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Ireland
Australia
South Africa
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FOCUS ON

1 CANADA
NAME CLASS DATE

Text A - Facts About Canada

EXERCISE 1 Before you read, can you answer these questions about Canada?

1. Look at the map of Canada. How many provinces and territories are there in total?
2. Which is the largest province/territory?
3. Which province links Canadas East and West?

Te r r i t o r y

Ter r i t or y

UNITE
D STA
TES

Canada is a North American country located in the northern part of the

continent, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the
Arctic Ocean. Canada is the second largest country in the world, but only 10%
of it is inhabited.
Canada belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations. The British sovereign
(currently Queen Elizabeth II) is the Head of State and they are represented by
the Governor-General. Canada is a Confederation of 10 provinces and 3
territories, and the Head of Government is the Prime Minister. The Federal
Government has a Senate and a House of Commons, and each of the provinces
has its own parliamentary system of government.

Canadas original inhabitants were the Inuit people, commonly known as

Eskimos, and the First Nations peoples, formerly known as Indians. The Inuit
traditionally live in small communities situated in bays, on river mouth or
fjords, their lives revolving around fishing and hunting.

2
 1. Canada

NAME CLASS DATE

However, in the middle of the last century

the southern part of country introduced
electricity, oil-fire furnaces, stoves, school,
hospitals and television into northern
communities. Modern technology and
medical assistance improved the Inuits
health but also drastically changed their
original lifestyle. Many were also forced to
relocate. Now, however, native Canadians are
treated with a great deal of respect and their
traditional culture is becoming stronger again.

Modern Canada began in the 17th century, when it was

colonized by both the French and the English. The Treaty of
Paris in 1763 ceded the French territories to the British. Canadas
development as a nation began in the 1860s with several constitutional
conferences; the 1867 Constitution Act then officially proclaimed Canadian
Confederation on July 1st, 1867, initially with 4 provinces, Ontario, C
Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
A
Unity and diversity is the characteristic of the Canadian people. The country N
has two official languages, no common religion and few universally shared A
traditions. Its people are as diverse as the varied landscapes of the country itself.
D
A

An Example Province: Ontario

The golden hinge, Ontario is
one of Canadas most important
provinces, linking the east coast
with the west and northern
areas. Ironically, this rich
province started out in 1791 as
a poor English breakaway from
French Quebec. Todays
Ontarians are multinational, and
their gross domestic product
(GDP) tops C$654 billion.
Area: 1,076,395 sq km (415,598 sq mi)
Population: 13.5 million
Cities: Toronto (city population 2.5 million) is
Canadas largest metropolitan area, with a population
of nearly 5.5 million; Ottawa (pop. 880,000) is the
nations capital.
Economy: Ontarios manufacturing totals half of Canadas
output; it is second in mineral production to Alberta.
Languages: English is the de facto language; around 5%
of the population are native French speakers.

3
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NAME CLASS DATE

Text B - The Queen Orders a Capital Compromise

Ottawa is the capital because 150 years ago Queen Victoria decided that Canada was
never going to work with Toronto, Quebec City or Montreal as the capital. All those
places had been tried, but due to two centuries of nationalistic misunderstandings, a new
and neutral solution was needed. So Victoria placed her new capital out in the wilderness
on the forested border between the French and English, on the Ottawa and Rideau
Rivers, away from the troublesome United States border. After the war of 1812 between
the United States and the British Empire, the British military built the 124-mile Rideau
Canal between Ottawa and Kingston so their forces would no longer have to sail a long
stretch of the St. Lawrence River with the danger of US cannon. The capital has been
there ever since, for better and for worse.
Ottawa has had a sweeping renovation. Miles of sleek new government office buildings
surround the Old World core of Canadas Parliament Buildings and monuments. There
are numerous parks, millions of flowers, bicycle paths and walking trails, restaurants and
theatres on both the Ontario and Quebec sides of the Ottawa River, with French - and
English - speaking Canadians happily using them all.

EXERCISE 2 Read passages A and B, then complete the information below.

