THE INDIAN OCEAN

The Indian Ocean is the world’s third largest ocean, after the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It (49) ……….. to the south of Asia, to the west of Australia and Indonesia, and to the east of Africa. Unlike the Atlantic and Pacific, it has no (50) ……….. opening to the north.

Therefore, the Suez Canal, (51) ………….. opened in 1869, is a very important shipping route (52) ……….. the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The waters of the Indian Ocean are (53) ………….. calmer than those of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and are, therefore, easier to travel across. There are about 5,000 islands in the Indian Ocean. (54) …………… such as the Seychelles and Maldives, have beautiful beaches and a warm climate, and now (55) …………… increasing numbers of tourists.

During the winter, cool, dry winds blow over the ocean from the northeast. In summer, the (56) …………… of the wind changes and south-easterly winds blow north from the ocean, bringing (57) …………… rains called “monsoons” to coastal areas. (58) …………… farmers depend on these rains, they can be a problem, often causing serious flooding.

Australia is the sixth biggest country in the world and the smallest continent. It lies between the Pacific and Indian Ocean, about 3,000 km from the mainland of Asia.

It is very far away from Europe and by plane it takes you over 20 hours to get there. Australia is often called Down Under because the whole continent lies south of the equator .

All the world’s climates are found on the continent—from the tropical rainforest in the north to the cool and temperate climates in the south and southeast.

Australia was once a British colony and after its discovery in 1788 people from Great Britain settled there. In the past decades people from all over the world have come to Australia. Today it is a multicultural society .

?How is the climate in australia?

Read the following two passages and choose the correct answer to each question.

Every year in late December, a southward-moving current warms the water along the Pacific coast of Peru. Because the warm current arrives around Christmas, the Peruvians named it El Nino, "boychild". Until the mid 1970s, El Nino was an unrecognised local phenomenon, until scientists began to realise that El Nino, later named EI Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), is part of a huge ocean and atmosphere system that is felt as far away as Australia and Indonesia.

Every few years the El Nino current is warmer than normal, causing greater ocean warming and consequently changes in the normal patterns of sea and surface temperatures. The resulting changes in atmospheric pressure affect trade wind speeds and the location of the largest thunderstorms, thus affecting weather patterns around the world. The shift in location of the Pacific's largest thunderstorms, which usually occur from the Western Pacific to the Central Pacific, changes global weather patterns because the thunderstorms pump air into the atmosphere in different places than normal. The result is a shift in the location of high- and low-pressure areas, wind patterns, and the paths followed by storms.

From 1982 to 1983 the El Nino condition caused greater than average precipitation along the US West Coast and sent five hurricanes to French Pollynesia, which normally goes years without hurricanes. That same year, El Nino was linked to floods in Louisiana, Florida, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and to droughts in Hawaii, Mexico, Southern Africa, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia.

In response to the 1982-83 global weather disruption, the World Meteorological Organization initiated the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program. The goal of the 10-year program is to gain a better understanding of El Nino so scientists can forecast future El Nino episodes and their likely results.

1. Which of the following could be the title of the passage?

A. A Natural Phenomenon

B.An Ocean and Atmosphere System

C.A Kind of "Boychild"

D. The Forecast of the Future

2. The highlighted word "it" in the passage refers to __________.

A. December

B. the warm current

C. Christmas

D. the coast of Peru

3. It can be inferred from the passage that before the mid 1970s the scientists __________.

A.had already realized El Nino

B.knew nothing about El Nino

C. devised the name El Nino

D. felt El Nino in Australia and Indonesia

4. According to the passage, El Nino can affect __________.

A. wind speed

B. world trade

C. the atmosphere

D. the oceans

5. With which of following does the word “initiated” in the passage could best be replaced?

A. produced

B.responded

C. disrupted

D. established

Complete with the correct form of the adjective in parentheses.

The Indian Ocean is (a)__________ (small) than the Atlantic Ocean but (b)__________ (big) than the Arctic Ocean. The (c)__________ (large) ocean in the world is the Pacific, and it's also the (d)__________ (deep). There's a place called Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean, which is the (e)__________ (far) point from land in the whole world. The astronauts in the International Space Station 400 kilometers in space are often (f)__________ (close) to Point Nemo than any other person on land.

VII. Read the passage and do the tasks that follow. (1pt) 

Australia is one of the largest countries on Earth. It is located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are the largest cities in Australia. Much of the land is covered by a desert area known as the ‘outback’. It contains the country’s largest deserts, where the temperatures are really hot. There is little water and hardly and vegetation. Today, few people live in the outback, though the Aborigines, the original inhabitants of Australia, learned to survive the hot, harsh conditions. Some Aborigines still live in the outback but many have now moved to the cities. Ayers Rock is one of the most impressive natural sights in Australia. The large mass of sandstone stands in the middle of a flat desert and reaches a height of 335 m. It is the largest rock in the world.

