NewZealandANewZealandNewZealandisanislandthatliesofftheeasterncoastofAustralia．Itismadeupoftwolargeislands：NorthIslandandSouthIsland．NewZealandissurroundedbythePacificOceantothenorthandeast，andtheTasmanSeatothesouthandwest．ItisaboutthesamesizeasJapan．Wellington，thecapitalcity，liesontheNorthIsland．OtherimportantcitiesareAucklandinthenorth，ChristchurchontheSouthIslandandQueenstown，furthertothesouth．NewZealandhasamildseaclimate,whilethenorthissubtropical．Itrainsquitealot．ThewarmestmonthsareDecembertoFebruary．ThecoldestmonthsareJunetoAugust．TheoceanandseassurroundingtheislandsaredeepblueandmanyofNewZealand’scitieslieonabayandhaveanaturaldeepharbour．ThesandbeachesinNewZealandarealsoveryclean．NewZealandhasaverybeautifulnaturallandscapewithgreenhillsandmountains．Someofthemountainsaredeadvolcanoes．TheNorthIslandisfamousforanareaofhotsprings，someofwhichthrowhotwaterhighintotheair．Someofthisheatneartheearth’ssurfaceisusedtomakeelectricity．TherearemanyplantsandanimalsthatonlyliveinNewZealand．Themostfamousanimalisalittlebirdthatcannotfly．ItiscalledakiwianditisNewZealand’snationalbird．TheMaoriweretheearliestpeopletocometoNewZealand．Whentheydiscovereditabout1,000yearsago，theycalleditAotearoa，whichmeans“Landofthelongwhitecloud”．TheMaoricamefromtheislandsofPolynesiainthePacific．Itissome3，500kilometresfromPolynesiatoNewZealand,whichtheytravelledinnarrowboats．Theybroughtdogs，ratsandplantswiththemandsettledmainlyontheNorthIslandwheretheweatherwaswarmer．Around1421，Chinesesailorsdiscoveredtheislandsononeoftheirvoyagesaroundtheworld．TheDutchmanAbelTasmannamedtheislandsNewZealandin1642．Morethan120yearslater，CaptainJamesCooktookpossessionoftheislandsin1769andfromthattimeBritishpeoplestartedtosettleinNewZealand．By1840about2,000Europeans，mainlyBritish，hadcometosettleinNewZealandandtheMaorisignedanagreementwiththesesettlers．Thatdayisstillcelebratedasanationalholiday．ItiseveryyearonthesixthofFebruary．TodaytherearestillmanypeopleinNewZealandwhocallEngland“thehomecountry”,althoughitisaplacewheremostofthemhaveneverbeen．BLifeInNewZealandNewZealandhasapopulationofabout3.8millionpeople，ofwhichaboutfourteenpercentareMaori．Sincethemid-1980sgrowingnumbersofAsianshavesettledinNewZealand，andtheymakeupaboutsixpercentofthetotalpopulation．ThemajorityofthepeoplespeakEnglish．However，Maori，whichisthenativelanguageoftheMaoripeople，isalsoanofficiallanguage．Allstreet用心爱心专心1signs，namesofcitiesandplacesmustbewritteninbothlanguages．TheyalsohaveMaorinewspapers，radioandTVprogrammes．ThecommonmeetingplaceforMaoriisonthemarae，anareaoflandwithameetinghouse，whereallimportanteventstakeplace．Maorichildrenaretaughtatanearlyagewhattodowhentheycometothemarae．SpecialdaysfortheMaoriarecalledhuis．Ahuimaybeawedding，burialorconference．Thehappiereventsaremarkedwithspeeches，singinganddancing．Whensomeonedies，alltherelations，oldandyoung．cometothemaraefortheMaoriburialservice．Maoripeoplebelievethatthespiritstayswiththebodyforthreedays,soduringthistimesomeonealwaysstayswiththedeadperson．Manypeoplewillsleepandeatonthemaraeduringthesethreedaysandsharetheirmemoriesofthedeadperson．NewZealandisanimportantagriculturalcountry,withcattlefarmingontheNorthIsland,whilethehillySouthIslandhasmoresheepfarms．Themainexportsofthecountryarewool，lamb，beef,butter，forestproducts，fruitandvegetables．Somefarmershaveturnedtokeepingdeer，andtherearenowabout4,500deerfarmsinthecountry．Thedeerarefarmedfortheirmeatandfur．Whicharethenshippedtomanyothercountries．NewZealandwineisofhighqualityandissoldallovertheworld．Livinginacountrywithplentyofspaceandagoodclimate，NewZealandersloveallkindsofsportandoutdooractivities．Insummer，peopleliketogosailing，swimming，horse-ridingandrock-climbinginthemountains．Themainschoolholidaysarefrommid-DecembertillearlyFebruarywhenthedaysarelongandwarm．Manyfamiliesspendthistimeatacottagebytheseasideorgocampinginthehillsoronthecoast．NewZealand，withitsnaturalbeauty，mountains，riversandnationalparks，alsoattractstouristsfromallovertheworld．用心爱心专心2
