Read Your Way Into English

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COM
READING YOUR WAY

INTO ENGLISH
AND LEARNING ABOUT CANADA
THIS COPY BELONGS TO PRTALUKDER@GMAIL.COM
Reading Your Way Into English

and Learning About Canada
Essays and Exercises to Improve
Reading and Writing Skills
Paragon Testing Enterprises Inc.

Reading Your Way into English and Learning about Canada (Ebook Version)
Essays and Exercises to Improve Reading and Writing Skills
© 2010 by Paragon Testing Enterprises Inc.

All Rights Reserved
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title:

Reading your way into English and learning about Canada: essays and exercises to improve reading and
writing skills.
Previous ed. has title: Reading your way into English—and into Canada.
ISBN 978-1-988047-27-0
1. English language—Textbooks for second language learners.

2. Readers—Canada. I. University of British Columbia.
Applied Research and Evaluation Services. II. Title: Reading your way into English—and into Canada.
Table of Contents
Preface iii
Introduction: The Value of Reading 1
Chapter One: Populating Canada 6
Ending an Essay
Chapter Two: The Shape of Canada –

Part I: Eastern Canada 10
Present and Past Tenses
Chapter Three: The Shape of Canada –

Part II: Western and Northern Canada 20
Clauses That Begin with Although
Chapter Four: Governing Canada 30
English Idioms
Chapter Five: The Canadian Legal System 35
Subject and Verb Agreement
Chapter Six: Made in Canada 40
The Use of Participial Phrases
Chapter Seven: Special Canadians – Part I 48
Using Synonyms
Chapter Eight: Special Canadians – Part II 54
More About English Idioms
i
Chapter Nine: Canadian Jokes and Quotations 62
The Use of Prepositions
Chapter Ten: Lighting up the Country 69
Using the Articles A and The
Chapter Eleven: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada 74
Introductory Phrases and Clauses
Chapter Twelve: Four Indigenous Cultures 79
Paragraph Development
Chapter Thirteen: An All-Star Hockey Team 87
Various Tense Forms
Chapter Fourteen: Canadian World Champions 94
Still More About English Idioms
Chapter Fifteen: The Major Cities of British Columbia 103
Parallel Structure
Chapter Sixteen: Multiculturalism in Vancouver 111
Sentence Variety
Chapter Seventeen: Endangered Species in Canada 118
Some Rhetorical Devices
Supplimentary Answer Key 128
ii
Preface
Reading Your Way Into English and Learning About Canada is a collection of essays and
exercises designed and written to improve skills in reading and writing English. Its major
premise is that reading well-written material will improve an individual’s written English. A
secondary purpose of the book is to help newcomers to Canada become familiar with some of
this country’s geography, history, culture, and achievements of its people.
This book has been prepared for individuals whose first language is not English but who wish
to improve their English language skills. The language in the collection of essays is similar in
level and format to the English language found in many college and university texts.
Each chapter in Reading Your Way Into English and Learning About Canada has five sections.
The first section begins with a vocabulary list made up of words that may be unfamiliar to some
readers. The second section points out how the essay that follows illustrates some aspect of
written English that should have particular relevance to readers for whom English is a second
language.
Section three is the heart of every chapter, providing an interesting and informative essay
on some aspect of life in Canada. Each essay is followed by a set of questions (section four)
that will help readers to confirm that they have understood what they have been reading. The
last section of each chapter provides a suggested activity that invites readers to practice their
writing skills.
Readers of this book are encouraged to use the seven strategies outlined in the Introduction. If
used regularly, these strategies will help readers improve not only their writing skills but also
their speaking skills.
iii
Introduction: The Value of

Reading
Vocabulary
Note that the definitions given below are those that fit the context in which each word has
been used in this introduction. Some of the words might have a different meaning in a
different context.
attentively: carefully
comply with: agree to follow
concluded: ended
context: the words surrounding a word or a phrase that help to
determine: its meaning
employed: used
expressed: in written in
fluently: able to use a language easily
grammatical structures: the way words are used in sentences
idiomatic: using phrases that have special meanings, which cannot be derived from the
individual meanings of the words in those phrases
primarily: the main way
proficient: doing something correctly and skillfully
pronunciation: the way a sound is spoken
sophisticated: complex; not simple
strategies: plans of ways of doing something
1
The Value of Reading
Most students who are learning English as a second language soon learn to speak English
well enough to communicate about everyday matters. Primarily, they do this by listening and
talking to people for whom English is a first language.
Learning to write English is a somewhat more difficult matter. Though spoken and written
English are closely related, written English is, in general, more complex, more correct in its
grammatical structures, and less colloquial than spoken English. Also, most of the writing
required at post-secondary educational institutions requires a broader and more sophisticated
vocabulary than is expected in everyday speech.
For a number of reasons, it is difficult to become a proficient writer of English just from
listening to the language being spoken. Because of this, setting aside some time to read on a
regular basis is especially important to anyone who wants to write English fluently. There are
two main reasons for this. One is that most people do not, on a day-to-day basis, make use of
the types of varied and complex sentence structures that are typical of the writing found in
newspapers, magazines, and books. In addition, most written English makes use of a much
larger vocabulary than does spoken English. It is primarily through reading that sentence
structure is learned and a person’s vocabulary is increased.
Reading is also necessary because it is difficult for someone whose first language is not English
to hear the sounds of English well enough to be able to reproduce them correctly in writing.
The matter of the past tense of most English verbs is one example. It is correct English to write,
“When Judy moved to Vancouver, she had to attend a very large high school.” But many
people learning English, especially those whose first language does not have a past tense, write
“When Judy move to Vancouver, she had to attend a very large high school.” The problem is
that the “d” that signifies the past tense is difficult for some people to hear. What they actually
hear is move and, as a result, they write move instead of moved.
If you want to improve your written English, it is essential that you spend some time (at least
half an hour every day) sitting by yourself and reading something written in English. The more
you read, the more attentively you read, and the more you read well-written material, the faster
your written English will improve.
In addition to sitting in a quiet place and concentrating on what you are reading, there are
other strategies that will, if used regularly, help you improve both your writing and speaking
skills.
2
Seven Strategies to Improve Writing and Speaking
(1) Spend some time (say five minutes a day) reading out loud. This will help you hear both the
sound of English words and the rhythm of English sentences.
(2) Spend some time, whenever you can, reading aloud to an English-speaking friend who can
help you with the pronunciation of words and with the meaning of any unfamiliar words.
(3) Have an English-speaking friend read a short section of a textbook aloud while you follow
in your own copy of the same text. By doing this, you will increase your knowledge of how
unfamiliar English words are pronounced and spelled.
(4) Have someone read out loud a short prose passage (such as a well-developed paragraph)
slowly enough for you to write down what is being read. When you are finished, you can
compare what you have written with what was read to you.
(5) Carefully copy a short passage of English prose. This will help you see how words are
spelled, how sentences are punctuated, and how idomatic phrases are used. Idiomatic phrases
are common expressions with special meanings that cannot be understood from the individual
meanings of the words in these phrases. Of all the things you can learn from reading (and
from employing the above strategies), none is more important than having this opportunity to
familiarize yourself with English idioms.
(6) Make a list of English idioms whose meanings you are not sure of and then ask a friend or a
teacher to explain their meanings to you.
(7) Make a list of unfamiliar words and look up their meanings in a dictionary, or ask a friend
or teacher to explain their meanings to you. Keep these lists (along with the definitions of
the words) and go over them from time to time in order to help them become part of your
vocabulary.
Some Notes About Using This Book
(1) Throughout Reading Your Way Into English, the paragraphs in each of the essays have
been numbered. This is not something that you need to do when you write an essay. It has been
done here so that, in the question section of each chapter, reference can be made to a particular
paragraph.
(2) In some of this book’s chapters, five asterisks (*****) have been placed between various
3
sections of the essays. This occurs in essays that deal with a collection of different, though
related, topics. They are used to show that one topic has been concluded and that a new one
will be introduced.
(3) The section of each chapter entitled “Some Help With Vocabulary” is designed to help you
better understand the text. As is noted before each vocabulary list, “the definitions given ... are
those that fit into the context in which each word has been used in the note and/or the essay
that follows. Some words might have a different meaning in a different context.”
(4) The questions at the end of each chapter are also meant to be helpful. Through answering
them, you can check to see that you have understood the main ideas and facts presented
in each essay. You should improve your written English if you comply with the following
suggestion that is repeated in every chapter: “Unless the question requires only a word or short
phrase as an answer, your answers should be expressed in complete sentences and in your own
words. Do not just tie together groups of words taken directly from the reading selection.”
It should be stressed here that there really is value in taking the time to write your answers in
complete sentences and in your own words, for in doing this, you will get practice in writing as
well as in reading. Obviously, in your answers, you will have to use some words that are used
in the essay. What you are asked to avoid doing is just copying out long phrases or complete
sentences from the essay.
The following is an example of what you should attempt to do when you answer the questions
at the end of each chapter. The question used as the example is found at the end of Chapter
One.
The Question: In Paragraph 6, the reader is given two new and related facts about recent
trends in immigration. What are these two facts?
The Answer: In Paragraph 6, the reader learns that most new immigrants to Canada prefer to
live in a city, and that many of them end up living in Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver.
(5) Among the tasks that will be required in the question section of each chapter will be writing
a two-sentence summary of one of the paragraphs found in the essay. The best approach to
writing a paragraph summary is to ask the following two questions:
a) What is the topic of the paragraph?
b) What does the writer say about that topic?
Read the paragraph found below (it was part of the Introduction you just read), and then see
4
how these questions can be used to compose a two-sentence summary of the paragraph.
For a number of reasons, it is difficult to become a proficient writer of English just from
listening to the language being spoken. Because of this, setting aside some time to read on a
regular basis is especially important to anyone who wants to write English fluently. There are
two main reasons for this. One is that most people do not, on a day-to-day basis, make use of
the types of varied and complex sentence structures that are typical of the writing found in
newspapers, magazines, and books. In addition, most written English makes use of a much
larger vocabulary than does spoken English. It is primarily through reading that sentence
structure is learned and a person’s vocabulary is increased.
If we apply the two questions suggested above to the previous paragraph, we would get
something like this:
What is the topic of the paragraph?
“The importance of reading.”
What does the writer say about this topic?
“Reading is important if you want to learn to write well because most written material
makes use of more varied sentence structure than does speech. A second reason is that
through reading we can build up our vocabulary.”
It should also be noted that in writing a paragraph summary, the principles previously
mentioned regarding your answers in the question section apply: you should write complete
sentences and, as much as possible, use your own words.
*****
Finally, it can be noted that since most of the answers required in the question sections are
found in the essays, this book does not have a complete answer section. However, when an
essay does not directly answer a question, you will be directed to a page at the back of the book
where you can check your answer.
5
Chapter One:
Populating Canada
Vocabulary
Note that the definitions given below are those that fit into the context in which each word has
been used in the note and/or the essay that follows. Some of the words might have a different
meaning in a different context.
chronological: in order of occurrence
consequently: afterward; as a result
dramatically: very noticeably
garment: a piece of clothing
in excess of: more than
Indigenous: the native peoples of Canada (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis)
majority: most
6
populating: providing a country with people
rural: in the countryside
sixfold: six times as large
straightforward: clear and direct
urban: living in a city
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Ending an Essay
The essay that follows has a very simple chronological structure. It moves from the past
(before the arrival of the Europeans) to the present. The first five paragraphs give the reader
straightforward facts about the people who have immigrated to Canada and when they came.
However, Paragraph 6, the concluding paragraph, does something different: it provides some
additional information about the most recent period of immigration.
You may have been taught that the way to end an essay was to repeat in your concluding
paragraph the two or three ideas you had introduced in the topic sentence of your opening
paragraph. This might have been useful advice at an earlier point in your writing career, but
it is advice that should be replaced now. Instead of just repeating your initial ideas, your
concluding paragraph should add a new and related idea to your essay.
Notice that in “Populating Canada,” the writer does not conclude by saying, “Thus, we
have seen how patterns of immigration to Canada have changed between the coming of the
Europeans and the year 2001.” Instead, we are given two additional ideas about some recent
trends in immigration to Canada.
Populating Canada
(1) Before the arrival of the first Europeans to North America in the 16th century, it was
estimated that the Indigenous population in what is now Canada was just over 300,000.
The arrival of the first European settlers introduced diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis,
and scarlet fever, and the Indigenous population consequently went into a serious decline in
numbers. Fortunately, there has been a population recovery in recent years, and, according
to Statistics Canada, the Indigenous population in Canada in 2006 was nearly four times
what it had been before the Europeans arrived. Notably, from 1996 to 2006, the Indigenous
population grew at a rate of six times that of the rest of the Canadian population.
7
(2) Before the middle of the 17th century, most of the new immigrants arriving in Canada came
from France. Then the pattern changed, and the bulk of the new settlers were from England,
Ireland, or Scotland, with smaller numbers coming from other parts of Europe and the United
States. By the year 1901, immigration had brought the population of Canada to just over five
million.
(3) During the 20th century, the number of people living in Canada increased more than
sixfold, growing from five million to its present total of over 31 million. Three and a half million
people were added between the years 1901 and 1921. Most of these new immigrants were from
Europe. Among them were Germans, Scandinavians, Austrians, Poles, and Ukrainians. The
people from Poland and the Ukraine were often referred to as “people in sheepskin coats”
because of a garment that many of them wore. These new immigrants were attracted to Canada
by the availability of free land on the rural Canadian prairies. Settlement in that vast region
was made possible by the existence of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which, after its completion
in 1885, extended all the way from Montreal to Vancouver.
(4) Immigration to this country slowed down between the beginning of World War I and the
end of World War II (1914 to 1945). Following World War II, Canada opened its doors to many
political refugees from all parts of the world including Eastern Europe, the West Indies, Africa,
Asia, and the Middle East. In the 1980s and during the early years of the 1990s, the pattern
of immigration once again changed dramatically. During these years, the majority of the
newcomers were no longer from France, Britain, and other parts of Europe but now were from
Asia, especially Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam.
(5) During the 1980s, an average of 100,000 newcomers entered Canada each year, and, in
the 1990s, the number increased to over 200,000. In 1993, a typical year in this period of
immigration, 252,137 new immigrants entered Canada from over 40 different countries. The
largest number of people came from Hong Kong (36,026) followed by India (20,199), the
Philippines (19,417), Taiwan (9797), China (9353), and Sri Lanka (9061). The United States,
Vietnam, Great Britain, Poland, Jamaica, and Yugoslavia each had between 5000 and 8000
immigrants come to Canada during this period.
(6) By 2016, the number of people calling Canada home was in excess of 36 million. The
settlement of immigrants throughout Canada is now predominantly urban rather than rural.
Over one half of the immigrants who came to Canada during the past decade live in one or
another of the country’s three largest cities—Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. The total
population of these three cities is over ten million, roughly one-third of the total population of
Canada.
8
Refer to the Essay to Answer the Following Questions
Unless the question requires only a word or a short phrase as an answer, your answers
should be expressed in complete sentences and in your own words. Do not just tie together
groups of words taken directly from the reading selection.
1. What does the reading selection tell us about the Canadian population in each of the
following time periods?
a. Before the arrival of the Europeans.
b. From the arrival of the Europeans to the middle of the 17th century.
c. From the middle of the 17th century to the year 1900.
d. The years 1901 to 1921.
e. Between the beginning World War I and the end of World War II.
f. Between World War II and 1980.
g. From about 1980 to 1995.
h. In 1993.
2. In Paragraph 6, what new information is the reader given about recent trends in
immigration?
3. Write a two-sentence summary of Paragraph 1.
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay outlining two or three reasons why someone
might want to immigrate to Canada. In your conclusion, try to add a new and related idea
rather than summarizing the ideas in your introduction.
9
Chapter Two:
The Shape of Canada – Part I:

