ABORIGINAL is a term used to describe the people and animals that lived in a place from the earliest known times or before Europeans arrived. Examples are the Maori in New Zealand, the Aborigines in Australia and the Indians in America. They all share the fact that they were pushed off their land by European settlers.
Maori
The Maori were the first people to go to New Zealand, about 1,000 years ago. They came from the islands of Polynesia in the Pacific. They brought dogs, rats and plants with them and settled mainly on the Northern Island. In 1769, Captain James Cook from Britain took possession of the Island and from that time British people started to settle. The Maori signed an agreement on land rights with these settlers, but in later years there were arguments and battles between them.
Aborigines
The native people of Australia came from somewhere in Asia more than 40,000 years ago. They lived by hunting and gathering. Their contact with British settlers began in 1788. By the 1940s almost all of them were mixed into Australian society as low-paid workers. Their rights were limited. In 1976 and 1993 the Australian Government passed laws that returned some land to the Aborigines and recognized their property rights.
American Indians
Long before the Europeans came to America in the 16th and 17th century, the American Indians, or Native Americans, lived there. It is believed that they came from Asia. Christopher Columbus mistook the land for India and so called the people there Indians. The white settlers and American Indians lived in peace at the beginning, but conflicts finally arose and led to the Indian Wars (1866-1890). After the wars, the Indians were driven to the west of the country. Not until 1924 did they gain the right to vote.
小题1:The similarity among Maoris, Aborigines and American Indians is that _________.
A．they lost their vote right after European settlers’ arrival
B．they lost their land after European settlers’ arrival
C．they were driven out of their country after European settlers’ arrival
D．they were not treated as citizens until recently小题2:Before European settlers arrived, we can infer that the Aboriginals had lived _________ life.
A．a miserable
B．a bitter
C．a peaceful
D．a troublesome小题3:Which of the following was first interrupted by the Europeans?
A．Maoris.
B．Aborigines.
C．American Indians.
D．Not mentioned.小题4:The passage mainly tells us _______.
A．the war between aboriginal people and white settlers
B．the history of Maoris, Aborigines and American Indians
C．the present unfair treatment to aboriginal people of the world
D．European settlers were the enemy of all aboriginal people
