1．Australia is the world’s smallest continent and largest island, a relatively young nation established in an ancient land.

澳大利亚既是世界上最小的大陆也是最大的海洋岛。它是建立在这片古老的土地上的一个较为年轻的国家。

2．For years this land remained barren and isolated.

这片土地多年来荒芜贫瘠、与世隔绝。

3．Its development represents man’s triumph over remoteness and a harsh landscape.

澳大利亚的发展，是人类战胜遥远和荒芜的成果。

4．Australia has a land area of 7,682,300 square kilometers and its coastline is 36,735 kilometers long.

澳大利亚占地7,682,300平方公里，海岸线长达36,735公里。

5．It is the world’s driest inhabited continent.

澳大利亚是世界上最干燥的人类栖息地。

6．Vast areas are arid or semi-desert, and virtually uninhabited.

大片地区都是干旱或者半沙漠，人迹罕至，渺无人烟。

7．There are rain forests and vast plains in the north, snow field in the south-east, desert in the center and fertile croplands in the east, south and south-west.

北部是热带雨林和大草原，东南部是雪地，中部是沙漠，东部、南部和西南部是肥沃的耕地。

8．Much of the country lies in the tropics.

大部分位于热带地区。

9．Australia is one of the most urbanized countries in the world, with about 70 percent of the population living in the 10 largest cities.

澳大利亚是世界上城市化程度最高的国家之一，有70%的人口居住在10大城市里。

10．Most of the population is in the south-eastern corner and only 15 percent of Australians live in rural areas.

大部分人口居住在东南角只有15%的人住在乡村。

11．It is generally accepted that Australia’s original inhabitants, the aboriginal people, have lived on the continent for 40,000 to 60,000 years.

澳大利亚土著居民被普遍认为已经在高州大陆栖息了4万至6万之久。

12．They were its their sole human in habitants until two centuries ago.

土著人一直是生活在澳大利亚体地上的唯一居民，这种情况一直延续到200年才起变化。

13．The first European settlement of the continent, by the British, began in 1788, on the site now occupied by Sydney, Australia’s largest city.

1788年，来自英国的第一批欧洲移民来到澳大利亚，在现在的悉尼，澳大利亚最大的城市。

14．There were then about 1,500 Europeans and an estimated 300,00 Aboriginal people in Australia.

那时澳大利亚大约有1,500欧洲人和大约300,000的土著人。

15．As a result of natural increase and immigration, the population today has reached more than 18 million.

随着人口自然增长和移民的增加，今天的人口已经超过1千8百万。

16．Australia is a multicultural society with about a quarter of the population foreign born.

澳大利亚是一个多文化的社会拥有大约四分之一的人口是出生在境外的外国移民。

17．January 26, the date of the first European settlement of the continent in 1788, is Australia’s national day.

1788年1月26日，第一批欧洲移民在这里定居，这一天也就是澳大利亚的国庆节。

18．Austrailia has no official or traditional national costume.

澳大利亚没有规定的国服，也没有规定的传统民族服饰。

19．The official language is English, by usage, not by law.

英语是澳大利亚的官方语言，这时习惯的沿袭，而非法定之规。

20．Australian English has its own colloquialisms and slang expressions, it does not differ importantly from other forms of English, except in accent.

虽然澳大利亚英语有它自己的方言和俚语，但是除了口音上，与其他说英语国家的英语没有很大的区别。

21．Spelling generally follows the British form.

拼写上也大致遵照英国英语的形式。