Eastern Canada
Vocabulary
been used in the essay that follows. Some of the words might have a different meaning in a
different context.
agricultural: having to do with the growth of food
Anglophones: people whose first language is English
Boeing 747: a very large airplane
causeway: a roadway built over water by filling in the water with earth
Confederation: the union of provinces and territories that form Canada
densely populated: having many people living in one area
10
extensive: numerous
food processing: changing the condition of food (e.g., canned food; potatoes become
frozen French fries)
isthmus: a narrow strip of land connecting two large land masses
La Belle Province: a French term meaning the beautiful province
mainstay: a thing upon which something is based or depends
munitions: bombs, bullets, and other war materials
muskeg: a swamp or bog
notable: remarkable
peninsula: a long piece of land extending out into the ocean
prevalent: occurring often
renowned: famous
rugged: not smooth
stocks: supplies
version: form
wilderness zone: land that is not to be developed
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Present and Past Tenses

Most of the essay that follows is written in the present tense. The verbs is and are appear
frequently, as do other present tense verbs such as ranks, live, and consists. However, there are
portions of the essay that make use of the past tense because of a reference to something that
happened in the past. After reading the essay, return to the paragraphs indicated below and,
from each paragraph, write out one sentence in which the past tense has been used. (To check
your answers, see the Answer Key.)
Paragraph 2:
11
Paragraph 4:
Paragraph 7:
Paragraph 9:
Paragraph 11:
Paragraph 13:
*****
NOTE: The paragraph development of some of the paragraphs in this chapter (and in Chapters
3 and 15) is slightly different from the more traditional paragraph development found
throughout the rest of this book. This is because, in most of the paragraphs in these chapters,
the writer is not developing an idea or an argument but is presenting a series of loosely related
facts about each of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories. The unity of some of the
paragraphs is, therefore, based on the fact that all the information presented is about the same
province or territory. Paragraph 2, which presents the idea that there are many different kinds
of land and land use in Canada, is developed in a traditional way, while Paragraph 4, which
introduces a series of relevant facts about the province of Newfoundland, has a less traditional
type of paragraph unity. For another example of these two different types of paragraph
development, contrast Paragraph 10 (non-traditional) and Paragraph 11 (traditional).
The Shape of Canada – Part I: Eastern Canada

(1) Canada is the world’s second largest country in terms of land mass though in terms of
population, Canada ranks only 36th among the nations of the world. From north to south,
Canada stretches for 4634 kilometres. From east to west, it is 5514 kilometres. Canada covers
an area of 9,984,670 square kilometres. Its population is just over 36 million.
(2) Canada is made up of many different types of land with a wide variety of land use. Anyone
who has travelled across Canada by air and seen the vast grain fields that span the three prairie
provinces would be surprised to learn that about 7 percent of Canada is agricultural land.
About 9 percent of Canada consists of fresh water lakes and rivers and 45 percent is covered
by forests. Approximately 9 percent of Canada’s land has been protected as parkland or
wilderness zones.
*****
12
(3) Canada is divided up politically into ten provinces and three territories. The easternmost
of the ten provinces is Newfoundland and Labrador, which is made up of two units of
unequal size. The much larger part is the mainland area known as Labrador; the smaller part
is the island of Newfoundland, where the vast majority of the province’s population (just over
half a million) lives.
(4) Both parts of this province are rugged and rocky. Labrador has many rivers with waterfalls
that make it a major source of hydroelectric power. It is also rich in both timber and mineral
resources, especially iron. Until recently, when the codfish stocks became so depleted that
commercial fishing had to be stopped, the cod fishery was the mainstay of the Newfoundland
economy. The first settlers from England arrived in Newfoundland in the early 1600s, and
Newfoundland was a British colony until 1949 when it became the tenth province to join
Confederation. The capital city of Newfoundland is St. John’s.
*****
13
(5) Prince Edward Island (PEI) is Canada’s smallest province in both area and population.
Its total area is only 5660 square kilometres, and its population is about 146,000. By contrast,
Canada’s largest province by area, Quebec, takes up more than 1.3 million square kilometres,
and Canada’s largest province by population, Ontario, has over 13 million residents.
(6) Much of PEI consists of flat agricultural land, so the province does not have the extensive
electric power resources (such as rich coal mines or fast-flowing rivers) that are necessary
for industrial development. Instead, PEI is renowned for its mild climate, its red soil, and its
large potato harvests. It is also the setting of one of Canada’s best loved stories, Anne of Green
Gables. Thousands of tourists travel to PEI every summer to visit places mentioned in this
novel, especially the house called Green Gables, where the red-headed orphan called Anne
grew up.
(7) The capital city of PEI is Charlottetown, and it was there in 1864 that the conference was
held that resulted in four provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario)
joining together in 1867 to make the first version of the Dominion of Canada. PEI entered
Confederation six years later in 1873. PEI was physically joined to New Brunswick (and to the
rest of Canada) in 1997 by a 12.9-kilometre-long structure—part causeway, part bridge—across
Northumberland Strait. This historic bridge, the longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the
world, is called the Confederation Bridge.
*****
(8) The largest of the three Maritime Provinces—PEI, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia—is
New Brunswick. This province has a long Atlantic coastline and has land boundaries with
Quebec and with the state of Maine in the United States. Much of New Brunswick’s landscape
14
is rolling hills. Forestry and food processing are its major industries. Like PEI, New Brunswick
is also a major producer of potatoes.
(9) Among this province’s tourist attractions are the immense tides (the highest in the world)
that occur in the Bay of Fundy. The dramatic tide changes that can be seen from Rockwood
Provincial Park have been described as one of the wonders of the world. The capital of New
Brunswick is Fredericton; its largest city is St. John. (Many people often confuse St. John, New
Brunswick with St. John’s, Newfoundland.)
*****
(10) Although the province of Nova Scotia looks like an island, it is actually a large peninsula
that is connected to its neighboring province of New Brunswick by an isthmus. The northern
part of Nova Scotia is Cape Breton Island, which is joined to the rest of the province by a
permanent causeway built in 1955. Winter storms coming in off the Atlantic are common in
Nova Scotia, and fog is prevalent during several months of the year. Commercial activities
include fishing, dairy farming, and coal mining. The capital and largest city is Halifax, which is
renowned for its natural harbor.
(11) One of the most notable events in the history of Canada occurred in Halifax on December
6, 1917 (during the First World War) when a heavily loaded munitions ship exploded in the
harbor. As a result of the explosion, 1600 people died, and 9000 were injured. Homes, offices,
churches, factories, ships, and the railroad yard were destroyed by the fire that followed the
explosion. The blast, known as the Halifax Explosion, was so loud that it could be heard one
hundred kilometres away.
*****
15
(12) In terms of land mass, Quebec is the largest province in Canada although it ranks second
to Ontario in number of residents. (Over 8 million people live in Quebec, while over 13 million
people live in Ontario.) The majority of the people in Quebec speak French, although there are
many Anglophones both in Montreal and in an area south of the St. Lawrence River known as
the Eastern Townships. Quebec’s industrial base depends on manufacturing, mining, and the
development of hydroelectric power. There is a thriving dairy industry, and Quebec produces
over 90 percent of the maple sugar harvested in Canada.
(13) Because of its many charming little towns and its beautiful countryside, Quebec is known
as La Belle Province. Among the many beautiful places are the Laurentian Mountains north of
Montreal. This area is famous for its skiing in the winter and for the brilliance of its landscape
when the leaves change color in the fall. Gatineau, Quebec is home to the renowned Canadian
Museum of Civilization located directly across the river from the Parliament Buildings in
Ottawa. The province’s capital, Quebec City, is one of the oldest cities in Canada and was
founded in 1608. Montreal, the second largest city in Canada (only Toronto is larger), is the
largest city in Quebec.
*****
16
(14) Ontario is Canada’s second largest province in terms of area and is the largest in terms of
population. Physically, the province of Ontario divides into two distinct regions. The northern
five sixths is a rocky landscape with many lakes, forests, and large areas of muskeg. The other
one sixth is a lowland area bordering on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. This is the
most densely populated area in Canada, and there is a broad base of agriculture,
manufacturing, and banking. At the heart of this area is its capital, Toronto.
(15) There are many well-known tourist sites in this fascinating and varied province. In
Toronto, the 457-metre CN Tower dominates the skyline and was once considered the world’s
tallest building. Nearby is the massive sports centre called the Rogers Centre (formerly called
Skydome), whose playing field could hold eight Boeing 747 airplanes but usually just holds
football or baseball players. About 130 kilometres west of Toronto are the famous Niagara
Falls. On Ontario’s eastern boundary with Quebec is the city of Ottawa, Canada’s beautiful
capital, where, in the wintertime, people love to ice-skate on the frozen Rideau Canal. Other
large Ontario cities in the southern region are London, Kitchener, and Hamilton. In the north,
the major cities are Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, and Sudbury.
Unless the question requires only a word or a short phrase as an answer (as in Question 1),
your answers should be expressed in complete sentences and in your own words. Do not just
tie together groups of words taken directly from the reading selection.
1. In which province would you find each of the following?
17
a. The Bay of Fundy:
b. The Eastern Townships:
c. Charlottetown:
d. The CN Tower:
e. Cape Breton Island:
f. Confederation Bridge:
2. In Paragraph 1, what is the writer’s purpose in giving the reader so many numerical facts?
(To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
3. In Paragraph 2, why does the writer find the statistics related to Canada’s agricultural areas
surprising?
4. What percentage of Canada is covered by fresh water?
5. In what part of their province do most Newfoundlanders live?
6. What has happened recently to “the mainstay of the Newfoundland economy?”
7. What is unusual about the soil in Canada’s smallest province?
8. In what year was the Confederation Bridge completed?
9. Why is Cape Breton Island not really an island?
10. Why was there a munitions ship in Halifax’s harbor on December 6, 1917?
11. For what two things are Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains well known?
12. In what city is the Canadian Museum of Civilization located?
13. Where would you find the most densely populated area of Canada?
14. In Paragraph 15, why does the writer make reference to eight airplanes? (To check your
answer, see the Answer Key.)
15. What is the weather like in Ottawa in the wintertime?
18
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay describing some distinguishing features of a

city, a district, a province, or a country where you once lived.
19
Chapter Three:
The Shape of Canada – Part II:

