Englischverständnis für fortgeschrittene Anfänger – Buch 1

Ages. mittelalterlich
    sank – the past tense of ‘to sink’, to go down under the water. sinken, untergehen
    extensive – large, big. weit, umfangreich
    commuter – someone who travels to work. Pendler
    vintage – something old and of high quality. erlesen
    trams – a type of transport also known as a trolley car. Straßenbahnen
    headquarters – the main offices of an organisation. Hauptquartier
    indulge in – ‘to indulge in something’, to enjoy it. sich etwas gönnen, einer Sache frönen
    archipelago - a group of islands. Archipel
    inhabited – ‘to be inhabited’, to have inhabitants (people who live there). bewohnt sein
    on a budget – ‘to be on a budget’ to plan how you will spend your limited money. sparen müssen
     
    Questions about the text
    1. What are ‘T-bana’?
    2. What is the most popular museum in Stockholm?
    3. What do some people call Stockholm?
    4. Which part of Stockholm has old-fashioned buildings?
    5. What four types of transport are mentioned in the text?
    6. When do trams travel to Djurgården Island?
    7. What is a popular Swedish leisure activity?
    8. What does the Vasa Museum have?
    9. Who has their headquarters in Stockholm?
    10. True or false? – Many people live on the Stockholm archipelago.
    Click here to check your answers.

Papua New Guinea
     

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    Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania which occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea (and over 600 smaller islands). It is located in the south-western Pacific Ocean. Cape York, which is the northern tip of Australia, is only 150km away from Papua New Guinea. The country is divided into four regions with twenty provinces . The capital is Port Moresby.
    The country's has a very diverse landscape and in some places it is extremely rugged . The New Guinea Highlands (a chain of mountains) go from one end of the island to the other end.  There is a populous region in the highlands and this has many tropical rainforests. There is also the long Papuan peninsula, called the 'Bird's Tail' by the islanders.
    There are Rainforests in the lowland and coastal areas and huge wetland areas around the Sepik and Fly rivers. This extreme landscape means that it is hard for the country to improve transportation infrastructure . In some areas, airplanes are the only way to travel because it is so difficult to travel on land.
    The highest mountain is Mount Wilhelm, which is 4509 metres high. Coral reefs surround Papua New Guinea and they are protected by law. The country is located on the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, this is where several tectonic plates meet. There are many active volcanoes and these erupt frequently. Earthquakes are also quite common and they are sometimes accompanied by tsunamis.
    Human bones have been found which have been dated to about 50,000 BC. These ancient people probably migrated from Southeast Asia. Interestingly, the archaeologist Tim Denham says that agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7000 BC and it is one of the few areas of original plant domestication in the world (Denham, 2003). There was a major migration of Austronesian speaking peoples roughly 2500 years ago. They went to coastal regions and they introduced pottery , pigs, and certain fishing techniques (a study about these people was published by Peter Bellwood in 2006).
    In 1884, Germany took control of the northern half of the country and ruled it as a colony for some decades. This part of the island was known as German New Guinea. In the same year, the southern half was colonised by the United Kingdom and called British New Guinea.
    During World War I, Papua New Guinea was occupied by Australia. A peaceful independence from Australia occurred on 16 September 1975, and today the two countries have a close relationship (Australia is Papua New Guinea’s biggest aid donor). Papua New Guinea became a member of the United Nations on 10 October 1975.
    Papua New Guinea has more languages than any other country in the world. There are over 820 indigenous languages, however most have fewer than 1000 speakers. The most widely spoken language is Enga, with about 200,000 speakers, then Melpa and Huli. The languages of Papua New Guinea are classified into two large groups: Austronesian languages and non-Austronesian (or Papuan languages). There are three official languages for Papua New Guinea: Hiri Motu, Tok Pisin and English.
    Today, there are more than a thousand different