VOA常速英语2007-Australia Defends Controversial Citizenship Test

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
02 October 2007

Australian refugee groups have criticized tests that require people to answer questions about the nation's history and culture to qualify to become a citizen. Critics believe the new measures will discriminate¹ against migrants from non-English speaking countries. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Migrants are being asked a range of questions about Australian history, its political institutions and culture.

To gain Australian citizenship², candidates will have to achieve a pass mark of 60 percent from a random³, computer-generated list of 20 questions.

There are sections on what officials call "Australian values", despite the difficulty of reaching a formal definition of these. Prospective⁴ citizens are also being quizzed on religion, freedom of speech and gender⁵ equality.

Migrants will also have to pass a new English language test. Critics believe this will discriminate against settlers from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews says the ability to speak English is vital.

"The bottom line is if you wish to achieve your aspirations⁶ in Australia then it is quite crucial that you can speak English," he said.

Refugee advocates have insisted that people from non-English-speaking backgrounds will be disadvantaged by the new citizenship tests.

Critics of the new measures believe the money would be better spent on language tuition for migrants.

Leader of the minority Democrats⁷ party, Senator Lyn Allison, believes the tests are a waste of time.

"What's the point of it?" she asks. "Are we really testing people's fitness for citizenship, or are we testing them on memory of some pretty obscure facts, which the Government has brought together in what it calls the history of Australia?"

The tests are part of a push to promote "Australian values" after riots between Muslim and non-Muslim gangs at a beach in Sydney in 2005.

The government has said the aim is to foster greater social cohesion⁸ while still appreciating the rich ethnic⁹ diversity of a country where a quarter of the population was born overseas.

Failure to achieve the necessary standards in the citizenship tests will not be the end of the world for applicants¹⁰. They will be allowed to re-sit the examination as many times as they like.

1 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

2 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

3 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

4 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 cohesion   

n.团结，凝结力

参考例句：

• I had to bring some cohesion into the company.我得使整个公司恢复凝聚力。
• The power of culture is deeply rooted in the vitality,creativity and cohesion of a nation. 文化的力量，深深熔铸在民族的生命力、创造力和凝聚力之中。

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

10 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。