Western and Northern Canada
Vocabulary
Note that the definitions given below are those that fit into the context in which each word
has been used in the essay or questions that follows. Some of the words might have a different
meaning in a different context.
Calgary Stampede: an annual fair and rodeo in Calgary, Alberta with horses, cows,
and cowboys
cattle ranches: farms for producing beef
eventually: in the end
eroded: worn away by wind and rain
ethnic: belonging to a distinctive culture
20
exceptions: things that are different than the norm
extremes: points furthest from the centre
foothills: hills leading up to large mountains
fossils: traces of earlier plants and animals found in rocks
green belt: an area of fertile farmland
hydroelectric power: electricity produced by using the flow of water in a river
irrigation: watering dry land with water pumped from a lake or river
medicare: hospital and medical costs paid for by the government
Mennonite: a believer in the Anabaptist Christian tradition of Menno Simons
parklands: land set aside to be used as parks
plateaus: flat stretches of land in a mountain range
subsoil: soil just beneath the surface of the earth
Ukrainian: a person from the Ukraine, a country close to Russia
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Clauses That Begin with Although
For some students who are learning English as a second language, there seems to be some
confusion regarding how to use a subordinate clause that starts with although and is placed
at the beginning of a sentence. What frequently happens is that this introductory clause is
followed by a comma (which is correct) and then with the word but (which is not correct, since
although and but, when used in this way, just repeat the same idea). The following sentence is
incorrect: “Although Canada is a large country, but it has a small population.” To correct this
sentence, remove either although or but.
After reading the essay that follows, return to the paragraphs listed below and write out the
sentence that uses an introductory although clause correctly.
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 4:
21
Paragraph 5:
Paragraph 7:
Paragraph 11:
*****
NOTE: The paragraph development of some of the paragraphs in this chapter (and in Chapters
3 and 15) is slightly different from the more traditional paragraph development found
throughout the rest of this book. This is because, in most of the paragraphs in these chapters,
the writer is not developing an idea or an argument but is presenting a series of loosely related
facts about each of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories. The unity of some of the
paragraphs is, therefore, based on the fact that all the information presented is about the same
province or territory. Paragraph 2, which presents the idea that there are many different kinds
of land and land use in Canada, is developed in a traditional way, while Paragraph 4, which
introduces a series of relevant facts about the province of Newfoundland, has a less traditional
type of paragraph unity. For another example of these two different types of paragraph
development, contrast Paragraph 10 (non-traditional) and Paragraph 11 (traditional).
The Shape of Canada – Part II Western and Northern

Canada
(1) Three of Canada’s provinces—Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta—are known collectively
as the Prairie Provinces. All three are about equal in size, each being approximately two-thirds
the size of British Columbia.
22
Manitoba is the farthest east of the three Prairie Provinces and shares its eastern border
with Ontario. The southern part of Manitoba is a green belt of very fertile soil that is ideal for
growing grain crops such as wheat, barley, and oats. The northern part of the province is a
land of lakes, parklands, and forests. In the north are two very large rivers, the Churchill and
the Nelson, both of which flow into Hudson Bay. Two large lakes in the south are called Lake
Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba.
(2) Manitoba’s culture is interesting because it includes many and varied ethnic settlements
of people who were originally from Europe. In the south are the Mennonite communities of
Steinbach and Winkler, where German is commonly spoken. Many Icelandic people live in
Gimli, a fishing community on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. In Dauphin, the Ukrainian culture
is strongly in evidence. South of Winnipeg are a number of small towns where French is the
dominant language. Although most people in Manitoba speak English, many of them speak a
second European language as well.
(3) Manitoba has two extremes of climate: there are very long, cold winters and very short, hot,
dry summers. The capital city is Winnipeg. Two large rivers, the Assiniboine and the Red, meet
in the centre of Winnipeg and add to the charm of this large city on the Canadian prairies.
*****
(4) Cutting across Saskatchewan from west to east, the North Saskatchewan River and the
South Saskatchewan River flow into the Saskatchewan River that eventually flows into Lake
Winnipeg, which is in Manitoba. The South Saskatchewan River passes through Saskatoon, the
province’s largest city. Although the city is divided by the river, access between the two sections
has been made easy by seven bridges that span the river in the downtown area. The capital
city of Saskatchewan is Regina, located about 235 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon. Like
Manitoba, Saskatchewan has very cold winters and very hot summers.
23
(5) Southern Saskatchewan is the major wheat-producing region of Canada and, as a result, is
known as “Canada’s Breadbasket.” As well as producing wheat and other grains, Saskatchewan
is one of the world’s leading producers of potash, which is dug from a large mine near the
Manitoba border. Potash is mostly used as a fertilizer but is also used in the making of soap.
Although the southern part of this province is flat agricultural land, there are forests in the
north, along with many, many lakes where the fishing is excellent. There is even an area in
this flat province that has mountains. These are found in Cypress Hills Provincial Park in
Saskatchewan’s southwest corner.
(6) Saskatchewan was the first province to introduce medicare, a health care program funded
with taxes for all of its residents. This was introduced in 1947 by a political party known as the
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a party that in later years changed its name to
the New Democratic Party (NDP). As of 1966, medicare became available to all Canadians.
*****
(7) Although considered one of the Prairie Provinces, Alberta has a varied landscape. The
south is a dry, treeless prairie, but in the north, there are large expanses of mixed forest.
Toward the western Albertan border are at first the foothills and then the high peaks of the
Rocky Mountains. Alberta is Canada’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, and this industry
is commonly referred to as “The Oil Patch.”
(8) In the southwest corner of the province is an area known as “The Badlands.” It consists
of many hectares covered with a fantastic assortment of eroded and multi-colored rocks in
which a vast store of dinosaur fossils are buried. In the centre of the province is Edmonton,
the provincial capital, which is also the home of the West Edmonton Mall, the world’s second
largest shopping centre.
24
(9) In the south is Calgary, another major Canadian city. Southern Alberta is known for its
chinook winds. These are warm winds which suddenly flow in from the west on a cold winter
day. They can raise the temperature by 25 degrees Celsius in one hour, which would quickly
melt whatever snow might be around. Calgary is also famous for a popular tourist attraction
called the Calgary Stampede, which entertains visitors and residents each summer.
*****
(10) British Columbia is Canada’s third largest province both in area and in population. The
two main regions of the province are called the Coast and the Interior. Seventy percent of the
population lives at or near the Pacific coast in the southwest area of the province called the
Georgia Strait Region. Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria are the major cities in this area.
With the exception of the Peace River Lowland, which is similar to the western prairies, most of
British Columbia is covered by mountains of the Cordillera Range. Within this system are the
Coast Mountains in the west and the Rocky Mountains in the east. In between are numerous
smaller ranges with names such as Hazelton, Skeena, Monashee, Selkirk, and Purcell.
(11) A large percentage of the land in this province is non-agricultural. But there are exceptions.
In the rich, narrow valley of the Fraser River are dairy farms and many fertile fields where
raspberries and strawberries are grown. Although the Okanagan Valley is very dry, irrigation
has made it possible to grow large crops of tree fruits and grapes. In the dry hills of the Cariboo
region are many large cattle ranches.
(12) The three major industries in BC are forestry, fishing, and mining. In the forestry sector,
the two main products are softwood lumber and pulp and paper. The major fishing takes place
off the west coast or in the Fraser and the Skeena rivers, and salmon is the most sought-after
fish. (There is concern in the province that both the forestry and the fishing industries may
25
be running out of the natural resources that they are dependent upon.) At present, coal is the
mainstay of BC’s mining industry. Every day, long trainloads of high-grade coal travel from
huge mines in the northeast and southeast corners of the province to the Deltaport container
terminal south of Vancouver for shipment to Japan.
Off the coast of British Columbia are 6500 Pacific islands. The largest is Vancouver Island.
Then come Graham and Moresby Islands, which are part of a group of islands off the northern
coast known as the Queen Charlottes.
(13) Through the mountains of British Columbia flow several powerful rivers—the Columbia,
the Kootenay, the Thompson, the Fraser, the Skeena, and the Peace. The province’s capital is
Victoria, and its largest city is Vancouver. Other major cities of British Columbia are Kelowna,
Prince George, Kamloops, and Nanaimo.
*****
(14) Canada’s three territories are called Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
Yukon lies directly north of British Columbia and east of Alaska. This large area of mountains
and plateaus has a small population of around 30,000. It is home to Mt. Logan, which reaches
an altitude of 5959 metres and is the highest mountain in Canada. It is situated in the
southwest corner of Yukon. Because of its northern location, Yukon has long summer days and
is often referred to as “The Land of the Midnight Sun.” It also has very short winter days, with
only a few hours of daylight. Mining is this area’s chief industry.
(15) Yukon is linked to Alaska and to British Columbia by the Alaska Highway, which runs for
2451 kilometres between Dawson Creek, B.C. and Fairbanks, Alaska. The capital city of Yukon
is Whitehorse. Between 1896 and 1898, Yukon was the site of the very famous Klondike Gold
Rush.
26
*****
(16) The Northwest Territories used to contain one third of all the land in Canada. In 1999,
its eastern part (about two thirds of its former size) became a separate territory known as
Nunavut. The present population of the Northwest Territories is over 40,000. About 48% of
the people are Dene, Inuit (Inuvialuit), and Métis. The rest of the population is non-
Indigenous. The people of the Northwest Territories live mostly in small communities. The
airplane and the snowmobile have brought many changes to the north of Canada, where
traditionally the Indigenous people would “live off the land” by hunting and fishing.
(17) In the western half of the Northwest Territories is the vast Mackenzie River Valley,
which drains the waters of two huge lakes, Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake. Winters
are long and very cold, and much of the land is made up of permanently frozen subsoil called
“permafrost.” Mining for zinc, gold, and lead is the major industry. Yellowknife, a city of about
19,000 on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, is the capital.
*****
27
(18) Nunavut, Canada’s largest, newest, and northernmost territory, was formed in 1999 from
what was previously the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. This new territory occupies
one-fifth of Canada’s land mass. In 2006, it had a population of about 29,000, with about 85%
of the population being Inuit. Nunavut means “our land” in the Inuktitut language. The capital
of Nunavut is Iqaluit. Ranging from coastal plains to rugged mountains, Nunavut, which is
mainly treeless, has vast potential mineral and petroleum resources under its permafrost soil.
your answers should be expressed in complete sentences and your own words. Do not just tie
together groups of words taken directly from the reading selection.
1. According to the essay, in which Canadian province or territory would you find each of the
following?
a. coal:
b. potash:
c. Mt. Logan:
d. Lake Winnipeg:
e. permafrost:
f. a chinook:
2. Into what two parts does the province of Manitoba divide?
3. What do Steinbach, Gimli, and Dauphin in Manitoba all have in common?
4. Why is Saskatchewan called “Canada’s Breadbasket”?
5. What is unusual about Cypress Hills Provincial Park?
6. What is “The Oil Patch” referred to in Paragraph 7?
7. What do people dig for in “The Badlands” of Alberta?
8. What is unusual about the way the population of British Columbia is distributed?
28
9. What makes it possible for British Columbia to produce a great amount of hydroelectric
power?
10. What was a very famous event in the history of Yukon?
11. What is the main industry in Yukon and the Northwest Territories?
12. What two modern inventions have changed the lives of people living in Canada’s north?
13. What significant event happened in the Northwest Territories in 1999?
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay in which you express how you feel about
some part of British Columbia that you have become familiar with; or describe a part of your
country that you know best.
29
Chapter Four:
Governing Canada
Vocabulary
different context.
convened: met
customarily: usually
duplication: something done twice
external affairs: dealings with other countries
interfere: attempt to influence
legislature: government
maintaining: keeping up
30
mandate: right to rule
monarchy: a country ruled by a king or queen
municipal: having to do with a city, a town, or a district that has its own government
ratify: pass
revenue: money
spectrum: range
vacancy: an opening
victorious: winning
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: English Idioms
For most people who are learning English as a second language, the problem of mastering
English idioms is a challenging one. Newcomers to the language need to learn these special
expressions because the meaning of idiomatic phrases cannot easily be understood from the
individual meanings of the words that form them. For example, the meaning of pulling your
leg has nothing to do with legs and actually means teasing you or making fun of you in a
friendly way. Reading can be a great help in becoming familiar with idiomatic expressions.
Students of English need to learn idiomatic expressions in the same way they learn vocabulary.
As you read the essay that follows, pay particular attention to the common idiomatic
expressions that have been placed in italics.
Governing Canada
(1) In theory, Canada is a monarchy though the monarch’s representative, the Governor
General, does not have any political power in reality. The real authority rests in the hands
of the political party that is in power in Ottawa, particularly with the prime minister and the
cabinet.
(2) The three branches of federal government are the executive, the legislative, and the
judicial. The executive, which consists of the prime minister and his cabinet, proposes laws.
The legislative, which consists of the House of Commons and the Senate, passes laws. The
judicial, which consists of the court system, interprets the laws; that is, it decides if the law is
being upheld.
31
(3) Some basic principles regarding the way the Canadian political system operates are as
follows. The party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons in a federal election
is asked by the Governor General to form a government. The leader of the victorious
party becomes prime minister, and he or she then appoints the members of the Cabinet,
which consists of between 25 and 35 honorable ministers, each with a particular area of
responsibility. The party that gets the second largest number of seats becomes the official
opposition.
(4) Historically, two political parties—the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives—have, in
different periods, either formed the government or sat in opposition. Since the first Parliament
convened in 1867, the Liberals have been in power for more years than the Conservatives.
Following the 1935 election, a third party, the New Democratic Party (originally called
the CCF), began to play a role in the House of Commons though it has never formed the
government nor been the official opposition.
(5) After the election of 1993, a new development took place in the House of Commons.
Two new parties—the Bloc Québécois and the Reform Party—became major players on the
Canadian political scene. The Bloc Québécois, which is in favor of Quebec’s separation from
the rest of Canada, had won 53 seats (just one more than the 52 won by the Reform Party),
and at that time became Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. In the following election, the Reform
Party (now called the Alliance Party) became the opposition party. Both the Conservative
Party and the NDP were still represented in the House of Commons, but each had a very small
number of seats. In the Canadian political system, if the government does not maintain its
majority in the House of Commons or is defeated in an important vote, it must resign and call
a new election. (Note: In 2003, the Reform Party merged with the Progressive Conservative
Party to become the Conservative Party.)
(6) Members of the Senate are not elected. They are appointed for life (or until they reach
the age of 75) by the ruling prime minister, who can fill a vacancy in the 104-seat senate
with someone of his/her own choice whenever a senator dies or retires. Once a bill has been
passed by the House of Commons it goes to the Senate for what has been called “a sober
second thought.” Only occasionally do members of the Senate fail to ratify a bill passed by
the House of Commons though sometimes there is a loud debate between the Liberals and the
Conservatives who, between them, currently hold all the seats in the Senate, since none of the
other parties has ever been in a position to appoint their own senators.
(7) A very important principle in Canadian government is that neither the executive nor the
legislative branch of government can interfere with the judiciary branch.
(8) There are three levels of government in Canada. These are the federal government (with
32
its capital in Ottawa), the provincial and territorial governments (with their ten provincial
capitals and three territorial capitals), and the municipal governments (with their offices
in hundreds of Canadian cities and towns). Canada’s three territories are governed by small,
elected councils. Both the federal and the provincial governments have the power to levy a
wide variety of taxes, especially income tax. Municipal governments have only those powers
which are granted to them by the province in which they are located. Customarily, they can
pass local by-laws and raise money by granting a broad range of licences and by collecting
property taxes.
(9) Each province has a provincial legislature whose members are elected. As with the federal
government, the political party that wins the most seats in an election forms the government
while the second-place party forms the opposition. Provinces do not have an Upper House or
Senate. At various times in recent history, five different political parties have been in power
in one or another of the provincial capitals—the Liberals, the Conservative Party, the New
Democratic Party, the Social Credit Party, and the Parti Québécois. An election must be held
in each province every five years though the government in power can call an election before
its mandate is completed should it wish to do so. (For the most part, municipal elections are
“non-partisan;” that is, political parties are not supposed to be involved, although there are
communities in which some candidates represent the “left” spectrum of politics while others
represent the “right.”)
(10) The division of powers is a central fact about political life in Canada. Some powers
(and responsibilities) belong to the federal government, and some belong to the provincial
governments. The federal government is responsible for defence, external affairs, criminal
law, money and banking, trade and commerce, transportation, citizenship, and Indian and
Northern Affairs. The provincial responsibilities include education, civil law, health and
welfare, natural resources, local government, agriculture, and some aspects of immigration.
Municipal governments are responsible for policing, fire protection, roads, hospitals, schools,
water supply, and sanitation.
(11) Conflict between federal and provincial governments has been going on for many years.
At the heart of this conflict is revenue sharing—deciding which government has the right
to raise revenue and by what means, and which government is responsible for seeing that
certain services are delivered. At times, the two levels of government see the necessity of co-
operation, such as in building and maintaining the Trans-Canada Highway. At times, the
provinces cannot get along without help from the federal government, such as in the funding of
higher education. But there is constant disagreement and debate, and, in the opinion of many
Canadians, too much tax money is wasted through what is called “the duplication of powers,”
that is, areas of government where both Ottawa and the provincial capitals have agencies that
33
are involved in similar administrative activities.
should be expressed in complete sentences and should be expressed in your own words. Do
not just tie together groups of words taken directly from the reading selection.
1. In Canadian politics, who has the most power?
2. Which groups are responsible for proposing, passing, and interpreting laws in Canada?
3. What is the usual way that a person can become Prime Minister of Canada?
4. In Paragraph 5, the writer mentions a major change that occurred in the House of Commons
following the 1993 federal election. What was this change?
5. How does an individual become a member of the Canadian Senate?
6. Why does the Canadian Senate consist only of members of the Liberal or Conservative party?
7. What part of the Canadian political system is guaranteed the most independence?
8. What are the three levels of government in Canada?
9. In what significant way do the ten provincial governments differ from the federal
government?
10. Which three political parties have formed provincial governments, but have never had
power at the federal level? (See Paragraphs 4 and 9.)
11. What is the central problem found in the Canadian political system?
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay explaining some aspects of how the
government is organized in your country; or identify some of the ways in which your life is
affected by the government.
34
Chapter Five:
The Canadian Legal System