Dates Events
1. 1763
2. 1791
3. 1860s
4. 1867

EXERCISE 3 True or False? (Texts A & B)

T F
1. Canada is the biggest country in the world. q q
2. Canada originally had four provinces. q q
3. The native Canadian populations have always been treated well by the European colonists. q q
4. The 1812 war was between France and the United States. q q
5. Ottawa is the capital of Canada. q q
6. Ottawa is the largest city in Canada. q q
7. The head of government is Queen Elizabeth II. q q
8. Canada is sparsely populated. q q

4
 1. Canada

NAME CLASS DATE

Text C - Dual Culture - Precarious Balance

Modern Ottawa has become a meeting place. Here the traditionally bitter two
solitudes Canada the isolated, superior English and the withdrawn,
resentful French meet in a new atmosphere, wining and dining, talking and
playing, running national government together, in two different languages
however precariously.
(from National Geographic)

EXERCISE 4 True or False? (Text C)

T F
1. The French and English populations of Canada have a relationship of mutual comprehension,
and always have done. q q
2. The English population consider themselves superior. q q
3. The French population do not have a problem with this. q q

EXERCISE 5 Read text B and C again and answer the questions. C

1. How long has Ottawa been the Capital of Canada? A
2. Who decided this? N
3. What has Ottawa become?
A
D
EXERCISE 6 Now do some research on other websites (e.g. Wikipedia) to find the following information
about Canada. A
1. Area:
2. Population:
3. Capital:
4. Languages:
5. Largest city:
6. Longest rivers:
7. National emblem:
8. Currency:
9. National animal:
10. National sport:

EXERCISE 7 Write an essay about the Inuit, answering the following questions. You can use additional
information from Wikipedia or other websites.

1. What is the historical lifestyle and culture of the Inuit?

2. When did the Inuits lifestyle start changing?
3. Where are their settlements located and why?
4. What has modernized life in the Canadian Artic?

5
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FOCUS ON

2 IRELAND
NAME CLASS DATE

Text A - The Myth of Ireland - The Land of the Leprechaun

EXERCISE 1 Before you read, can you answer these questions about Ireland?

1. Ireland is composed of just one country, true or false?

2. Does the Republic of Ireland have a bigger or smaller population than the UK?
3. What is the capital of (the Republic of) Ireland?
4. Are the Irish religious? What is the most common religion?

Ireland is a small island on the edge of Europe where time has stood still. Life is
ruled by the changing seasons and the local pub is the centre for gossip,
philosophy and entertainment. They call it the land of time enough, where a
man will never do today what he can put off till tomorrow.
The Emerald Isle is a richer green than you could imagine and the country still
possesses a timeless tranquillity. At times it seems that even the capital, Dublin,
managed to escape the 20th century, as if time has merely passed over, leaving a
soft, magical city, evoking childhoods, familiar nooks, a human scale, gardens and
black iron fences, where anonymity remains both suspect and transient. The Irish
are great talkers, famous around the world for the gift of the gab, never more so
than when the shops and offices close and the pubs fill up in the early evening.
Even businesspeople may conduct their affairs in the pub, spending as much time
on blather as business, blather of course being a typical Irish word for talking
nonsense. In short, one can get as drunk on words as on Guinness in an Irish pub.
Some of these aspects of the Irish character, it is said, are traceable to the centuries
of British rule. They are lawbreakers at heart, their oppression giving them a taste
for anarchy, a belief that freedom lay not in institutions but in opposing them.
Imagination is one of the Irish peoples most predominant qualities, and the rich
Celtic folklore is filled with it, along with plenty of wild romanticism and
superstition. The Irish have a host of fairies, ghosts and imaginary beings that are
said to roam the Irish countryside and populate their many legends, the most
famous of course being the leprechaun; these are mischievous creatures who own a
pot of gold which they hide at the end of the rainbow.
(adapted from National Geographic)

EXERCISE 2 True or False?

