Australia, the last continent, was discovered by ships belonging to European nat

    Australia, the lastcontinent, was discovered by ships belonging to European nations in theseventeenth century．These nations were less interestedin changing it into a colony (殖民地)than in exploiting it．As in the early history of theUnited States, it was the English who set up the settlements in Australia．This history and the geography of these twoBritish colonies have some other things in common as well.

    Australia and the UnitedStates are about the same in size, and their western lands are both not rich insoil．It was the eastern coast ofAustralia and American that the English first settled, and both colonies soonbegan to develop towards the west．However,this westward movement took place more because the English were searching forbetter land than because the population was in- creasing．Settlements of the western part of bothcountries developed quickly after gold was discovered in America in 1849 and inAustralia two years later.

    Although the development ofthese two countries has a lot in common, there are some striking differences aswell．The United States gained itsindependence(独立) from England by revolution whileAustralia won its independence without having to go to war．Australia, unlike the United States, wasfirstly turned into a colony by English prisoners and its economic (经济) development was in wheat growing an sheepraising．By 1922, for example, Australiahad fifteen times more sheep than it had people, or almost half as many sheepas there are people today in the United States．Yet,in spite of these and other main differences, Australia and the United Stateshave more in common with each other than either one has with most of the restof the world.

1．In the early history of America andAustralia, both colonies developed towards the west firstly for the reason that________ .

A．the population was increasing rapidly in theeast

B．the English thought land there might bebetter

C．gold was discovered there

D．fewer people lived there

2．Australia, unlike the United States,________.

A．did not discover gold until the late 1840s

B．was the last and biggest continent to bediscovered

C．was not rich in gold in its western part

D．won its independence by peaceful means

3．The last sentence in the last paragraph“…Australia and the United States have more in common with each other than eitherone has with most of the  rest ofthe world” means ________.

A．The United States and Australia do not haveany main differences

B．The United States and Australia have nothingin common with the rest of the world

C．The United States and Australia have muchmore in common than they have with other countries

D．In common with the rest of the world, theUnited States and Australia have a lot of differences

试题答案

答案：BDC