Vocabulary
different context.
appeal: a review by a higher court of a formerly tried case
appointed: chosen to do a job
complicated: having many parts
defendant: a person, company, or organization accused in a court of law
driving infractions: breaking the law while driving a car
jurisdictions overlap: when two courts have the power to deal with the same matter
plaintiff: a person, company, or organization that brings an action in a court of law
35
provincial statute: a law passed by the provincial government
supremacy: having more power than someone else
Supreme: highest
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Subject and Verb Agreement
It is important in written English to have a singular noun accompany a singular form of a

verb, and a plural noun accompany a plural form of a verb. The essay that follows illustrates
this principle particularly well since it frequently moves back and forth between singular and
plural subjects and always has the correct verb form. To reinforce this important principle in
your mind, complete the following brief exercise. Read the essay on the following page. For
Paragraphs 1-5, find a sentence with a singular subject followed by a singular verb, and a plural
subject followed by a plural verb. The entry for Paragraph 1 is an example of what is required.
Paragraph 1:
Singular: criminal law is the responsibility of the federal government ...
Plural: complications are caused by the fact that ...
Paragraph 2:
Singular:
Plural:
Paragraph 3:
Singular:
Plural:
Paragraph 4:
Singular:
Plural:
Paragraph 5:
36
Singular:
Plural:
The Canadian Legal System

(1) The legal system of Canada is quite complicated although its basic structure can be outlined
in an uncomplicated way. Like certain other aspects of Canadian life, many legal complications
are caused by the fact that the federal and provincial jurisdictions overlap. Only the federal
government can make criminal laws, but both the provinces and the federal government
enforce them. In general, though, criminal law is the responsibility of the federal government
while private or civil law is the responsibility of the ten provincial and the three territorial
governments.
(2) In a criminal case, someone who has been accused of committing a wrongful act is taken
to court by the government (the Crown), then tried either before a judge alone or before a
judge and a jury, and, if found guilty, is punished by being put in jail or fined. The fine is paid
to the government. In a civil case, two individuals go to court in order to settle a disagreement
between them. It may, for example, be a case where one individual, the plaintiff, feels that
some aspects of a contract entered into with another individual, the defendant, have not been
fulfilled. If this dispute cannot be settled out of court, then the case may have to be settled in
court before a judge. If the plaintiff persuades the court that his or her position is correct, the
court will order the defendant to pay money to the plaintiff or will order the defendant to do or
not do something depending on what the plaintiff has requested. Civil actions generally involve
two individuals, companies, or other organizations, and even the government itself can be a
party in a civil action as a plaintiff or a defendant.
(3) The highest court in the country is called The Supreme Court of Canada. It consists of nine
judges appointed by the federal government. These judges are appointed for indefinite terms,
although, like Senators, they must retire when they reach the age of 75. This group of judges
hears cases in the Supreme Court building, which is situated near the Parliament Buildings in
Ottawa.
(4) The next highest courts in Canada are the ten Provincial Courts of Appeal. One step down
from these appeal courts are Superior Trial Courts. In British Columbia, this court is known
as the British Columbia Supreme Court even though it does not, in fact, have supremacy over
the British Columbia Court of Appeal. The British Columbia Supreme Court can deal with
both criminal and civil cases. The judges in all of these courts are appointed by the federal
government.
37
(5) The lowest court in the province of British Columbia is called the Provincial Court of British
Columbia, and the judges are appointed by the provincial government. This court deals with
criminal matters, family matters, and civil actions where the plaintiff is claiming $10,000 or
less.
(6) The Criminal Division of the Provincial Court handles the majority of criminal cases
arising in the province as well as cases in violation of provincial statutes punishable by fine
or imprisonment. This court would become involved in a case dealing with an automobile
accident where a person had been charged under the Provincial Motor Vehicle Act for driving
without due care and attention or if a person had breached a Provincial Environmental
Protection Act by dumping prohibited substances without a licence.
(7) The Family Division of the Provincial Court hears cases related to matters such as
maintenance and support, divorce settlements, and child custody disputes. The Small Claims
Division settles financial disputes involving amounts less than $10,000. Disputes over larger
sums of money are heard by the British Columbia Supreme Court.
(8) Minor driving infractions—such as speeding—are heard before a Justice of the Peace (not
before a judge). This so-called “police court” comes under the authority of the Provincial Court
of British Columbia.
(9) If a person living in British Columbia is charged with a serious offence such as breaking and
entering, drug peddling, or manslaughter, or elects for a trial by judge and jury, the case will be
heard in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The accused, if found guilty, can appeal the
decision to the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Following a conviction in that court, the only
other appeal available is to the Supreme Court of Canada.
(10) In addition to the system of Provincial Courts described above, there is also a Federal
Court of Canada that has a trial and an appellate (appeals) division. The Federal Court of
Canada has a very limited jurisdiction. It hears cases arising under certain kinds of Federal
Law, which is law enacted by Parliament, not by a provincial legislature. Any appeal of a
decision made by a federal administrative tribunal will be heard in Federal Court for example.
A person may appeal a decision of the Federal Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of
Canada.
should be expressed in complete sentences and should be expressed in your own words. Do
38
not just tie together groups of words taken directly from the reading selection.
1. What is the main reason why the Canadian legal system tends to be complicated?
2. What is the basic difference between criminal and civil law?
3. In which city is the Supreme Court of Canada located?
4. What is rather odd about the name of the British Columbia Supreme Court?
5. If you were to break a provincial statute, in which court would your case be heard?
6. If you wanted to sue someone to recover $5000, in which court would your case be heard?
7. If you wanted to contest a speeding ticket, who would hear your case?
8. If you were charged with a serious offence, in what three courts (and in what order) might
your case be heard?
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay in which you contrast the Canadian
Legal System with some other legal system you are familiar with; or write a well-developed
paragraph on any personal experience you have had with any legal system; or write a one-
paragraph summary of what you think are the most important ideas found in the preceding
essay.
39
Chapter Six:
Made in Canada
Vocabulary
different context.
aerospace components: parts needed by the space program
afflict: trouble
all-terrain: able to travel over different types of land
Arctic: northern Canada
at his mercy: helpless
auspices: under the control or protection of
bandstand: a small building in a park for playing music
40
comprehend: understand
decades: periods of ten years
deploying: putting out
devised: invented
distil: turn a solid into a liquid
essentially: in a basic way
evolved: changed into something new
faked out: fooled
falling off: becoming smaller
governed: decided
illumination: light
initial: the first
internal secretion: something given off by one of the body’s organs, in this case, the
pancreas
manoeuvre: move about
obsolete: out of date; no longer useful
pancreas: a gland near the stomach that helps in the digestion of food
patented: got ownership of
power outage: a time when electricity is not available
pretending: looking as if you are going to do one thing and then doing something else
railroad surveyor: a person who decides where a railroad should be built
retrieving: bringing back
rural: out in the countryside; not in a city
41
social revolution: a major change in the way people live
substituted: replaced one thing with something else
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: The Use of Participial Phrases
A participial phrase is a group of words beginning with either a present participle (such as
“looking”) or a past participle (such as “looked”). In some sentences, this structure can be used
to replace a main clause, thus providing sentence variety within a paragraph. The italicized
part of the previous sentence is an example of a participial phrase. This idea could also have
been expressed as a main clause: “and this provides sentence variety within a paragraph.” By
occasionally using the participial phrase instead of the clause, variety in sentence structure can
be attained.
Participial phrases can be used effectively at the beginning of a sentence: “Being ill, John could
not attend the staff meeting.” Note that when a participial phrase is used at the beginning of
a sentence, it must be followed by the noun (in this case “John”) that is performing the action
being expressed by the participial. A participial phrase can also be used effectively at the end of
a sentence: “Bill sent her flowers ten days in a row, hoping she would forgive him.”
In the essay that follows, the writer has used many participial phrases. After you have read the
essay, write out the sentence containing the participial phrase found in each of the following
paragraphs.
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 5:
Paragraph 6:
Paragraph 7:
Paragraph 13:
Made in Canada
(1) Though Canada is a country with a small population, it has contributed many popular and
useful inventions or discoveries to the world. This essay offers a selection of some particularly
interesting things, ideas, or activities first thought of by Canadians; there are many others that
could have also been included.
42
(2) Those of us who live in the age of electricity may find it difficult to comprehend just how
important the discovery of kerosene was in 1846. The man who discovered it was a doctor
from Nova Scotia named Abraham Gesner, who lived from 1797 to 1864. Gesner distilled a
liquid from the solid hydrocarbons found in coal. Originally, it was called coal oil, but Gesner
later named it kerosene. The importance of kerosene was that it gave the world a better light.
After 1853, when this substance was being produced in large quantities, it became the standard
lighting fuel used in homes around the world, providing people with a safe, inexpensive, and
bright illumination. Even after the invention of the light bulb in 1879, kerosene remained the
standard way of lighting many Canadian homes for many years since it took several decades for
most of Canada to receive electricity. Even today, it is still used in rural areas where there is no
electrical service, and it is also very useful when there is an extended power outage. Abraham
Gesner has been described as “the founder of the modern petroleum industry.”
*****
(3) According to sports historians, two years after Abraham Gesner patented kerosene, a very
different kind of invention that turned out to be of some interest to Canadians, appeared on the
scene. The year 1855 was the first time ice hockey was played anywhere in the world. It was
played in Kingston, Ontario on Christmas Day by a group of army officers.
(4) Kingston was also later the site of the first recorded hockey game between two organized
teams. This took place in 1886 when students from Queen’s University took on a team of cadets
from the Royal Military College, both institutions being located in Kingston. This game had a
rather unusual aspect. In the middle of the outdoor rink, there was a large wooden bandstand.
The winning goal—in fact, the only goal—was scored by a Queen’s player who rushed down the
ice and faked out the opposition’s defence by pretending that he was going to go left around the
bandstand but at the last instant went right. With the defencemen out of the play, he had the
goalie at his mercy and put the puck in the net.
(5) Towards the end of the century, hockey as we now know it began to take shape. A McGill
University student set down some rules and substituted a flat wooden disc for the round ball
that had been the original “puck,” giving the players much more control over their passing and
shooting. However, the way hockey was played in its early days was different in several ways
from the game that has now evolved. There were nine players on each side, not six; the puck
could not be passed forward; and the game was always played outside on patches of natural
ice. Major changes came gradually. Teams were reduced to six players in 1911; the game moved
indoors onto artificial ice rinks in 1920; and the rule against the forward pass disappeared in
1930. In the early days, all the players were amateurs; in the modern era, many of them are
professionals, some are in the National Hockey League (NHL), and many are millionaires.
43
*****
(6) Alexander Graham Bell, without a doubt Canada’s most famous inventor, worked on the
invention of the telephone between 1874 and 1876. On August 10, 1876, he made the first
long-distance telephone call between Paris, Ontario and Brantford, Ontario, a distance of 13
kilometres. Like the electric lightbulb and the phonograph invented by the American Thomas
Alva Edison, Bell’s invention of the telephone caused a social revolution changing forever the
way individuals communicated with one another, not only in Canada but also throughout the
world.
*****
(7) A Canadian named Sir Stanford Fleming (1827-1915) did not invent an actual object,
but he did come up with an idea that has also had world-wide application. Fleming was
Canada’s foremost railroad surveyor and construction engineer during the 19th century
and was responsible for surveying for the Canadian Pacific Railway that joined Montreal
and Vancouver. Realizing that the railroad had made obsolete a time system in which
each community set its own time, he recommended that the world accept a system of
international standard time with the world divided into 24 different time zones. His plan
was accepted in 1884 and is still in use today.
*****
(8) Two games invented by Canadians, basketball and five-pin bowling, continue to be
popular and have brought pleasure to many people throughout the world. Both of these games
were invented around 100 years ago.
(9) The game of basketball was first played in the eastern United States, but the inventor
was a Canadian named James Naismith, who was a psychology teacher at a college in the
state of Massachusetts. In 1891, while looking for an indoor game that was easy to learn, could
be played in teams, and involved throwing a ball with accuracy rather than force, Naismith
set out the initial thirteen rules that governed how his new game was to be played. By 1930,
basketball had become popular in over 50 countries. In 1936, it was included as an official team
competition at the summer Olympics. Although the rules have changed in many ways since
1891, basketball is still essentially the game that James Naismith invented.
(10) Another popular indoor pastime invented by a Canadian was five-pin bowling. Ten-pin
bowling had been an American invention, but Thomas F. Ryan, who ran a ten-pin bowling
club in Toronto, found that his business was declining. So, in 1909, he devised a less strenuous
form of the game. He reduced the size of the bowling ball, cut down the size and the number
44
of the pins, and set up a new scoring system. Five-pin bowling soon became a popular form of
recreation throughout Canada and the northern United States.
*****
(11) During the winter of 1921-22, two scientists at the University of Toronto, Frederick Banting
(1891-1941) and Charles Best (1899-1978), isolated an internal secretion of the pancreas gland
that they called insulin. Insulin proved to be a tremendously successful medicine for many
people suffering from diabetes, which is caused by the inability of the patient’s own pancreas
to produce insulin. Diabetes can afflict people of all ages and can be the cause of blindness and
kidney failure.
The treatment, which includes daily injections of synthetic insulin, makes it possible for
diabetics to lead normal lives. The value of this discovery can be appreciated because of the fact
that over one million Canadians suffer from diabetes, which, after cancer and heart failure, is
the third most common cause of death in Canada.
*****
(12) The inventor of the snowmobile was Canadian Joseph Armand Bombardier, who lived
and worked in the province of Quebec between 1907 and 1964. When he was only a teenager,
Bombardier became interested in building an all-terrain vehicle, especially one that could
travel over soft ground or snow. In 1937, when he was 30, he finally did succeed in building a
machine that could travel over snow. It consisted of a motorized sled that was moved along by
a set of endless tracks and was steered by front-mounted movable skis.
(13) However, it wasn’t until 1959 that a small snowmobile called the “Ski-Doo” was ready for
the market. Here was a new type of vehicle that quickly gave people the means of participating
in what has now become a very popular sport—skidooing. It also created a social revolution in
the Arctic, replacing the sleds pulled by dog teams that the Inuit people had depended on for
generations. Bombardier Incorporated of Montreal, the company founded by Joseph Armand
Bombardier, is now one of the largest manufacturing firms in Canada. They build engines,
airplanes, aerospace components, and, of course, snowmobiles.
*****
(14) Canadarm, the name assigned to the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, is Canada’s
contribution to the United States Space Shuttle Program. It was not invented by one person
but was the work of several scientific groups working under the auspices of the National
Aeronautical Establishment, a branch of the National Research Council of Canada. Canadarm
was first employed in space on the Space Shuttle’s second flight in November, 1981. It
45
manoeuvres heavy loads in space, such as deploying and retrieving free-flying satellites.
your answers should be expressed in complete sentences and should be expressed in your own
words. Do not just tie together groups of words taken directly from the reading selection.
1. Which inventor is associated with each of the following?
a. basketball:
b. international standard time:
c. kerosene:
d. snowmobile:
e. telephone:
2. Why did the invention of the light bulb not immediately replace kerosene as a way of lighting
homes?
3. In Paragraph 5, we learn how the game of hockey was changed in 1930. What was this
change?
4. What did the achievements of two of North America’s most important inventors, Bell and
Edison, have in common?
5. In what way was Sir Stanford Fleming’s contribution different from that of several other
inventors mentioned in the essay?
6. What does the fact that basketball was included in the 1936 Olympics tell us about the game?
7. What caused Thomas F. Ryan to invent five-pin bowling?
8. Why is the discovery of insulin of great importance?
9. What group of people has been most affected by the invention of the snowmobile?
10. In what way was the invention of Canadarm different from the other inventions dealt with
46
in the essay?
11. Which four sports are mentioned in the essay?
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay on one of the following: something you
would like to invent; or something you wish someone else would invent; or an invention or
discovery that you know something about and could describe to someone else.
47
Chapter Seven:
Special Canadians – Part I

