Comprehension Test

Australia and New Zealand

Christine Lindop
1 Which of these people . . .? Sir Edmund Hillary, Peter Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Captain
William Hobson, Captain James Cook.
a . . . landed in New Zealand in 1769 and Australia in 1770? ...............
b . . . wrote the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand? ...............
c . . . is a film director from New Zealand who made The Lord of the
Rings? ...............
d . . . was one of the first people to climb Mount Everest? ...............
e . . . is an Australian singer and dancer who is famous all over the world? ...............
20 marks
2 What are these animals and birds from Australia and New Zealand? Match a number
from A with a letter from B.
A
1

emu

kangaroo

kiwi

koala

tuatara

B
a an animal which eats eucalyptus and sleeps for eighteen hours a day
b a small bird which cannot fly and lives on the ground
c an animal which jumps with its strong back legs
d a small animal with three eyes; it is one of the oldest types of animal in the world
e the second largest bird in the world; it can run very fast
20 marks
3 What do these Mori words mean? Match a number from A with a letter from B.
A
1

Aotearoa

haka

hangi

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

Pkeh

Tangata whenua

B
a a special way of cooking with stones
b the name for white people
c the name for New Zealand
d a Mori dance
e the name for Mori which means people of the land
20 marks

4 Australia and New Zealand quiz. Can you answer these questions?
a What is the capital of Australia?
b What is the capital of New Zealand?
c What is the name of the enormous rock in the Australian desert?
d There are forty-eight hills around the city of Auckland. What are they?

e What is the name of the large island that is part of Australia?

20 marks
5 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
a

Only five countries in the world are larger than Australia.

The Aborigines arrived in Australia around one thousand years ago.

The six different states of Australia became one country in 1951.

The king or queen of Britain is the king or queen of Australia and New Zealand
too.

Canberra is the oldest and largest city in Australia.

Some Australian cattle stations are as big as the country of England.

There are more people than sheep in New Zealand.

Nobody lived in New Zealand until the Mori arrived.

In New Zealand you are never more than 130 kilometres from the sea.

New Zealand was the second country in the world to give women the vote.
20 marks

Total marks

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

Multiple-choice Test

Australia and New Zealand

Christine Lindop

Places
Choose the best answer.
1 The capital of Australia is _____.
a [ ] Sydney b [ ] Hobart

c [ ] Canberra

d [ ] Melbourne

2 Australia has _____ states.

a [ ] three b [ ] six

c [ ] nine

d [ ] twelve

3 Alice Springs is the largest town _____.

a [ ] in the outback

b [ ] in Tasmania

c [ ] on the east coast

d [ ] on the west coast

4 In Australia you can visit Uluru which is _____.

a [ ] a coral reef

b [ ] a long beach

c [ ] a large lake d [ ] an enormous rock

5 Lake Eyre is famous because it is often _____.

a [ ] warm

b [ ] cold

c [ ] dry d [ ] icy

6 The capital of New Zealand is _____.

a [ ] Christchurch

b [ ] Wellington c [ ] Auckland

d [ ] Waitangi

7 _____ is the biggest city in New Zealand.

a [ ] Hamilton

b [ ] Wellington

c [ ] Auckland

d [ ] Napier

8 There are _____ main islands in New Zealand.

a [ ] two

b [ ] four c [ ] six

d [ ] eight

9 Ruapehu, Nguaruhoe and Tongariro are three _____ in the centre of New Zealand.
a [ ] towns

b [ ] islands

c [ ] lakes

d [ ] volcanoes

10 In Rotorua the air smells like eggs and _____ explodes out of the ground.
a [ ] hot water b [ ] hot sand

c [ ] cold air d [ ] cold water

20 marks

People
Choose the best answer.
11 The first people to live in Australia were _____.
Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

a [ ] Mori

b [ ] Aborigines

c [ ] British

d [ ] Dutch

12 Ned Kelly was a famous Australian _____.

a [ ] bank robber

b [ ] explorer

c [ ] soldier d [ ] footballer

13 The British people took away the Aborigines _____.

a [ ] cattle

b [ ] sheep

c [ ] gold

d [ ] land

14 Steve Irwin grew up working mostly with _____.

a [ ] dogs

b [ ] kangaroos

c [ ] crocodiles

d [ ] camels

15 The aboriginal woman Cathy Freeman won the _____ at the Sydney Olympics.
a [ ] 100 metres race b [ ] 400 metres race c [ ] high jump

d [ ] long jump

16 _____ people arrived in New Zealand about one thousand years ago.
a [ ] Mori

b [ ] Japanese c [ ] British

d [ ] Dutch

17 The Dutch sailor _____ gave New Zealand its name.

a [ ] Captain Cook

b [ ] Captain Hobson

c [ ] Abel Tasman

d [ ] Murray Halberg

18 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people to _____.
a [ ] discover New Zealand
c [ ] sail in a jetboat

b [ ] climb Mount Everest

d [ ] do a bungee jump

19 Jonah Lomu is famous for playing _____.

a [ ] rugby b [ ] cricket

c [ ] basketball

d [ ] golf

20 New Zealander Peter Jackson made the film _____.

a [ ] The Matrix

b [ ] Forrest Gump

c [ ] Gladiator d [ ] The Lord of the Rings

20 marks

Facts
Choose the best answer.
21 If you walk all around the coast of Australia you will travel _____ kilometres.
a [ ] 2,576