*Write True (T) or False (F). (0.5pt)

1. Australia is the largest country on Earth. _______

2. Some Aborigines still live in the outback while many have now moved to the cities. _______

*Answer the questions. (0.5pt) 

3. Is there a lot of water and vegetation in Australia’s deserts?

 ___________________________

4. What is one of the most impressive natural sights in Australia?

 _____________________________

Read and complete

Australia is situated in southern hemisphere............ the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. This is the smallest..........and the 6th largest country in the world with the area of 7,692,024 sq km. The.......of the country is over 24 million (February 2016) and the capital is Canberra. Australia is a beautiful..........with the climate is generally arid to semiarid. The comon languages here are English and native.......... Australians are very kind and friendly. They love sports including rugby, football, golf, swimming and cricket. If you want to choose some places........your holiday, Australia will be an ideal place with a lot of sights such as Sydney Opera House, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Sydney Harbor Bridge, Palm Cove Beach......... You can also try delicious traditional..........like Barbecued shrimp, steak, dim sum, potato cakes and so on. Australia is really an..........country for us to visit

III/  Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere which comprises the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and many smaller islands  in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries (1) .  .  .  .  . Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea (2) .  .  .  .  . the north, the Solomon, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the Southeast. Australia (3) .  .  .  .  . six states, and two major mainland territories. The capital (4) .  .  .  .  . of Australia is Canberra. With a population of over 380,000, it’s Australia’s largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall.

Question 1:  A. include               B. contain               C. has                     D. conclude

Question 2:  A. on                      B. to                       C. by                      D. at

Question 3:  A. has                     B. takes                  C. gets                    D. begins

Question 4:  A. town                  B. urban                  C. rural                   D. city

Read the passage carefully. Then decide whether each of the statements below is TRUE (T), or FALSE (F).

Indonesia is an island nation in Southeast Asia. Its official name is the Republic of Indonesia. It is a member country of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The country's total area is 1,904,443 sq km. Like Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia enjoys tropical climate. The rupiah is the official monetary unit of Indonesia, consisting of 100 sens.

The capital of Indonesia is Jakarta and it is also the largest city in the country. Other big cities are Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, Palembang... The population in 2004 was about 238,500,000. Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country after China, India, and the United States. Islam, which is over eighty per cent of the population practice, is the country's official religion. In addition, there are other religions such as Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism...

The national language is Bahasa Indonesia, which is a modified form of Malay. Besides, about 300 other languages and dialects are spoken. English is increasingly used as the language of business.

Question 1. Indonesia is located in Southeast Asia.

A. True

B. False

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

Scientists have uncovered a new threat to the world's endangered coral reefs. They have found that most are incapable of growing quickly enough to compensate for rising sea levels triggered by global warming. The study suggests that reefs - which are already suffering serious degradation because the world's seas are warming and becoming more acidic - could also become overwhelmed by rising oceans.

The research - led by scientists at Exeter University and published in Nature this week -involved studying growth rates for more than 200 tropical western Atlantic and Indian Ocean reefs. It was found only 9% of these reefs had the ability to keep up with even the most optimistic rates of sea-level rises forecast by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "For many reefs across the Caribbean and Indian Ocean regions, where the study focused, rates of growth are slowing due to coral reef degradation," said Professor Chris Perry, of Exeter University. “Meanwhile, rates of sea-level rise are increasing - and our results suggest reefs will be unable to keep up. As a result, water depths above most reefs will increase rapidly through this century.”

Sea levels rose by several inches over the past century and measurements indicate the speed of this increase is now rising significantly. Two key factors are involved: climate change is making ocean water warmer and so it expands. And as ice sheets and glaciers melt, they increase amounts of water in the oceans.

At the same time, reefs are being weakened by ocean warming and also by ocean acidification, triggered as the seas absorb more and more carbon dioxide. These effects lead to bleaching events that kill off vast stretches of coral and limits their ability to grow.

“Our predictions, even under the best case scenarios, suggest that by 2100, the inundation of reefs will expose coastal communities to significant threats of shoreline change,” said co-author Prof Peter Mumby of Queensland University. This point was backed by US marine scientist Ilsa Ruffner writing in a separate comment piece for Nature. “The implications of the study are dire. Many island nations and territories are set to quickly lose crucial natural resources.”

The word "inundation" is closest in meaning to _______.

A. drought

B. extinction

C. flood

D. tsunami