Vocabulary
different context.
autobiography: telling the story of one’s own life
competence: great ability
domestic: concerned with Canada
dominant: most important
endeared: made her loved
executive: a manager
expansion: growth
48
fictional: an imaginary character; not real
humane: not cruel
ideals: strongly held beliefs
inaugural: first
initially: the first time
musical: a stage play set to music
prestigious: giving honor to a person
reformed: made better
respected: liked and admired
sequels: stories that follow an earlier story
stately: dignified
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Using Synonyms
A synonym is a word that has a similar meaning to another word in the same language.
Synonyms can be used to help a writer avoid using one word so often that the word becomes
very noticeable as in the following example:
Tokyo is the largest city in Japan, and Tokyo is a place I would like to visit. Tokyo is a
very special place, and not many other places in the world can compare with Tokyo.
The too frequent repetition of the word place should have been avoided, and a synonym for the
word “place” should have been used as in the following revision:
I would like to visit Tokyo, Japan’s largest city. It is a very special place, and not many
locations in the world can compare with it.
The use of synonyms to achieve variety has to be handled carefully. On the one hand, you
do not want to repeat one word too often; on the other hand, you do not want to give the
impression that you are straining to find alternate ways of expressing what you want to say.
The guiding principle is to find a balance somewhere between these two extremes.
49
In the following essay, there is an idea of something being “first” about each of the five special
Canadians introduced. The writer was, therefore, faced with the challenge of finding other ways
of expressing the idea of “first” without repeating that word too often. It does appear several
times, but there are other places where a synonymous word or phrase has been used instead.
It can also be noted that in Chapter Five, the writer of the essay on Canada’s Legal System was
faced with a similar problem, one that was not completely solvable. This was because it was
necessary in that essay to repeat the official names of several of the country’s law courts, and
there are no synonyms available to replace these official names. As a result, the word court
appears in the essay several times.
After you have read the essay that follows, return to the paragraphs listed below and identify
the word or phrase in which the idea of “first” has been conveyed by the use of either a
synonym or a synonymous phrase.
Paragraph 1:
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 3:
Paragraph 5 (two examples):
Special Canadians – Part I

(1) Since Confederation in 1867, Canada has had 23 Prime Ministers. Sir John A.
Macdonald (1815-1891) is of special importance since, as well as being the first prime
minister, he was the dominant personality in the writing of the British North America Act
(BNA Act). The BNA Act resulted in the joining together of four provinces (Ontario, Quebec,
Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) on July 1, 1867 to form the country called Canada. John A.
Macdonald was Prime Minister of Canada during two different periods: initially from 1867 to
1873, and later from 1878 to 1891. He was serving as Prime Minister at the time of his death.
(2) Macdonald is now chiefly remembered for two related achievements. He was a nation
builder who was mainly responsible for the expansion of Canada “From Sea to Sea.” It was
under his guidance that the Trans-Canada railroad was built. With the promise of being linked
by rail to the rest of Canada, British Columbia entered Confederation in 1871. (The railroad’s
inaugural run reached the west coast on July 4, 1886 after a seven-day journey from Montreal.)
Other important dates for Confederation are the Northwest Territories in 1870, Prince Edward
Island in 1873, and Yukon in 1898. Saskatchewan and Alberta did not become Canadian
50
provinces until 1905. Newfoundland, the last province to join, did not enter Confederation
until 1949. Even though Canada did not take on its present shape until long after Sir John
A. Macdonald’s death, he was in large measure the driving force behind the creation of this
country.
*****
(3) Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) is a special Canadian writer because she created
a fictional character who became world famous. The character was a high-spirited, red-headed
orphan named Anne who made her appearance in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s first book,
Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908. After an unhappy childhood, Anne finds a happy
home with strict, but loving people, on a farm in Prince Edward Island (PEI). Anne’s lively
adventures in the beautiful PEI countryside endeared her to millions of readers, both young
and old. Although this author wrote six sequels to Anne of Green Gables, it is the book that
began the series that has remained a bestseller not only in its original English version but also
in several other languages, especially Japanese. A musical based on the Anne of Green Gables
story is still performed each year during the Charlottetown Summer Festival. The house in
Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, where Lucy Maud Montgomery lived as a young woman, is
now a museum visited each year by thousands of her devoted readers.
*****
(4) In Canada, women did not have the right to vote in federal elections until 1921. In the
election of that year, only one woman, Agnes Macphail (1890 to 1954), was elected. Agnes
Macphail is special and not just because she was the first woman to take her place in the House
of Commons. She is also remembered in Canadian history for the many ways she tried to better
the lives of working-class Canadians. She was active in protecting the rights of farmers, fighting
for equal rights and equal pay for women, and demanding that Canadian prisons be reformed
to make them more humane. Agnes Macphail began her professional life as a country school
teacher and then became politically active. Although she served her country both as a Member
of Parliament and as a Member of the Ontario Legislature, in the last years of her life she
suffered from both poverty and ill health. Because of her honesty, courage, and devotion to her
high ideals, she is a very special Canadian.
*****
(5) Before entering politics, Jeanne Sauvé (1922-1993) had a brilliant career as a journalist
in radio and television, as well as in the print media. As a Member of Parliament, Madame
Sauvé turned out to be a pioneer in three notable ways. She was the first woman from French
Canada to become a member of the Federal Cabinet, and the first woman to be appointed to the
51
prestigious positions of Speaker of the House of Commons and Governor General of Canada.
She was Speaker from 1980 until 1984, when she began her five-year term as the Queen’s
Representative in Canada. Jeanne Sauvé was highly respected not only because she broke
new political ground for Canadian women but also because she performed her duties with
great competence and leadership. Until her death in 1993, she spoke out forcefully on a wide
range of domestic and foreign issues, especially those concerning the status of women and the
importance of preserving Canadian unity.
*****
(6) A famous and much respected Canadian who could have had a political career, but
chose not to, was a former hockey player named Jean Beliveau. In 1994, he became the
first Canadian athlete to be offered the honor of becoming Governor General of Canada.
For personal reasons, he declined the offer, just as he had earlier turned down a seat in the
Canadian Senate. Jean Beliveau was offered these high political honors for reasons other
than his brilliant career as a hockey player. Rather, it was because he had earned, both as a
player and later as an executive with his former team, the Montreal Canadiens, a nation-wide
reputation for honesty, dignity, and humility. One sportswriter referred to him as “the stately
Jean Beliveau,” while another said that Beliveau “learned how to behave when he was young,
and it shows in everything he does.”
(7) Jean Beliveau was born in 1931. He starred as a hockey player in three Quebec cities: first
in his home town of Victoriaville, then as a junior in Quebec City, and finally as a professional
with the Canadiens from 1953 until he retired as a player in 1971. During his career, he scored
507 goals and had 712 assists, plus another 176 points in 162 playoff games.
(8) A tall and handsome man, Jean Beliveau stood out in any crowd not only because of his
height but also because of the special kind of man that he was and always has been. In 1994, he
published an autobiography entitled My Life in Hockey. Jean Beliveau passed away 20 years
later in 2014.

