Question

语法填空（二） 阅读下面短文， 按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求， 在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空， 并将答案填写在答题卷标号为56~65的相应位置上。

Australia, the last continent, was discovered by ships             56             (belong) to some European nations in the seventeenth century.  These nations were             57             (little) interested in changing it into a colony than in           58                  (explore) it.  As in the early history of the United States, it was the English    59               set up the settlements in Australia.  This history and the geography of these two British colonies have some other things in common as well.

       Australia and the United States are about the same in size, and their western lands are both not rich   60               soil.  It was on the eastern coast of Australia and America that the English first settled, and both colonies soon began to develop towards the west.  However, this westward   61             (move) took place  62             because the English were searching for better land than because the population was increasing.  Settlements of the west part of both countries developed quickly after gold  63             (discover) in America in 1849 and in Australia two years later.

       Although the development of these two countries has a lot in common, there are some   64             (strike) differences as well.  The United States gained its independence from England by revolution while Australia won its independence without having to go to war.  Australia,  65             (like) the United States, was firstly turned into a colony by English prisoners and its economic development was in wheat growing and sheep raising.  By 1922, for example, Australia had fifteen times more sheep than it had people or almost half as many sheep as there are people today in the United States.  Australia and the United States have more in common with each other than either one has with most of the rest of the world.

Answer 1

56. belonging  57. less                  58. exploring         59. who/that          60.in

61. movement 62. more        63. was discovered 64. striking            65. unlike