Australia is the sixth (1) country in the world after Russia, Canada,
China, the United States and Brazil.
The population grew very quickly during the 20th (2) , mainly because
millions of people (3) to Australia from other countries. The
population of Australia is now around 21 million.
The most famous Australian city is probably Sydney, which is on the country’s
southeast (4) and has a population of around 4 million. The country’s
(5) , however, is the smaller city of Canberra, about 300 kilometres
from Sydney.
Australia is well known for its spectacular (6) , which includes deserts
in the interior, (7) in the far north, and the Great Barrier Reef (the
longest coral reef in the world) near the northeast coast.
Australia is also well known for its unusual (8) , including kangaroos
and koala bears. A very high percentage of Australia’s animals do not live in any
other part of the world.
Australia produces lots of (9) sportsmen and women. It has the world
(10) cricket team, one of the best rugby teams and a strong national
football team, even though football is not particularly popular in Australia. In the
Olympic Games Australia always does well in lots of different events and finishes
near the top of the medals (11) .
Famous Australian (12) include the actor Mel Gibson, the actress Cate
Blanchett, and the pop singer Kylie Minogue.