1. Which special person mentioned in the essay is associated with each of the following?
a. a fictional character:
52
b. prison reform:
c. British North America Act:
d. Speaker of the House of Commons:
e. an autobiography:
2. What does history recognize as Sir John A. Macdonald’s two major achievements?
3. What caused British Columbia to join Confederation in 1871?
4. In the last part of Paragraph 2, the writer uses three different phrases in relation to three
provinces becoming part of Canada. What are these three synonymous phrases?
5. What information does the essay provide to show that Anne of Green Gables is a world-
famous story?
6. Why is there a touch of irony (that is, something that we might not expect to happen) in the
life of Agnes Macphail? (To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
7. In addition to her three political “firsts,” why was Jeanne Sauvé such a respected Canadian?
8. In Paragraph 5, what synonym for “Governor General” does the writer use?
9. What qualities, both on and off the ice, earned Jean Beliveau such nation-wide respect?
10. What evidence does Paragraph 7 provide to show that Jean Beliveau did have a “brilliant
career as a hockey player?”
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay explaining why someone you either know, or
know about, could be considered a special human being.
53
Chapter Eight:
Special Canadians – Part II

Vocabulary
different context.
amputate: cut off
controversy: argument
custody: control over
distinctive: special
documentaries: programs that present factual material rather than tell a story
eccentric: odd; not like other people
eccentricities: odd ways of behaving
54
enthusiastically: showing great interest
epic journey: a long and difficult trip
guardianship: legal responsibility for
identically: all in the same way
isolation: being away from others
marathon: a very long run
one-way windows: windows which can be looked through from only one side
performing: singing, acting, or playing an instrument
product endorsements: saying that you like a certain product and receiving money
for saying so
pronounced: the way something is said
propelling: moving
recuperating: getting well again
rehabilitation: helping someone get better
remote: far away
revealed: told
sensation: something interesting and exciting
trust fund: money set aside to help someone
unaccustomed: not used to
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: More About English Idioms
Because learning idioms is such an important part of learning to speak, read, and write
English, this book makes reference to idioms several times. In the Introduction and in Chapter
Four, the point was made that idioms refer to phrases that have special meanings that cannot
be derived from the individual meanings of the words in that phrase.
55
It must also be pointed out that there are many idioms in English in which the combinations
of words are unusual. These are idiomatic expressions that English speakers regularly use and
understand though it is not easy to explain them in grammatical terms. Since these types of
idiomatic phrases tend not to change, they are referred to as “cast-iron” idioms. (Something
made out of cast iron has a very definite shape that is not easily altered.) Learning the meaning
of cast-iron idioms is a very important part of learning to read English since the language
has so many of them. (Some cast-iron idioms might be considered a bit overused. A couple of
examples of an overused expression would be with flying colors or in the dead of night. On
this account, careful writers will avoid using such idioms when they write though they may use
them when they speak.)
A very common example of a cast-iron idiom is How do you do?, a phrase we use when we
are introduced to somebody. We may understand that this is a way of saying “Hello,” but it
is difficult to explain just how these words came to be combined in this way. Another good
example is the expression to come in handy, a cast-iron idiom meaning that something is
useful. The following list contains a number of idioms of this type along with an explanation of
what they mean.
act your age: stop being silly; grow up
strike a bargain: make a deal, as in business
takes after his father: looks or acts like his father
to be taken in: to be cheated or fooled
to make a date: to arrange a meeting
all at sea: confused
hit the nail on the head: do or say something right
nowadays: at the present time
my own flesh and blood: a relative
with flying colors: did something really well
to be at loose ends: unsure of what to do next
face the music: take the punishment you deserve
Several idioms of this type are found in the essay that follows. After you have read the essay,
56
test yourself to see if you understand what the following idioms mean. (If you’re not sure, see
the Answer Key where their meanings have been explained.)
Paragraph 1: a globe-trotting performer
Paragraph 2: in the dead of night
Paragraph 3: front page news
Paragraph 9: any subject under the sun
Paragraph 9: from all walks of life
Paragraph 13: came up with the idea
Special Canadians – Part II

(1) Glenn Gould, one of Canada’s best known and most eccentric musicians, was born in
Toronto in 1932 and died of a heart attack in that same city in 1982. Glenn Gould began
his career as a concert pianist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at the age of 14. From
1946 until 1964, he had a busy concert career in Canada and was a globe-trotting performer,
especially in Europe.
(2) Having decided that he did not enjoy performing in concert halls, he took his music into
the recording studio and, through the use of the most advanced technology, produced a large
number of highly distinctive recordings of classical music. Glenn Gould was also a gifted writer
of music criticism and radio and television documentaries. Among the eccentricities for which
he became famous were his habit of wearing a cap, gloves, and an overcoat even on the hottest
days of summer; his tendency to hum loudly while playing the piano; and his preference for
communicating with his friends by telephone (often in the dead of night) rather than in face-to-
face meetings.
*****
(3) On May 28, 1934, a woman in the small Northern Ontario town of Callander gave birth
to five identical baby girls. The birth of the Dionne Quintuplets (Annette, Emilie, Yvonne,
Cécile, and Marie) caused a sensation throughout the world. The miracle of their survival, plus
their identical cuteness as babies, along with the extreme poverty of their parents, and the
controversy over their guardianship made them front page news during the 1930s.
(4) The controversy over the quintuplets was caused by the fact that the Ontario government
57
separated them from their parents (and from their five older brothers and sisters) and raised
them in a special hospital built for them near the farmhouse in which they had been born.
When they were one year old, a playground was built on the property, and millions of people
travelled to this remote community to view the identically dressed children from behind one-
way windows.
(5) The life story of the quintuplets turned out to be an unhappy one. Although they were
famous the world over, they lived in unnatural isolation seeing no other children and, as a
result, became overly dependent on each other. After nine years of fighting to get his children
back, their father, Oliva Dionne, regained custody of his five daughters, and they returned to
live in the family home. There, they were treated with little love and affection by their parents
and were very unhappy. When they became adults, they moved to Montreal. However, they
were so unaccustomed to doing anything for themselves that they had a hard time living an
ordinary life. And still, wherever they went, they attracted unwelcomed crowds.
(6) In 1965, the four surviving quintuplets (Emilie had died of epilepsy in 1954) published
a bitter book entitled We Were Five, in which they revealed how unhappy their life with the
rest of their family had been. Three of the quintuplets (Annette, Cécile, and Marie) married,
but all three marriages ended in divorce. Marie died in 1970 and Yvonne in 2001. The two
surviving quintuplets—Cécile and Annette—live together in Montreal. Through many product
endorsements when they were babies and children, they built up a trust fund which provided
them with an income for life.
(7) Another set of quintuplets was born in Canada in 1987. But they were not identical, and two
were boys and three were girls. They made the news but did not become a star attraction such
as the Dionne Quintuplets had been.
*****
(8) One of the best-known radio broadcasters in Canada was Peter Gzowski, whose name
is pronounced “Zowski,” as if it did not begin with the letter G. Born in Toronto in 1934, Peter
Gzowski had at various times in his long career been a newspaper reporter, the editor of
Maclean’s magazine, an author (one of his books, The Game of Our Lives, is about hockey), and
a talk-show host on both radio and television.
(9) He was best-known as the host of a radio program called Morningside, which ran from
Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 12 noon on the radio network known as the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Gzowski was skilled at chatting easily and enthusiastically
with a broad range of people about a broad range of subjects—sports, politics, literature,
science, cooking, gardening, and just about any subject under the sun. In the 14 years (1982
58
to 1997) that he was the host of Morningside, he probably met, or at least talked to, more
Canadians than anyone in the history of this country. On some programs, he had lively
conversations with as many as 20 Canadians from all walks of life.
*****
(10) Between March 21, 1985 and May 22, 1987, a young man named Rick Hansen travelled
by wheelchair through 34 countries (including Great Britain, China, Russia, and Australia) to
raise awareness of the potential of people with disabilities and to raise money for spinal cord
research. Rick Hansen was born in 1957 in Port Alberni, BC. When he was 15 years old, this
star athlete suffered a spinal cord injury when the truck in which he was riding crashed.
(11) Rick Hansen’s epic journey became known as “The Man in Motion World Tour,” and a
very readable book with the title Man in Motion was published shortly after he returned to
Canada. During his trip, he spent two years, two months, and two days (792 days) away from
his Vancouver home. He travelled over 40,000 kilometres propelling his wheelchair with
his powerfully-developed arms. His tour raised $24 million for research, rehabilitation, and
wheelchair athletics. Before his Man in Motion World Tour made him known to the rest of the
world, Rick Hansen was famous throughout Canada as a world-class competitor in wheelchair
sports, especially basketball and marathons. In 1983, he shared the Canadian Athlete of the
Year award with hockey player Wayne Gretzky.
(12) Currently, Rick Hansen is the president and CEO of the Rick Hansen Man in Motion
Foundation (formed in 1988) and the Rick Hansen Institute (formed in 1997), which are
located at the University of British Columbia. Both the foundation and the institute are
working to find a cure for paralysis and to improve the health and quality of life of people with
spinal cord injuries.
*****
(13) Prior to Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion World Tour, a slightly younger friend of his named
Terry Fox had set out on his epic run across Canada called the “Marathon of Hope.” Terry
Fox was born in July, 1958. In 1977, when he was both a fine athlete and an excellent student at
Burnaby’s Simon Fraser University, it was discovered that he was suffering from a rare type of
bone cancer. It became necessary to amputate his right leg.
(14) While he was recuperating, he came up with the idea of running across Canada (he had an
artificial leg) to raise money for cancer research. He began his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland
on April 12, 1980 and ran 42 kilometres a day through Canada’s Atlantic provinces, Quebec,
and Ontario. By September 1, he had reached Thunder Bay, Ontario after running 5373
59
kilometres. But there his cross-country run had to end when doctors found that the cancer had
spread to his lungs. He died in New Westminster, BC on June 28, 1981, a month short of his
23rd birthday. During his run, he raised $1.7 million, and many millions more have been raised
since then by the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope runs that are held in many cities and towns each
year in Canada and throughout the world.
1. Which special person mentioned in the essay is associated with each of the following?
a. an amputation:
b. a special hospital:
c. the Toronto Symphony Orchestra:
d. a radio program:
e. a wheelchair:
2. What major career change did Glenn Gould make in 1964?
3. What caused the controversy between Oliva Dionne and the Ontario government?
4. What explanation is given in Paragraph 5 regarding why the Dionne Quintuplets became
overly dependent on each other?
5. Why was there not as much fuss made over the quintuplets born in Canada in 1987 as there
was over the Dionnes?
6. What contributed to Peter Gzowski’s great success as a talk-show host on CBC radio?
7. In addition to raising money for spinal cord research, what else did Rick Hansen hope to
achieve with his Man In Motion World Tour?
8. Besides being friends and being people with disabilities, what two additional things did Rick
60
Hansen and Terry Fox have in common? (To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
9. What was the major difference between the journeys undertaken by Rick Hansen and Terry
Fox?
10. Why are there Marathon of Hope runs held each year?
12. As was noted in Chapter Two, Canada from east to west is 5514 kilometres in length.
However, in Paragraph 14 of this chapter, we learn that when Terry Fox was forced by ill health
to end his Marathon of Hope, he had covered 5373 kilometres, although he was only about
halfway across the country. What two possible explanations can you provide for this apparent
inconsistency? (For suggested explanations, see the Answer Key.)
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay on one or another of the following topics: a
person you know who is eccentric (such as Glenn Gould); or a group of people you know who
are exceptional (such as the Dionne Quintuplets); or someone you know who is or was popular
with a number of people (like Peter Gzowski); or someone you know who has heroic qualities
(like Rick Hansen or Terry Fox).
61
Chapter Nine:
Canadian Jokes and Quotations

Vocabulary
different context.
aggressive: ready to attack
anecdotal: part of a story
bilingual: able to speak two languages
campaign: ask for
challenged: dared
debates: arguments
Duke: a member of the British royal family
62
entitled: called
generalization: a broad statement
guarantee: a promise
incident: event
mail-order catalogue: a book for ordering things through the mail
pioneer: first
play-by-play: describing the action of a game
proposal: an offer of marriage
rejected: turned down
resisted: held back
sidearms: a gun worn on a belt
sophisticated: of a high quality
startled: surprised
talent agency: a business that represents musicians, singers, actors, and other
entertainers
utterance: something spoken out loud
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: The Use of Prepositions

The English language has a number of words whose purpose is to show the relationship
between words in a sentence. These words are called prepositions. Prepositions indicate
the position of an object (above), time (on Sunday, at night), place (on the table, in bed), and
means (by car, on a bus). For many students who are learning English as a second language,
prepositions can be troublesome primarily because prepositions can be used in different ways
(on is an example of a preposition that can be used to show time, place, and means). As with
so many aspects of language, it ends up being a matter of usage, and the best way to come to
an understanding of what is standard usage is to listen to native speakers and to read books
written in Standard English.
63
In the following collection of Canadian jokes and quotations, there are many idiomatic
expressions using prepositions. As you read these light little stories, keep an eye out for the way
prepositions have been used in combination with other words. To give you an idea of what to
look for, here are some prepositional phrases found in the first two sections of the following
reading selection. From the number of them, you can see just how important such phrases are
in the structure of English.
tell us something about
no exception to
some samples of
would be familiar with
a quotation related to
the unofficial motto of
creates the image of
a red-coated mountie on horseback
heading off into the hills
goes back to
Canadian Jokes and Quotations

