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Australian Identity Quiz

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Australian Identity Quiz

Read the passage carefully, then answer the questions using evidence from the text and your own reasoning. Australian identity is complex: avoid treating any single experience as universal.

People sometimes describe Australian identity through familiar images: beaches, wide-open landscapes, sport, slang or a barbecue with friends. These can be meaningful parts of life here, but they do not describe everyone. Australia is home to people with many backgrounds, languages, beliefs and ways of living. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have cared for Country for tens of thousands of years and are the First Peoples of Australia. Their cultures are diverse and continuing. The idea of Country can include land, waters, ancestors, community and responsibilities; it means more than a place on a map. Any discussion of Australian identity that ignores First Peoples leaves out a central part of the nation’s stories. Other stories have also shaped the country. Migration has brought people from around the world, and families have made homes here across many generations. Some people feel a strong connection to more than one place or culture. For them, belonging may involve keeping family languages and traditions while also building a life in Australia. Ideas such as mateship and a fair go are often associated with Australia. Mateship can mean standing by others, especially in difficult times. A fair go suggests that people should be treated with fairness and have a genuine opportunity. These ideals are not always achieved, though. They are most useful when people ask whether everyday actions match the values they claim to hold. Stories in poems, television, books and everyday conversations help people explore these questions. A story about a family, a landscape or a friendship can offer a point of connection, but one story cannot speak for a whole country. Australian identity is not a finished checklist. It changes as people listen to one another, remember the past and decide how they want to live together.

Check your understanding

Use details from the passage to support your answers.

1.Which statement best expresses the passage’s main idea?

Australian identity is mainly defined by sport and outdoor life.
There is one shared experience that defines every Australian.
Australian identity is varied and continues to change through people’s stories and choices.
People should give up family traditions to belong in Australia.

2.According to the passage, what can the idea of Country include beyond a physical place?

3.True or false: The passage says that beaches and barbecues are meaningless parts of Australian life.

TrueFalse

4.Complete the sentence using the passage: A “fair go” suggests that people should be treated with and have a genuine .

5.Match each idea to the meaning given in the passage.

Mateship
A fair go
Country

Fair treatment and a genuine opportunity
Standing by others, especially in difficult times
A relationship that can involve land, waters, ancestors, community and responsibilities

6.Why does the writer say that ideals such as a fair go are “most useful” when people compare them with everyday actions?

7.In paragraph three, what does “belonging may involve keeping family languages and traditions while also building a life in Australia” suggest about identity?

A person must choose only one culture.
People can have connections to more than one culture or place.
Family traditions prevent people from belonging.
Everyone experiences migration in the same way.

8.The writer says, “one story cannot speak for a whole country.” Explain this idea in your own words.

9.Find one example in the passage of a contrast between an ideal and reality. Explain what the contrast helps the reader understand.

10.Write a short response: Which idea from the passage would be most important to include in a discussion about Australian identity? Give a reason and refer to at least one detail from the passage.