Bloggers 4°, p150 Down Under

Down Under est un récit de voyage plein d’humour écrit par l’auteur Bill Bryson.
Dans ce livre, Bryson sillonne l'Australie, ce vaste pays qu’il connaît bien.
Le terme Down Under (« en bas, en dessous ») est utilisé pour désigner
l'Australie et la Nouvelle-Zélande. L'origine de ce terme vient du fait que ces
pays se trouvent dans l'hémisphère Sud, « en dessous » de la plupart des
autres pays du monde.

1. Look at the page. Read the quotation in the Australian map.

Imagine what the text is going to talk about.
The text probably talks about the Outback, which is the deserted area of Central Australia.
In fact, this is a photography of Uluru or Ayers Rock, which is located in the Outback, and the
quotation also implies that crossing the Outback is a unique and memorable experience.
Therefore, the author will explain how this region is.

2. Read the first paragraph.

What do you learn about Australia? Why is Australia special?
We learn that Australia is not only the world’s sixth largest country, but also a continent.
It is the world’s largest island. It was the first continent conquered from the sea, and Britain first
used Australia as a prison and sent convicts there.

.3. Read the second paragraph.

a. What do you discover about the Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rocks?
- The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living thing on earth.
- Ayers Rock is the largest monolith and it has an aboriginal name: Uluru.

b. Why do you think that Australia is “a tough place” (l. 23)? Find examples in the text.
I think that it is a tough place because there are many dangerous animals both on land and in the sea:
"It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else." (l.9)
Bryson also says that there are many ways to die in Australia : you can be “stung or pronged to death”
or “fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles” or “carried out to sea by irresistible currents” or die “in
the baking outback”. (l. 19-23)

4. Read the third paragraph.

a. What is the narrator doing in Australia?

Bill Bryson has already been to Australia five times, but he has not visited the Outback. That’s
why he has come back.

b. Where is he going exactly?

So, he is going to the deserted area of Central Australia, also called the Outback.