Australia is a large country lying between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Australia is an island, like Britain, but unlike Britain it is vast. It is, in fact, nearly twenty-
Most of Australia is a semi-desert. People cannot live where there is no water, and so
The first Australian people were the dark-skinned Aborigines, and though the coming
of the white settlers destroyed their tribal lives, some sixty thousand still survive in
Australia today. They account for about 1% (percent) of the population. They may be
found in the inland areas of the country. Some live-in reservations, others work as
stockmen, shepherds and cattle drivers. Some live-in modern cities but it is not really
easy for them. They have to fight for their rights.
The first Europeans to land in this country were Dutch sailors who were blown off
their course across the Indian Ocean in the seventeenth century. They were not
impressed by what they found. It remained for Captain Cook, an Englishman, who
arrived in 1770 to notice the possibilities of the new country. He hoisted the British Flag,
and Australia was British.
Though Cook was warmly congratulated on his discovery, nothing was done about
it until after the American Revolution when royalists', who had to leave the United
States, appealed to the British Colonial Office for new colonies, in which to settle, The
British Government needed a place to send British prisoners, too. And Captain Cook's
discovery was remembered. Thus, it was that over 1,000 people, 850 of them convicts,
set sail in 1787 to start the first European colony in Australia.
The national holiday, Australia Day, is now celebrated on or near January 26th in
memory of the landing of the British in 1788. Explorers followed, and though they met
with great hardships, they discovered good, rich places to live in, they found minerals,
they began to build new settlements. The young country grew very fast.
Today Australia is an independent federative state consisting of 6 states and 2
territories. It is a member of the Commonwealth headed by the British Queen. The
national language is English. The capital of Australia is Canberra; the largest cities are
Sidney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
43. It is difficult for Aborigines to live in mod
em cities, because they have to …
A) wear costumes
B) study at school
C) fight for their rights
D) speak English
44. Toda
y Australia is an independent federative stale consisting of 6 states and …
territories.
A) 26
B) 6
C) 2
D) 18
45. Australia is an isl
and and nearly … times as large as the British Isles.
A) 6
B) 25
C) 26
D) 18
46. Coming of white settlers
destroyed … life of Aborigines
A) tribal
B) modem
C) industrial
D) rural
47. The majority of the Aborigines … in cities.
A) are happy
B) live
C) survive
D) do not live
48. The national language of Australia is …
A) English and Australian
B) Australian
C) French
D) English
49. The national holiday is celebrated in memory of … of the British.
A) landing
B) living
C) fighting
D) destroying
50. Some dark-s
kinned Aborigines live in … cities but it is not really easy for them.
A) modern
B) small
C) old
D) large
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