T F
1. Ireland is a big island on the edge of Europe. q q
2. Life is ruled by the changing seasons in Ireland. q q
3. Ireland is known as the Diamond Isle. q q
4. The Irish like to talk. q q
5. The most common place to talk in Ireland is a coffee bar. q q
6. Blather is a typical word meaning to talk business. q q
7. The Irish arent a very romantic people, they arent very interested in folklore and superstition. q q

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NAME CLASS DATE

Text B - The Real Ireland - Big Changes

Ireland is actually the third biggest island in Europe, although it is quite
sparsely populated with only just over six million people. While the Irish may
seem like the friendliest people in the world, that does not mean they shouldnt I
be taken seriously after centuries of occupation, they fought bitterly for their
independence from Britain, obtaining it in 1922. The north-east part, now
R
known as Northern Ireland, remained with Britain, but religious divisions E
between the Catholic and Protestants there continued to lead to fighting which
L
is only now being resolved peacefully.
Irelands economy after independence was depressed for many decades, with A
large numbers of Irish emigrating, but that all started to change with EEC N
membership in 1973.
The economy started to improve by the late 1980s, and in the 1990s the D
country saw massive growth which came to it being known as the Celtic Tiger
foreign firms and investment were encouraged with low taxes, and the economy
grew by around ten per cent a year, leading to Ireland becoming theoretically
one of the richest countries in the world, per capita. This all came crashing
down with the global financial crisis of 2008, however, and it is still on the road
to recovery.
Traditionally a strongly Catholic country, the church has lost much of its
influence in recent years, due to the population becoming more modern and
materialistic, and due to the reaction to some shocking scandals involving the
church in Ireland and around the world.

EXERCISE 3 Answer the following questions.

1. When was the Republic of Ireland born?

2. Which country did Ireland become independent from?
3. When was Irelands main growth period?
4. What caused the growth?
5. Does Ireland still have a strong economy?
6. Is Ireland still a Catholic country?

7
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FOCUS ON

3 AUSTRALIA
NAME CLASS DATE

Text A - A Fossil of Gondwana

This is a fossil leaf. It comes

from a region in India called
Gondwana. A fossil is a plant
or animal that died and was
pressed in stone centuries
ago. Scientists have found
fossil leaves like this in South
America, Antarctica, Africa
and Australia.
What does this mean?
Study the maps and read the
explanations to find a
possible answer to the
question.

165 million years ago there was just one continent, a vast
super continent. Scientists call this original continent
Gondwana.

A
About 130 million years ago, different pieces of this super
continent began to move apart like rafts floating at a speed
of just a few inches a year scientists call this movement
continental drift. These became what we know as the
modern continents.
B

65 million years ago, the piece of land which is now

Australia started its separate journey to the north. Like an
ark, it carried with it Gondwanas strange and wonderful
creatures. Today, many of Australias animals and plants are
C
unique and are not found in any other part of the world.

Modern Australia is a flat and eroded continent because the

oceans invaded it many times during its trip northward.

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NAME CLASS DATE

EXERCISE 1 Read again and match the following sentences with the four maps.

Picture # A
1. The world as it is today. .
2. 65 million years ago. Australia starts moving North. . U
3. 165 million years ago. The original super continent. .
4. 130 million years ago. The modern continents start to separate. . S
T
EXERCISE 2 Complete this paragraph. Use the information from the text A Fossil of Gondwana. R
Some fossils found in the (1.) region of Gondwana are similar to (2.) A
found in (3.) and Australia. Once, these (4.)
were all parts of an original (5.) also called L
(6.) . Then a movement called (7.) separated
I
the continents over millions of years. Australia (8.) thousands of miles
away from where it was (9.) . This is why it is a (10.) A
continent. This is also why Australias flora and fauna are (11.)

EXERCISE 3 Match each sentence in column A with an appropriate sentence in column B.

Use the relative pronoun THAT or WHICH to connect the sentences.
Then put all the sentences in order to form a summary.

A B
1. Fossils are plants or animals a. is called Continental drift.
2. There is a region in India b. is called Gondwana.
3. There are fossils in Gondwana c. died and were pressed in stone millions of years ago.
4. This means that once there d. are similar to the ones found in America, Africa,
was a single continent Australia and Antarctica.
5. The present day continents were e. cannot be found in other parts of the world.
broken apart by a force
6. Australia has plants and animals f. was made up of all of these continents put together.

Which of the relative pronouns can you omit?