(1) Most countries have jokes and famous quotations that tell us something about the country
and the people who live there, and Canada is no exception to this. What follows are some
typical Canadian jokes and some familiar Canadian quotations.
(2) The first quotation is related to Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP). Since about 1877, the unofficial motto of the force was “We always get our
man.” This statement creates the image of a red-coated mountie (police officer) on horseback
heading off into the hills in pursuit of someone who has broken the law. The official motto of
the RCMP goes back to 1873, the year the force was formed. In French, this is “Maintiens le
droit”; in English, it is “Uphold the right.”
*****
64
(3) An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Russian, an American, and a Canadian were all asked to
write an essay on the topic “The Elephant.” The Englishman’s essay was entitled “The Elephant
and the Building of the British Empire,” the Frenchman’s was “The Love Life of the Elephant,”
the Russian’s was “How the Russians Invented the Elephant,” and the American’s essay was
entitled “How to Make Money Breeding Elephants.” The title of the Canadian’s essay was “The
Elephant—a Federal or a Provincial Responsibility?”
*****
(4) From 1884 to 1976, one of the most popular ways for Canadians to shop was through the
T. Eaton Company’s mail-order catalogue. This was especially attractive to the thousands of
families who lived on farms in rural communities and did not have access to a large department
store. What made buying things through the Eaton’s catalogue especially attractive was the
company’s famous guarantee, “Goods Satisfactory or Money Refunded.” This statement used to
be printed on Eaton’s shopping bags.
*****
(5) In a park in Montreal, a mother cat and her kittens were being threatened by an aggressive
dog. Backed into a corner, the cat suddenly stood up on her hind legs and started barking and
growling like a dog. Confused and startled, the dog ran away. The mother cat then turned to
her kittens and said, “Now do you see the advantages of being bilingual?”
*****
(6) There have been many arguments about which member of the royal family visiting Canada
was the “Duke” referred to in the following famous quotation. In any case, the story is that a
duke, who was visiting a small Canadian town on the prairies, was having lunch with several
members of the community. After the main course was finished and the plates were being
removed from the table, someone turned to the royal guest and said, “Keep your fork,
Duke, there’s pie a-comin’.”
*****
(7) On a highway outside Vancouver, an older man was standing at the side of the road with a
bicycle that had lost its chain. A young man in a sports car stopped to see if he could help. It
turned out that the chain could not be fixed, and the young man offered to drive the older man
and his bicycle into Vancouver. Unfortunately, the sports car’s trunk was too small to hold the
bicycle. So, the young man said, “Tell you what. I’ll just tie your bike to my bumper, and I’ll tow
you into town.”
65
The owner of the bicycle was nervous about this and said, “No. You’ll drive too fast.”
“I’ll drive slowly,” said the young man, but if you think I’m going too fast, just ring your bell,
and I’ll slow down.”
They started off down the freeway and all went well until another sports car came alongside
and challenged the young man to a race. He resisted at first but finally accepted the challenge,
and the two cars roared down the highway.
An RCMP officer spotted them, gave chase, pulled them over, and gave them both a ticket for
speeding. When he told another officer about the incident later in the day, he said, “Before I
stopped those two guys, they were doing at least 120 km per hour, but the really amazing thing
is that there was this old guy on a bicycle behind them ringing his bell like crazy trying to pass.”
*****
(8) A quotation so famous that it seems to always have been part of the language was actually
the creation of Canada’s best-known humorist, Stephen Leacock. In one of the comic stories in
a 1911 book entitled Nonsense Novels, the hero’s marriage proposal is rejected by his girlfriend.
Leacock then writes, “Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself
on his horse, and rode madly off in all directions.” These six words are now widely used
to describe people who are either very confused or who are not very skilled at what they are
attempting to do.
*****
(9) A man carrying a suitcase walked into the office of a talent agency in downtown Toronto.
When he opened the suitcase, out stepped forty mice each carrying a musical instrument.
At the snap of the man’s fingers, they started playing a symphony by Mozart. After they had
finished, the man asked the talent agent, “Well, what do you think? Can you get us work
somewhere?” “Not in Canada,” said the talent agent; “that trumpet player looks too American.”
*****
(10) There probably isn’t a Canadian who hasn’t heard the expression “He Shoots! He
Scores!” It is now used by all play-by-play announcers of hockey games in the English-
speaking world. However, they may not know that the first time this utterance was heard on
the radio was during a game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins on April
4, 1923. The man who first shouted it was the pioneer Canadian hockey broadcaster, Foster
Hewitt.
66
*****
(11) An expression that is said to be typical of a Canadian speaker is the short word eh? that is
pronounced like the first letter of the English alphabet. It has four different uses, three of which
are handy to have, and one that is laughed at by people who are not Canadian.
The first use occurs during a conversation when one person interrupts another by saying Eh?,
which means “Would you please repeat what you just said?”
The second use means “don’t you?”, as in, “You do want to go, eh?”
The third use is a request for agreement, as in, “This is good coffee, eh?”
The fourth and final use is called the anecdotal eh?, and this one is thought to be typically
Canadian in the sense that other non-Canadian speakers of English would not use it. Here’s an
example of the anecdotal eh?:
“I was driving down the street, eh? And I saw this car running a red light, eh? And it smashed
right into me, eh? And boy did I get mad, eh?”
Anyone who speaks like that must be a Canadian, eh?
*****
(12) A joke that Canadians have been known to tell about themselves is related to the fact
that historically Canada has had close ties with three major countries of the world—England,
France, and the United States. It was suggested that if Canadians had acted wisely, they
would have adopted English politics (which are well-run), French culture (which is very
sophisticated), and American “know-how” (Americans really know how to get things done).
Instead, or so the joke goes, Canada ended up with the weakest characteristics of each country.
Unless the question requires only a word or a short phrase as an answer (as in question 1),
1. Find the section number of one of the jokes or quotations to identify which joke or quotation
that relates to each of the following aspects of life in Canada.
a. French and English as official languages (two possible answers):
67
b. Pioneer life in Canada:
c. The duplication of powers:
d. Anti-Americanism (two possible answers):
2. Which came first, the official or the unofficial motto of the RCMP?
3. Why do you think the T. Eaton Company went out of the mail-order business in 1976? (To
check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
4. Explain why the quotation in section 6 strikes some Canadians as humorous. (To check your
answer, see the Answer Key.)
5. Why was the old man on the bicycle ringing his bell “like crazy” in the story found in section
7?
6. How many uses for eh? are mentioned in section 11?
7. Which of these uses is thought by some to be typically Canadian?
8. A personal question: have you learned to say eh?
9. Write a two-sentence summary of section 12.
Practice in Writing
Either think of and write down a joke or two that tells the reader something about your home
country; or describe a situation in which you, like Lord Ronald in the Leacock story (Paragraph
8), “rode madly off in all directions.”
68
Chapter Ten:
Lighting up the Country

Vocabulary
different context.
acronym: a name or word made by using the first letter of each word
alternative: a different way of doing something
capacities: the amounts that can be made
detrimental: causing harm
earthfill structure: a structure made by moving large amounts of earth
exploited: made use of
fail-safe: even if something fails, it does no harm
69
fossil fuel: soil, coal, and natural gas
generator: a machine that turns mechanical energy into electrical energy
harnessing: making use of
initial: first
limited extent: not used very much
obsolete: out of date and, therefore, of no use
per capita: for each individual
power outage: a time when no electricity is available
predicted: talk about something before it actually happened
pun: a word or phrase that can mean two things
renewable resource: something than can be used several times; the opposite of a
non-renewable resource
slangy: informal spoken words
spawn: lay eggs
thermal power: power produced by heat
transform: change
transmitting power: sending electricity from where it is made to where it is used
turbine: an engine that is made to rotate by the force of water, steam, or air
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Using the Articles A and The
Students whose first language does not have articles (words like a, an, and the) in front of
nouns typically have problems in English knowing whether or not an article is needed in
front of a noun. Learning rules about this matter is neither easy nor all that effective. A better
approach is to pay attention to the way these articles are used in what you read.
The opening paragraph of the following essay provides you with a good opportunity to do this,
70
and that is why all the articles have been italicized. Notice that the noun “electricity” and the
noun phrase “radio music” do not require any article.
Lighting up the Country

(1) Canadians are among the world’s highest per capita producers and consumers of electricity.
We touch a switch and a light comes on, the television hums, or the oven heats up. Seldom do
we think about from where this magical power comes. Even if we turn on a switch and nothing
happens because there’s been a windstorm or a snowstorm that caused a power outage, we
believe that soon the power will come back on; and once again when we turn on a switch, or
plug in a plug, the computer screen will light up, the kettle will boil, or radio music will fill the
room.
(2) Canada is a country rich in the sources of electrical power. The electricity we have at
our disposal is created in one of three ways—by harnessing the water flowing down a river,
by burning fossil fuels, or by producing a nuclear reaction. Several alternative methods of
producing electricity are under investigation, but none is, as yet, employed in a major way.
Some of the alternatives are using the energy of the wind, the sun, the tides, or the ocean
waves.
(3) All the Canadian provinces, except Prince Edward Island, produce some hydroelectric
power, with Quebec and British Columbia being the major producers. Hydroelectric power is
produced by damming a river and then using gravity to send the blocked water down a long
tunnel at the bottom of which there are turbines and generators that can transform the power
of the falling water into electricity.
(4) British Columbia has 31 hydroelectric generating plants. The largest is at the W.A.C.
Bennett Dam on the Peace River. (This dam is one of the largest earthfill structures in the
world.) Other major hydroelectric sites in British Columbia are found on the Columbia River at
the Mica Creek Dam and the Revelstoke Dam.
(5) The chief advantage of hydroelectric power is that the required material, water, is a free
and renewable resource. There are, however, three disadvantages. Most of the rivers in
Canada that are close to major population centres where electricity is in great demand have
already been exploited. Since the cost of transmitting power increases as the distance it has
to be transmitted increases, building new dams on remote rivers is not practical. A second
disadvantage is that, even though a hydroelectric power plant can be used for many years
and the cost of operation is relatively low, the initial cost of building it is very high. The last
disadvantage is that damming a river can be detrimental to the environment. The homes and
71
the land of people often have to be flooded when a new lake is created behind a dam. Also,
in many instances, a choice has to be made between producing electricity and protecting the
rivers and streams where fish spawn.
(6) Currently, about 59 percent of the electricity produced in Canada comes from hydroelectric
sources. However, it is predicted that future development will focus primarily on the building
of thermal power plants. In such plants, coal, oil, or natural gas is burned to turn water into
steam. This steam is then used to run the turbines that will generate electricity. The main
advantages of thermal power plants are that they are relatively inexpensive to build. While they
can be built close to a location where electricity is needed, their location also needs to be built
close to their power supply of coal, oil, or natural gas.
(7) There are, however, several disadvantages related to thermal plants. One of them is that
they become obsolete more quickly than do hydroelectric plants and then have to be replaced.
Two even more serious disadvantages are that they use up non-renewable resources and
contribute to the pollution of the atmosphere. At present, about 20 percent of the electricity
produced in Canada comes from thermal plants. The two largest producers are Alberta and
Ontario. Quebec and British Columbia, with their large hydroelectric capacities, use thermal
power to only a very limited extent.
(8) Nuclear power plants are also thermal plants but instead of burning fossil fuels, they use
nuclear fission to generate the heat to produce the steam that runs the turbines. Nineteen
nuclear power plants have been built in Canada—one in New Brunswick, and 18 in Ontario,
and they account for approximately 16 percent of the electricity used by Canadians. Nuclear
power plants are expensive to build, and, in the minds of those who don’t approve of them, they
pose the threat of a serious nuclear accident like the one that occurred in 1986 at Chernobyl
in the Ukraine, which killed many people and damaged valuable land and crops. In Canada,
no houses can be built within a one-kilometre radius of a nuclear power plant even though the
nuclear reactors used in Canada are supposed to have several “fail-safe” features.
(9) The reactor used in all of Canada’s nuclear power plants is known as the CANDU reactor.
CANDU is an acronym created from the phrase “Canadian Deuterium-Uranium,” uranium
being the fuel used to power this reactor. Those who, for environmental and safety reasons,
have been opposed to the building of nuclear power plants in Canada some years ago came up
with a clever bumper sticker. It read: “NO CANDU,” which is a pun on the slangy Canadian
expression “No can do” meaning “I can’t do that,” and implied that no CANDU reactors should
be built. But they have been built in Canada, and several have also been sold to other countries
around the world.
(10) Canadians do not use all the power that they produce. A large amount of it is sold to
72
distributors in the United States.
1. What are the three ways most of the electricity used in Canada is produced?
2. How many provinces do not produce any hydroelectric power?
3. What is special about the W.A.C. Bennett Dam?
4. Briefly summarize the three disadvantages of hydroelectric power outlined in Paragraph 5.
5. Why is it an advantage to be able to build a thermal power plant close to where the electricity
will be used? (To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
6. What are the three disadvantages of thermal power plants mentioned in Paragraph 7?
7. Four of Canada’s provinces—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan—

are not mentioned in this essay. Can you think of a reason why the writer of the essay did not
mention them? (For a possible reason, see the Answer Key.)
Practice in Writing
Imagine that you woke up one January morning to find that in your community there had been
a power outage caused by a snowstorm. Write an account of some of the difficulties you would
be faced with as you tried to get ready for the day; or write a well-developed paragraph or short
essay on the various ways in which you make use of electricity during a typical day of your life.
73
Chapter Eleven:
The Indigenous Peoples of Canada