b [ ] 5,726 c [ ] 10,627

d [ ] 25,760

22 There are _____ people to every square kilometre in Australia.

a [ ] 2.6

b [ ] 26

c [ ] 260

d [ ] 2,600

23 The city of Sydney has thirty _____.

a [ ] parks

b [ ] beaches

c [ ] rivers

d [ ] stations

24 The Great Barrier Reef is the worlds _____ coral reef.

a [ ] smallest

b [ ] oldest

c [ ] longest

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

d [ ] deepest
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25 25 per cent of the worlds _____ comes from Australia.

a [ ] coffee b [ ] tea c [ ] gold

d [ ] wool

26 New Zealand has a population of _____.

a [ ] 410,000

b [ ] 4.1 million

c [ ] 41 million d [ ] 410 million

27 For every person in New Zealand there are ten _____.

a [ ] sheep

b [ ] horses

c [ ] dogs

d [ ] birds

28 Baldwin Street in Dunedin is the _____ street in the world.

a [ ] oldest

b [ ] longest

c [ ] shortest

d [ ] steepest

29 Women in New Zealand got the vote in _____.

a [ ] 1893

b [ ] 1923 c [ ] 1943

d [ ] 1973

30 The oldest _____ in New Zealand is more than 1,200 years old.
a [ ] flower

b [ ] tree

c [ ] bird

d [ ] insect

20 marks

Vocabulary
Choose the best answer.
31 when something is very large
a [ ] steep

b [ ] low c [ ] tiny d [ ] enormous

32 a large hole in the side of a mountain

a [ ] bridge b [ ] coral reef

c [ ] cave d [ ] volcano

33 a person who has been sent to prison for doing something wrong
a [ ] convict

b [ ] judge c [ ] policeman

d [ ] visitor

34 a mountain with a hole in the top where fire and gas sometimes come out
a [ ] hill

b [ ] pool

c [ ] glacier d [ ] volcano

35 a sudden strong shaking of the ground

a [ ] wind

b [ ] earthquake c [ ] war

d [ ] storm

36 metal clothes to protect your body when you are fighting

a [ ] socks

b [ ] gloves

c [ ] armour d [ ] trousers

37 a group of men or women who play a sport together against another group
a [ ] band

b [ ] team c [ ] pair

d [ ] party

38 a person who comes to another country to live and work there

a [ ] farmer

b [ ] pilot c [ ] tourist

d [ ] immigrant

39 to choose somebody in a political election

a [ ] vote

b [ ] ask

c [ ] lose

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

d [ ] find
5

40 a large dry area of land

a [ ] harbour b [ ] desert

c [ ] state d [ ] field

20 marks

Events
Choose the best answer.
41 The British sailor Captain James Cook arrived in Australia in _____.
a [ ] 1242

b [ ] 1489 c [ ] 1770

d [ ] 1860

42 In May 1787, eleven ships sailed from England carrying _____.

a [ ] food

b [ ] convicts

c [ ] sheep

d [ ] cattle

43 In 1851 _____ was found in Australia and many people came from all over the world to find
it.
a [ ] gold

b [ ] coal

c [ ] oil

d [ ] coral

44 In 1901 the different Australian states _____.

a [ ] changed their names

b [ ] had a war

c [ ] became one country d [ ] became two countries

45 The Olympics were in Sydney in _____.
a [ ] 1988

b [ ] 1992 c [ ] 1996

d [ ] 2000

46 In the _____ the New Zealand government decided that schools and hospitals should be free
for everybody.
a [ ] 1930s

b [ ] 1950s c [ ] 1970s

d [ ] 1990s

47 In 1981 the _____ rugby team came to New Zealand and many people were angry about
this.
a [ ] French

b [ ] Australian

c [ ] British

d [ ] South African

48 In 1987 New Zealander A. J. Hackett showed _____ to the world.

a [ ] Mori cooking b [ ] the Mori haka dance
c [ ] bungee jumping d [ ] jetboats
49 _____ became a nuclear free zone in 1987.
a [ ] Christchurch

b [ ] The South Island

c [ ] Stewart Island

d [ ] New Zealand

50 In New Zealand between 2005 and 2006 _____ had the most important five jobs in the
country.
a [ ] men

b [ ] women c [ ] Mori people

20 marks
Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

d [ ] British people

Total marks

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

Australia and New Zealand

1 a Captain James Cook
b Captain William Hobson
c Sir Edmund Hillary
d Peter Jackson
e Kylie Minogue
2 1 e
2 c
3 b
4 a
5 d
3 1 c
2 d
3 a
4 b
5 e
4 1 Canberra
2 Wellington
3 Uluru or Ayers Rock
4 Volcanoes
5 Tasmania
5 a T
b F
c F
d T
e F
f T
g F
h T
i T
j F

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

Australia and New Zealand

Places
1

10

People
11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Facts
21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

Vocabulary
31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

Events
41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3

10