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 NAME CLASS DATE

Text B - Facts About Australia

EXERCISE 4 Complete the facts about Australia with the missing words.

acres arable bone-dry crust English-speaking mutton

oil outback opals peak Saudi Arabia sheep Unites States wool

1. Less than 10% of the land is .

2. The largest lake, Eyre (3,600 square miles), is usually .
3. Australians are the greatest consumers of alcohol in the world.
Roughly the size of the at 2,966,368 square miles, Australia is
also among the worlds least densely populated countries, averaging only five
people per square mile.
4. There are ten times as many as people.
5. In the arid , where it takes 40 to graze a single sheep,
there are the worlds largest stations, including Anna Creek cattle station in
South Australia, at 12,000 square miles.
6. Australia leads the world in the export of beef and veal and is second, after
New Zealand, in and lamb.
7. production is 30% of the worlds entire output.
8. Australia is flat, the highest , Kosdusko, being only 7,310 feet, but
its Great Barrier Reef is the worlds longest at 1,250 miles.
9. Australia also has:
the oldest known fragments of the earths , from the Jack Hills,
at 4.3 billion years;
28% of the free worlds uranium, along with coal reserves that match
s oil in potential energy;
reserves that supply nearly 90% of Australias needs;
almost all the worlds .

10
 3. Australia

NAME CLASS DATE

Text C - Australia - A Modern Paradise

Australia is not just rich in minerals. It is the only western country to have
substantially avoided the financial crisis which began in 2008, although
mining wealth is nevertheless one of the major drivers of its economy.
Per capita income is amongst the highest in the world, and the country has a
large and prosperous middle class, with a large percentage of home owners.
Australia has entire towns and communities of miners and similar workers who
fly in to work for a month and then go home for a week or twos leave. They
are very well paid, but it is a lonely occupation; often they are almost entirely
men just like early Australia, when most of the population was male convicts
and their guards! Now, however, the population has a majority of women, and
it is increasingly multicultural.
Past immigration, with Italians, Greeks and Irish coming looking for work, is
repeating itself with the European financial crisis. They arrive to find a country
which is already very diverse, with communities from China and many other
Asian countries.
This diversity reflects itself in the food and in the culture, although some A
traditionally Australian things never change the country is still sports mad, and U
you will still find shrimp on the barbie and ice cold beer wherever you go. Voting
is still compulsory, literacy is virtually 100%, and despite a sharp rise in obesity, S
life expectancy is amongst the highest in the world. After all, when you live in T
paradise, there is no stress to send you to an early grave!
R
EXERCISE 5 True or False?
T F
A
1. Australia has had a big recession recently. q q L
2. Most Australians own their own houses. q q
3. There is a lot of money in mining. q q I
4. Not much has changed in Australia recently. q q
5. Sports are popular in Australia. q q A
6. Australian citizens dont have to vote in elections. q q
7. Australians are thinner than they used to be. q q
8. The writer of the article thinks Australia is a good place to live. q q

EXERCISE 6 Match the vocabulary from texts B & C to its meaning.

1. acre A. A large farm where cows or sheep are raised. Cattle ranch.
2. cattle station B. A long line of rock or coral near and parallel to the coast.
3. compulsory C. A semi-precious stone. It has various colours.
4. earths crust D. An Imperial measure of land (area) = 0.4047 hectares.
5. life expectancy E. Obligatory.
6. literacy F. The ability to read and write.
7. opal G. The external part of the earth.
8. per capita income H. The money which is gained by an individual in a year.
9. reef I. The probable number of years that an individual will live.
10. to graze J. To feed on growing grass in fields or open land.

11
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NAME CLASS DATE

Text D - The Language. Aussie Lingo - No Worries!

As Australia is at the bottom of the globe, British people jokingly refer to the
country as Down Under. Compared with standard British English, Australian
English can also seem upside-down, a funny dialect. Australian pronunciation is
different, as is some vocabulary. The grammar and spelling is basically the same as
British English but, in style and usage, Australian is increasingly influenced by the
United States.
If you ask Australians whether they speak British or American English, they may
see your question as an insult to their cultural individuality. Youll be told that
they speak Aussie lingo (Australian language).

The following conversation reveals the well-known Australian sense of humour, as

well as a lot of Australian slang more than you would typically hear at any one
time! Read it and then try to match up the slang to its meaning.

