2006年VOA标准英语-Australia Considers Controversial Citizens

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
11 May 2006

Australia is considering adopting controversial citizenship¹ tests for immigrants. New settlers could be quizzed on their understanding of Australian cultural values as well as their English language skills. The country's conservative government believes the system would help immigrants fit into society and improve their job prospects². Critics says such a test would be unnecessary and discriminatory.

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Multicultural³ Australia is home to people from many different countries. At this suburban⁴ shopping center in Sydney you are as likely to hear conversations in Arabic, Greek and Vietnamese as you are in English.

This country has been transformed by half a century of mass immigration.

Kurander Sejit is a Muslim filmmaker based in Sydney. He believes that the idea of a citizenship test is a bad one.

"These potential tests will basically disadvantage those people whose first language is not English. And I think it's not fair to expect someone who has come here as an adult, who may be a fantastic engineer or a computer technician or something like that, but may not have the full capacity to speak English," he said. "I think it's going to disadvantage those people who for all intents and purposes could be great Australian citizens but may not be able to pass that test and I think we need to give them more support."

Members of Sydney's ethnic⁵ Vietnamese community are worried as well. Spokesman Thang Ngo says that compulsory⁶ citizenship tests could disadvantage desperate asylum⁷ seekers.

"I think it's going to penalize⁸ a lot of people especially those who come from a refugee background. The Vietnamese community is by far the biggest that we've had in recent years," he said. "And I've got to say when you're fleeing, you know communism or fleeing persecution⁹, English would be the last thing you worry about in terms of language skills or in terms of any skills you might need."

The conservative government here argues that if newcomers want to actually seek Australian citizenship, they would then want and need to know what it means to be Australian. That would include key values like tolerance¹⁰, individual freedom and equality for women.

Junior Immigration Minister Andrew Robb says that immigrants must be aware of these quintessential Australian characteristics.

"It's the glue that sort of welds this Australian family together," said Robb. "It's why a lot of them come here in the first place to have an understanding of the values, have some sense of customs and the laws."

One older Greek immigrant is an example of what the government is trying to change by requiring a citizenship test.

Mercer: How much do you think you know about Australian values and Australian history?

Gentleman: History

Mercer: Not much?

Gentleman: Nothing accept the Englands they come in and they kill the Aborigines and took the land. I think that's all I know.

The government's aim is to enhance social harmony and to avoid a repeat of last December's ugly race riots in Sydney. They pitted white gangs against young Lebanese Australians who have grown up with little knowledge of or respect for each other's way of life.

Not all immigrant families oppose Canberra's citizenship test proposal.

Roberto, a student whose mother is Greek and father is from Ecuador, says the test makes sense.

"I think it's a great idea. …it'll weed out people that are coming into the country for the wrong reasons," he said. "Because I think it's important whoever does come to the country tries to appreciate some of the values of what it means to be an Australian, I suppose.

Last year 98,000 people became Australian citizens. They came from 170 countries.

For many the road begins at the Immigration department in Sydney, where the lengthy¹¹ process involves various security and character checks.

These prospective¹² new citizens also believe that immigrants should be tested on Australian values and culture.

Woman:" I think it's good 'cos overseas people actually who are interested in migrating (to) Australia have a better understanding and have a better chance of actually joining into the whole culture."

Gentleman: "Every country has its own laws and rules and if you go to that country you live by the rules and laws and abide¹³ by them, I suppose."

Australia is looking at how other countries, like the United States and Canada, test the knowledge of prospective citizens as well as their competency in English.

Canberra is not likely to adopt the Dutch method where immigrants who fail a test three times are deported¹⁴. Critics of the plan have insisted that the government here hasn't thought it through and have pointed¹⁵ out that many indigenous¹⁶ Australians do not speak English fluently.

1 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。

2 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

3 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 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。

6 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

9 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

11 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

12 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。

13 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

14 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。