Australia is a society of people from a rich diversity (多样) of cultural, ethnic, linguistic (语言的) and religious backgrounds. Most Australians are immigrants or the descendants (后裔) of immigrants who arrived over the past two centuries from more than 200 countries.
Cultural and linguistic diversity was a feature of Australian life before European settlement and remains a defining feature of modern society. Immigration began with European settlement in 1788. It continued at a steady pace — reaching 50,000 a year during the Gold Rush Period of the 1850s — until the population reached seven million in the 1940s. Most settlers were from a British background. Since the Second World War, the Australian government’s immigration program has brought more than 6.6 million migrants to Australia.
Today, almost one in four of Australia’s estimated resident population of 24 million was born overseas. The last 50 years have seen a significant change in the source countries of people who choose to come here. In the 1960s, 45% of all new settlers were born in the United Kingdom and Ireland. By 2006 to 2007, this had fallen to 17%, with settlers and long-term visitors increasing from countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East.
Australia recognizes, accepts and respects cultural diversity. There are few countries in the world where migrants have achieved the level of economic, political, social and cultural participation that they have in Australia. Foreign languages are taught in most mainstream Australian schools and universities, as well as in community ethnic schools, many of which are funded by the Australian government. The Australian government spends a large amount of money every year supporting the teaching and learning for Asian, European and indigenous (本土的) Australian languages and Australian sign language for the deaf in mainstream schools as well as through community language programs.
Foreign languages are taught in both primary and secondary schools. The most popular languages studied are Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Indonesian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic and Latin. Around 50% of students study a foreign language at some time during their primary and secondary schooling. Almost 150 languages are taught in mainstream and non-mainstream settings.
【小题1】From the text, we can learn that .| A．Australia began to have waves of immigrants from 1788 |
| B．most Australians are immigrants from a British background |
| C．there wasn’t any cultural diversity in Australian life until modern times |
| D．about 6.6 million people immigrated to Australia during World War II |
| A．Australia’s estimated resident population |
| B．the effects of Australia’s immigration program |
| C．the increase in settlers and long-term visitors |
| D．the change in the source countries of immigrants |
| A．The Population of Australia. |
| B．The Foreign Languages of Australia. |
| C．The immigration Policy of Australia. |
| D．The cultural and Linguistic Diversity of Australia. |