Bruce, a stereotypical Australian, has invited Bob, a stereotypical pale

Brit, to a beach barbecue near Sydney. Bob cant handle the heat and
collapses on the beach. Bruce hasnt noticed though, and continues
talking to him!

So youre a Pom, are you? I dont mind that. Some guys might do,
but Im broad-minded. (Turns to his wife) Throw another shrimp on the
barbie, Sheila! (Sighs) I couldve been playing footie this arvo, but Im
feeling a bit crook. Still, a relaxing weekend at the beach is not too
bad were all happy when were flat out like lizards drinking.
You know I was a jackeroo once on a sheep station in Queensland?
My boss was a rich squatter. I wanted to work hard and get rich too.
The guy I worked for used to drive his prize sheep around in the back
of his Rolls Royce. Nothing was too good for that ram... I mustve
been one sandwich short of a picnic to leave that job. The trouble
was, it got so hot at midday that you could fry an egg on a tin plate.
One of the stockmen got off his horse once, took off his clothes and
then went walkabout in the bush. Thats what the Aboriginals do when
they get tired of living like white people, you know. Being a fair dinkum
Aussie myself, I went on walkabout to Sydney. And now I cant get a
job. I know Ill never be a tall poppy because I enjoy the outdoor life
too much. No, Ill probably never be State Governor, but no worries.
Great! The Sheilas have got our tucker ready. Lets get the shrimp,
then well join the surfies... Bob, are you okay mate?

12
 1. Commerce and trade

NAME CLASS DATE

A
EXERCISE 7 Now match the Australian slang to its definition.
U
AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH S
1. arvo A. Afternoon. T
B. An area covered with low woody plants
2. barbie R
generally smaller than trees.
3. broad-minded C. Apprentice station worker. A
4. bush D. Australian cowboys.
L
5. crook E. Barbecue.
6. fair dinkum F. Food.
I
7. flat out like lizards drinking G. Friend (also UK). A
8. jackeroo H. Genuine, real.
9. mate I. High achiever, very successful.
10. no worries J. Liberal, open minded (also UK).
11. one sandwich short of a picnic K. Lying down and relaxing.
12. Pom L. Male sheep (standard English word).
13. ram M. No problem.
N. Nomadic wandering, a traditional coming
14. Sheilas of age in Aboriginal culture.
15. squatter O. Not very intelligent.
16. station P. Ranch.
17. stockmen Q. Sheep farmer.
18. surfies R. Sick.
19. tall poppy S. Surfing fanatics.
20. tucker T. Women (pejorative).
U. Word for an English person
21. walkabout (usually pejorative - red like a POMegranate).

13
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NAME CLASS DATE

Text E - The Political System - The Administration - The People

Darwin

Wyndham

Cairns
NORTHERN
Townsville
TERRITORY

F li
nd
Port Hedland s

er
Mount Isa
QUEENSLAND
WESTERN Barcaldine Rockhampton
Lake Alice
Amadeus Springs

A U S T R A L I A Brisbane
Mount
Magnet
AUSTRALIA Lake
Eyre
Gold Coast
Geraldton Lake
Barlee SOUTH AUSTRALIA NEW
Kalgoorlie g
Lake rlin
Da
Lake AUST.
Torrens
Broken SOUTH
Ceduna Gairdner Port
Perth
Norseman Hill Newcastle
Bunbury Augusta
Esperance
WALES Sydney
AUST.

Port Lincoln Murra Wollongong

Albany Adelaide y
Albury CANBERRA
Bendigo
VICTORIA
Geelong
Melbourne
Australia is a Federal Republic and an independent
country of the British Commonwealth. It is a
Parliamentary Democracy. TASMANIA
Australia is made up of six states and three mainland territories.
Each state and territory has its own Parliament and makes its Hobart

own local laws.

The Parliament of Australia sits in the capital, Canberra, and makes
laws for the whole country, also known as the Commonwealth or Federation.
Canberra is a city created as the capital; it is not in one of the states, but in its
own territory, the Australian Capital Territory. Sydney, however, is the biggest
and most important city outside of politics.
The Federal government is led by the Prime Minister of Australia, who is the
member of Parliament chosen as leader.
The two main political parties are the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal
Party. The leader of Australia is the Prime Minister, although the Governor-
General represents the Queen of Australia, who is also the Queen of Great
Britain, as head of state. The Governor-General, currently, Her Excellency Ms
Quentin Bryce, is chosen by the Prime Minister.

