New York, it’s also way bigger than Big Apple”.

1) What’s (big/small/strong/comfortable) country?

2) What’s (expensive/youth-friendly/packed) city in …?

3) What’s (hot/cold/beautiful/dangerous/interesting) (part/region/place) in… ?

4) What’s (spectacular/attractive/significant/visited) sight for (tourists/locals) in … ?

5) What’s (friendly/diverse/fun/hardworking/creative/educated) nation?

6) Who’s (rich/famous/well-known/respected/significant/influential) (person/celebrity/ politician) in …?