ORTOTROT? I heard that word while studying in Australia. It is a local language for “Are you ready (to go)?”. And at Sydney Airport, I asked the way to the train station and a man told me“Go ask that “bloke” over there.” “Bloke” is used in Australia and refers to a person. “Day” and “die” sound almost alike and since “a”, “i” and “o” all sound almost the same, I have always told my Australian friends, jokingly, that they only need 24 letters, and not 26 like the rest of us do.
Australian English began to be different from British English in 1788 and has many words that some consider unique (独特的) to the language, such as outback, meaning a remote, sparsely-populated (人口稀少的) area. Early settlers from England brought other similar words, phrases and usages to Australia. “Bonzer”, which was once a common Australian word meaning “great” or “beautiful”, is thought to have been an American term. The American influence on language in Australia has come from pop culture, the mass media (books, magazines and television programmes) and the Internet. Australian English is most similar to New Zealand English for their similar history.
Words of Irish origin are used, some of which are also common elsewhere in Irish, such as “tucker” for “food”. Some native English words whose meanings have changed under Irish influence, such as “paddock” for “field”, which has exactly the same meaning as the Australian “paddock”are still in use.
According to the passage, we know Australian English          .

A．has special characters

B．is a kind of old language

C．is very difficult to learn

D．is the same as British English

Why did the writer tell his Australian friends they only need 24 letters?

A．Because Australians never use “a” or “i”.

B．Because Australians speak very easy English.

C．Because there are 3 letters having similar pronunciation.

D．Because there are some different ways to call the same thing.

Australian English is most similar to New Zealand English because          .

A．they learn from each other

B．they have similar history

C．the two countries have the same political system

D．people from the two countries often travel to each other’s country

The American influence on Australian English comes from the following EXCEPT         .

A．pop culture	B．the Internet
C．computer software	D．the mass media