EXERCISE 8 Answer the following questions.

1. What is the capital of Australia?

2. What is the biggest city?
3. Who is the Head of State?
4. Who does the Governor General represent, and who chooses them?
5. What are the two main political parties?

14
 3. Australia

NAME CLASS DATE

Text F - The First Australians

The Aborigines arrived from

Southeast Asia at least 40,000
years ago. All were nomads
who moved on from day to
day in search of food.
The men hunted for meat,
the women used digging slicks
to gather roots and plants.
The arrival of Europeans was
a great shock to their hunting
and gathering way of life.
Many of them died from
diseases such as measles and
smallpox which they had no
resistance to.
Their sacred lands were taken A
from them. Removed from U
their lands, the Aborigines
lost everything and many S
aboriginal groups vanished T
altogether.
It is only in the last few years R
that Australia has given more recognition to Aboriginal rights much of A
their land has been returned to them, and the importance of their culture
L
is being recognised.
Aboriginal people believe that long ago, before time itself, their ancestors I
coming from the sky travelled across the land of Australia from East to
A
West. Aborigines believe in a mythical time of creation, the dreamtime.
Without written texts, the aborigines pass on their legends through songs,
dances and paintings, and there are many world-famous Aboriginal artists.
Unfortunately, like many native groups in North America, many of their
communities are now trapped between their traditional culture and the
modern communities the colonists founded, and there is a high

EXERCISE 9 True or False?

T F

1. The Aborigines were originally from Australia. q q

2. They had fixed communities before the Europeans came. q q
3. Many people died of disease when the Europeans arrived. q q
4. The land has religious importance for the Aboriginal people. q q
5. They have more rights now than in the past. q q
6. Now the Australian government has recognised Aboriginal rights, they have no more problems. q q
7. There are many important Aboriginal texts. q q
8. The Aboriginal creation myth is known as sleep time. q q

15
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FOCUS ON

4 SOUTH AFRICA
NAME CLASS DATE

Text A - Early History

1652-1850s
The Dutch East India Company founded
Cape Town as a provisioning station in 1652.
Wars, loss of land and disease decimated
the native Khoisan.
Colonists born on African soil became known
as Afrikaners.
In 1806 Britain wrested power from the
Dutch. To escape British control, Boer
farmers journeyed into the interior during the
Great Trek of the 1830s, battling tribal
natives.

1850s-1902
The dream of freedom from British rule
culminated in the founding of Boer republics
in the Orange Free State and Transvaal in
the1850s. But the discovery of diamonds in
1867 and gold in 1886 ended Boer isolation
and led to conflict with Britain, eventually
sparking the Boer War. Britain triumphed
and South Africa became part of the Empire.

EXERCISE 1 True or False?

T F
1. South Africa was founded by the British. q q
2. People emigrating to Africa were known as Afrikaners. q q
3. Britain took over South Africa in 1806. q q
4. The Boer war was fought for control of the diamonds and gold. q q
5. The British lost the Boer war. q q

EXERCISE 2 Before reading text B, do you know:

- who F.W. De Klerk and N. Mandela are?

- what happened between 1990 and 1994 in South Africa?

16
 4. South Africa

NAME CLASS DATE

Text B - Apartheid South Africa: A Shameful Period of History

S
O
U
T
H

A
In 1961 South Africa became a republic. Under the National Partys system of
apartheid, blacks were to be cordoned off. Some 73% of this population was F
offered independence in ten homelands consisting of just 13% of the
R
countrys territory, much of it marginal terrain. Four homelands accepted these
terms. I
During the apartheid era, the Republic of South Africa consisted of four C
provinces: the Cape Province, the Orange Free States, Transvaal and Natal.
Afrikaans (a derivative of Dutch) and English were the two official languages, A
native languages were not considered. South Africa has a diverse population,
which during apartheid was classified into whites (Dutch, French and English
in origin), Blacks (different native groups), Asians (mostly Indian immigrants)
and Coloureds (people with mixed racial heritage). Blacks, Asians and
Coloureds lived in enclaves after 1948, when the Afrikaner-dominated
National Party instituted apartheid, meaning literally apartness; while
towards the end reforms led to beaches, cinemas and restaurants being
integrated and passbooks that blacks once had to carry just to move around
being abolished, apartheids framework stood until 1994. A Tricameral
Parliament gave nominal representation to Asians and Coloureds but ignored
the Black majority, who werent allowed to vote at all.
The Afrikaners saw themselves to be besieged by a world that demanded they
give up the land they had bled for, and many regarded yielding power to a
black majority as intolerable. This led to confrontation, both peaceful and
violent, and worldwide condemnation.

17
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NAME CLASS DATE

The Fight Against Apartheid -

The African National
Congress, or ANC, was the
main organisation for black
South Africans to fight for
their rights. They performed
violent resistance, as well as
calling strikes, boycotts, and
defiance. This led to a later
Defiance Campaign in the
1950s, a mass movement of
resistance to South Africa
under apartheid. The
government tried to stop the
ANC by banning party leaders and enacting new laws to stop the ANC,
however these measures failed.
Many leaders of the ANC were arrested, most famously Nelson Mandela.
1960 saw the Sharpeville Massacre, in which 69 people were killed when police
opened fire on anti-apartheid protesters.
Some whites eventually joined the fight against apartheid, and international
condemnation became absolute South Africa became completely isolated on
the world stage, and their sport teams could not play other countries.

Mandelas Release and the End of Apartheid - By the 1980s the tide of world
opinion was having an effect on South Africa, and in 1990, Nelson Mandela,
symbol of the anti-apartheid movement, was released from prison after more
than 26 years. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 together with the
man who organised his release and helped end apartheid, President Frederik
Willem de Klerk. Nelson Mandela then became president of South Africa from
1994 until 1999. He is considered South Africas greatest leader of all time and
is respected around the world.

EXERCISE 3 True or False?

T F
q q
1.
2.
South Africas present policy favours apartheid.
Whites had to live in homelands. q q
3. Blacks were not allowed to vote in national elections. q q
4. An Afrikaner is a native African. q q
5. The ANC organised completely peaceful resistance to apartheid. q q
6. The Sharpeville Massacre saw many protestors killed by the government. q q
7. World isolation was not a major reason for the end of apartheid. q q
8. Nelson Mandela is a highly respected leader. q q

EXERCISE 4

Use Wikipedia or other internet resources to do more research on apartheid.

What restrictions were there on black people? What other discrimination and repression did they face?
Then write a summary of apartheid, including historical information from above and the information you have found.

18
 4. South Africa

NAME CLASS DATE

Text C - Modern-Day South Africa

Nelson Mandelas election as

president of South Africa in 1994
marked a period of great healing and
transition for the country. The
apartheid system and its many
discriminatory rules and systems
were finally abolished, making
people of all colours and races free
and equal in the country. The
government finally represented the
people it governed, and that meant
that Nelson Mandelas ANC won a
landslide victory. South Africa was
also once again able to compete on
the world sporting stage, and they
hosted and won the rugby world cup
in 1995. South African sports teams
continue to enjoy great success, particularly in cricket and rugby, and their star S
players now come from all ethnic backgrounds.
Unfortunately, it has not been an unbridled success story while South Africas O
non-whites are now free, they still often have to endure the same poverty and U
living conditions as before; South Africas crime rate shot up after the free
elections, and is coming down very slowly indeed; and the country is in the
T
midst of an AIDS epidemic. While Nelson Mandela was loved and respected by H
all, his successors have not been universally popular the optimism of the
Mandela years has been replaced by cold reality, but it is difficult not to be
amazed at how much has been accomplished in little more than twenty years. A
F
EXERCISE 5 True or False? R
T F I
1. Ending apartheid immediately solved all problems in South Africa. q q
2. Nelson Mandela was the first democratically elected president. q q C
3. He was not popular in this position. q q
4. Sport is important in South Africa. q q

EXERCISE 6 Match the word to the synonym.

1. Accomplished A. Achieved.
2. Endure B. Change.
3. Ethnic C. Massive.
4. Hosted D. Organised.
5. Landslide (in this context) E. Race, cultural.
6. Transition F. Tolerate/put up with.
7. Unbridled G. Uncontrolled, uncontainable.

19
 Focus on

NAME CLASS DATE

Text D - The Power of a Well-Told Tale: Nadine Gordimer

In October, 1991, Nadine Gordimer, 67, became the first

woman in 25 years to win the Nobel Prize for Literature with
the book My Sons Story. The announcement of the award
pleased readers and critics of her 20 volumes of fiction,
including 10 novels, and prompted an interesting response in
South Africa, where she was born, where she had lived all of
her life, and where three of her books had once been
officially banned.
For nearly 40 years, Gordimer spoke out against
apartheid, the crazy collection of laws and restrictions
that enabled the white minority to control and suppress
the countrys black majority. She did so in her fiction,
although subtly and without tub thumping; she
portrayed the strains of racial divisiveness and
oppression by monitoring their effect on individual
characters recognizable lives. As a private citizen,
Gordimer often engaged in more direct
opposition to her governments policies.
She gave this interview in the same year, 1991,
a time of hope and turbulent change. Nelson
Mandela had been released just the year
before.

Q. As a writer, you inherited a vivid subject in South Africa. Has it sometimes

seemed as much a burden as a blessing?
A. No, I think youre thinking of my subject as Apartheid, capital A. Thats not
my subject. My subject has been living in that country and the people who
live there.
Q. Literature can change individuals. But do you think your books, or anyones
books, have had an impact on the public changes now underway in South
Africa?
A. I think that our books have influenced the understanding of people outside
South Africa. This cant be done in daily newscast. There you get the peek,
you get the riots, you get the extreme situation. And then the TV turns to
the next event. Whereas the fiction writer invents, from his or her own
observation. The experience that led up to that moment of crisis, whats
going to happen to these people afterward. Thats what fiction deals with:
how peoples lives are affected permanently.
Q. How do you feel about the current progress in South Africa? Is it going well?
A. There are tremendous problems, but I dont think that Nelson Mandela or
the ANC has been deflected from the course to be followed. I am constantly
staggered by Nelson. Hes an amazing phenomenon; we really didnt think
he was ever going to come out of that prison alive. When he did come out,

20
 4. South Africa

NAME CLASS DATE

we went through that period of tremendous euphoria, which I think

people certainly deserved after all those years of frustration. But for
myself and many others, we couldnt be naive enough to imagine that
all was going to go smoothly. And obviously, so far, it hasnt.
Q. In spite of that, do you remain hopeful about the way things are going?
A. Oh, absolutely. I really feel that what has happened so far cannot ever
be put back; it is irreversible. That does not mean that the white
regime will not try to stall as long as possible. But having gone so far
already, I simply cannot see how this process can be arrested or turned
back. The sad thing is that, in order to bring it to its conclusion, more
trouble may lie ahead.
Q. Will the Nobel Prize change anything for you?
A. No, not really. I suppose this will die down. In a few days therell be
some other sensation, and Ill go home to South Africa and start
writing again in peace. S
(extracted from an article by Paul Gray and Bruce W. Nelan, Time, October, 1991) O
U
EXERCISE 7 Read the introduction and the interview with Nadine Gordimer quickly and answer
T
True or False.
T F H
1. The interviewee is a woman. q q
2. At the time, it was common for women to win the Nobel prize for literature. q q
3. At the time of the interview, apartheid had already ended. q q A
4. She was confident that the process of change could not be stopped. q q
F

EXERCISE 8 Now read again and answer the following questions.

R
I
1. Where was she born?
2. Where did she live at the time of the interview? C
3. What was her occupation? A
4. Which side of the apartheid struggle was she on?
5. What is the name of the novel she was being interviewed for?
6. What was significant about this novel?
7. Whom does she express admiration for in the interview?

EXERCISE 9 Match the words and phrases to their meanings.

1. arrested or turned back A. a brief look

2. be staggered by (to) B. be amazed by (to)
3. peek C. fiery rhetoric
4. riot D. large, violent public disorder
5. trouble E. problems
6. tub thumping F. stopped or reversed
7. vivid G. strong, intense

21