Vocabulary
different context.
basic tenet: main idea
compensated: paid money
constitute: make up
contemporary: present day
elapsed: passed
exclusive: used only by one group
heritage: the culture or race one belongs to
74
inadequate: not good enough
indigenous people: the first people to live in Canada
self-identity: knowing who you are
Statistics Canada: a government department that collects facts about life in Canada
structured: highly organized
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Introductory Phrases and Clauses
One characteristic of the English language is that it enables writers to make use of many
different types of sentence structures. More will be said about sentence variety in Chapter
Sixteen, but this chapter will highlight only one particular aspect of sentence structure. This is
the matter of using introductory prepositional phrases or adverb clauses to introduce a main
clause. Doing this is an especially useful device for any writer who has the habit of beginning
every sentence with a main clause.
Introductory phrases and clauses can be either long or short or somewhere in between. Note
that prepositional phrases begin with words like as, at, during, in, or within, while adverb
clauses begin with words like although, if, throughout, when, or while. Also note that both
introductory phrases and introductory clauses should be followed by a comma. Several
examples of these introductory word groups are found in the essay that follows.
A short phrase: Throughout their history, ... (Paragraph 3)
A longer phrase: At the time of the publication of this book, ... (Paragraph 2)
A long phrase: As well as retaining their culture and improving their economic
conditions, ... (Paragraph 6)
A short clause: If several bands join together, ... (Paragraph 3)
A longer clause: When a group of tribes are closely associated, ... (Paragraph 3)
A long clause: While Indigenous leaders try to help their people participate in
contemporary Canadian life and share in its economic benefits, ... (Paragraph 5)
After you have read the essay that follows, locate an introductory phrase or clause in the
paragraphs indicated below. (To check your answers, see the Answer Key.)
75
Paragraph 3:
Paragraph 6:
The Indigenous Peoples of Canada

(1) The history of the Indigenous people on this continent goes back approximately 50,000
years. This contrasts with the nearly 500 years that have elapsed since the Europeans first
settled in what today is called Canada. It should be noted that a variety of names are used to
identify the first people in Canada—Inuit, Aboriginal, Indigenous, First Nations, and Métis.
(2) The following figures were taken from the 2006 Statistics Canada census. These indicate
that there were 1,172,790 Indigenous people spread out across Canada’s ten provinces and
three territories. Of these, 698,025 were of First Nations heritage, while 50,485 were of Inuit
heritage. (The term Inuit has now replaced the word Eskimo to describe the northernmost
residents of Canada.) In addition to the First Nations and the Inuit, there were approximately
389,785 Métis: individuals who are of part First Nations and part European descent. Taken
together, the First Nations, the Inuit, and the Métis constituted almost four percent of the total
population of Canada. (Note: When these numbers are added together they slightly exceed
the total Indigenous population. This is because a small number, about 34,500, reported that
they considered themselves as members of more than one Indigenous group.) According to the
2006 Census, the largest group of Indigenous people (242,495) in Canada lived in Ontario.
(3) Throughout their history, Indigenous people have had a very structured social organization.
A group of families that live together is called a band. If several bands join together, they
are referred to as a tribe. When a group of tribes are closely associated, they are called a
confederacy or a nation. In 2006, there were 612 Indigenous bands situated throughout
Canada.
(4) There are 60 separate Indigenous languages still spoken in this country though some of
them have only a few speakers and are, therefore, in danger of dying out. Some Indigenous
people speak their native language, but many today speak either English or French. Some
of the Indigenous languages that have the most speakers include Cree, Mi’kmaq, Ojibway,
Mohawk, Bella Coola, and Kwakiutl. The last two languages mentioned are spoken in British
Columbia.
(5) The Indigenous peoples in Canada are now having to contend with many serious problems.
Some issues have arisen due to the reservation land system, under which some communities
have limited access to jobs, education, and even clean water. Many families live in poverty and
76
often have to withstand inadequate housing and living conditions. While Indigenous leaders
try to help their people participate in contemporary Canadian society and share in its economic
benefits, they also want to protect and promote the Indigenous peoples’ sense of self-identity
and their distinctive culture. One shared aspect of their cultures is that individuals should
maintain a close identity with the natural world or with what they often refer to as “the land.”
(6) As well as retaining their culture and improving their economic conditions, many
Indigenous people are striving for other goals. First, they want to become self-governing, that
is, become free of the control that the federal government has had over them through the
Indian Act of Canada, which was passed in 1868. They also want to settle the many claims they
have made to both provincial and federal governments to have their lands returned to them
and to be compensated for the unjust treatment they received from non-Indigenous people
during the past century. Although some progress towards settling Indian Land Claims is being
made, progress in this area is slow. Additionally, many Indigenous people have become key
players in environmental protection movements, such as “Idle No More.”
1. What is the author’s purpose in the first two sentences of the essay? (To check your answer,
see the Answer Key.)
2. What is the main idea of Paragraph 2? (To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
3. Which two of the Indigenous languages mentioned are spoken in British Columbia?
4. Summarize the “structured social organization” of the Indigenous peoples.
5. Why are some Indigenous languages in danger of disappearing?
6. What is the most serious problem faced by Canada’s Indigenous peoples?
7. What are the two goals of many Indigenous peoples that are mentioned in Paragraph 6?
Practice in Writing
77
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay describing what you have learned about
Indigenous cultures in Canada; or write a well-developed paragraph summarizing in your own
words the six problems faced by the Indigenous peoples as outlined in Paragraphs 5 and 6.
78
Chapter Twelve:
Four Indigenous Cultures

Vocabulary
different context.
caribou: a reindeer
confederacy: a group of Indigenous tribes
conflicts: arguments
construction: building
displaced: taken the place of
domed: round on top
done justice to: treated as fully as it deserves
79
edible vegetation: plants that can be eaten
elegant: very fancy
engage in agriculture: to farm
enthusiastically: with a lot of energy
fierce warriors: good fighters
harpoon: a spear with a rope tied to it
high steel: steel used for the framework of high-rise buildings
horsemanship: great skill in riding a horse
Husky: a strong work dog found in the North
nomads: people who move from place to place
paddled: moved a small boat/canoe through the water with an oar
parka: a coat with a hood
portable: able to be carried
primarily: mostly
quills: feathers from a bird or needles from a porcupine
symbolize: represent
racial ties: people of the same race
renowned: famous
teepee: a conical tent used by some Indigenous peoples
totem poles: tall poles carved and painted with birds and animals
traditional: something that has been done for a long time
vast herds: thousands of animals moving in a group
version: a specific type of something
80
witnessed: seen
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Paragraph Development
In earlier parts of this book, the phrase “a well-developed paragraph” has been frequently
used. A well-developed paragraph is one with several sentences that contribute something to
the development of the paragraph’s central idea. There are various specific ways to develop an
idea, and knowing what kinds of developments are available can often help a writer think of
ideas that will help in the composition of an interesting paragraph or of an interesting series of
paragraphs to make up an essay.
Among the most common methods of development are the following:
Providing an illustration or an example.
Giving details.
Making a contrast (pointing out differences).
Making a comparison (pointing out similarities).
Showing a cause-and-effect relationship.
Supplying reasons (explaining why something has occurred).
Making a qualification (pointing out limits).
Sometimes a paragraph can be developed using only one of these methods; usually a
combination of them will be used. Next time you are unsure of how to write something,
consider the above list and perhaps it will help you think of what you could write. Could you
give an illustration or an example, provide details, make a contrast or a comparison, show a
cause-and-effect relationship, give a reason or reasons, or introduce a qualification?
Throughout the following essay, a comment has been made at the end of each paragraph
to indicate which method (or methods) of development has been used. Because the essay is
primarily factual and descriptive, the most common method used is providing details.
Four Indigenous Cultures

(1) Although a short essay cannot do justice to the richness of Indigenous culture in Canada, a
81
brief look at four different Indigenous societies can indicate how varied and rich their culture
has been for many thousands of years. The four societies to be discussed are the Indigenous
peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of what is now British Columbia, the Indigenous
people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies, the Iroquois in what is now Ontario
and Quebec, and the Inuit in the Canadian territories.
The above short introductory paragraph begins with a qualification and provides
some details.
*****
(2) Along the coast of British Columbia live several tribes that together are known as the
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Historically, their villages were
located on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, and they were able to take from the sea a rich harvest
of fish and sea mammals (seals, walruses, and sea lions). As a result, there was no need for
them to engage in agriculture. They lived by fishing, hunting, and gathering berries and fruits.
The above paragraph is developed by showing a cause-and-effect relationship.
(3) Having enough leisure time when food was plentiful and having access to the ancient
forests of the coast, they developed great skills as builders and woodcarvers. Using cedar trees,
they built large rectangular houses with slanted roofs, carved giant totem poles, and hollowed
out logs to make beautiful war canoes. Some of the most skilled builders among the Indigenous
peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast were members of a tribe known as the Haida. Their
communities are on the Haida Gwaii, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, off the
northwest coast of British Columbia. Totem poles, and the Haida artists who carve them, have
become famous throughout the world for their narratives and craftsmanship.
The above paragraph is developed by providing details.
*****
4) The open prairies of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are the home of the Indigenous
people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies, consisting of various tribes, such
as the Cree, the Blackfoot, and the Ojibway. They are likely the best known of the Indigenous
peoples in Canada primarily because they have been portrayed in so many movies and
television programs. They acquired fame for their traditional practices of handling horses,
hunting buffalo, dwelling in teepees, and wearing eagle feather headdresses.
The above paragraph is developed by providing reasons and some details.
82
(5) The Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies were nomads. They
followed huge herds of buffalo across the grassy plains. For shelter, they used teepees, which
were made by covering a circle of wooden poles with buffalo skin. The teepees were portable
and could be carried along with them whenever they decided to move to a new location. These
peoples wore very elegant clothing of deer or buffalo skins decorated with the quills of animals.
While the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast used mainly dugout canoes for
transportation, the people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies rose to prominence as
expert horsemen upon the animals’ introduction from Europe.
The above paragraph is developed by providing details and ends with a contrast.
*****
(6) The Iroquois were at home in the forests of what are now the southern parts of Ontario
and Quebec. They belonged to a confederacy known as the Six Nations, the members of which
were tribes called the Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras.
Members of these tribes were skilled craftspeople, and aside from hunting, they were also
renowned for their agriculture. On their farms, the main crop grown was a type of corn called
maize.
(7) The Iroquois were renowned as fierce warriors. They fought not only against other
Indigenous tribes while attempting to expand their territories but during the eighteenth
century, they also took part in the many wars fought in North America between the French and
the British. Historians are of the opinion that if the Iroquois had not been on the side of the
British in some of the major battles, the French would have been victorious, and, as a result,
would have gained control of all of North America. If this had happened, the main language
throughout North America today would be French, not English.
The above paragraph is developed by showing a cause-and-effect relationship.
(8) Lacrosse, which was Canada’s first unofficial national sport, was played enthusiastically by
the Iroquois. The Indigenous version of lacrosse, as first witnessed by the Europeans, was very
different from the game that is still played today. Dozens of players would be involved on each
side; the field could be several hundred metres long; and the game might last for two or three
days. Modern lacrosse is much less dangerous. It has six to twelve players and is often played
indoors. In 1994, lacrosse officially became the national summer sport and hockey became the
national winter sport.
The above paragraph is developed by showing a contrast.
83
(9) In modern times, Mohawks from Quebec have become famous as high steel workers.
Noted for their delicate sense of balance and their fearlessness while working high up on tall
buildings, they have been employed in the construction of dozens of skyscrapers, especially in
New York City. Mohawks have also become known in recent years because of the events that
have occurred on the Kahnawake Reserve with the Quebec government and the Quebec police.
Referred to as the “Oka Crisis,” Mohawk protesters, the police, and the army clashed over the
proposed development of a golf course and condominiums on disputed land that included a
Mohawk burial ground. While the development was cancelled, the land was purchased by the
federal government and remains under governmental ownership.
*****
(10) The Inuit people dwell in the north, and their racial ties are not with other North
American Indigenous peoples but with peoples from Asia. There are Inuit settlements in the
Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Northern Quebec, and Labrador. Since they live on land that
provides no edible vegetation, the Inuit have had to train themselves to become skilled hunters.
They learned to hunt seals, walruses, sea lions, and even polar bears and small whales. Another
main source of food was the vast herds of caribou that migrated each summer across the
northern tundra.
The above paragraph begins with a contrast and then continues with a cause-and-
effect relationship.
(11) For water transportation, these skillful builders had kayaks, small boats made by
stretching animal hide over a frame made of driftwood. For winter travel across the snow, they
built sleds which were pulled by teams of Husky dogs. They made cleverly designed clothing
out of animal hides to keep out the bitter cold they had to endure in the Arctic climate. Among
the special clothing they invented were fur-lined parkas and soft, comfortable boots, made out
of sealskin, called mukluks.
(12) Where the Inuit lived, the winters were long and harsh. This meant that there were times
when snow storms kept them confined inside their igloos, which were domed dwellings made
of blocks of snow. To pass the time, this peaceful people invented games, made up stories and
songs, and carved wonderful stone figures of birds and animals. When spring finally arrived
and the igloos melted, the Inuit would build teepees similar to those of the Indigenous people
of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies.
84
The above paragraph is developed by a cause-and-effect relationship and then ends

with a comparison.
(13) In the 20th century, life for many Inuit changed as influences from southern Canada
entered their northern land. Before this happened, hunters used to hunt with harpoons, but
now they use guns. They used to travel by sled and dog-team, but now they ride snowmobiles.
They used to wear animal-skin clothing, but now they wear nylon snowsuits. They used to live
in igloos or teepees, but now they live with their families in wood-frame houses.
The above paragraph is developed by providing an example that also contains a

series of contrasts.
1. Which of the Indigenous peoples is connected with each of the following?
a. parkas:
b. war canoes:
c. buffalo:
d. French-British wars:
2. Why didn’t the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast develop a form of
agriculture?
3. What two things made it possible for tribes on the British Columbian coast to become so
skillful as builders and carvers?
4. What item of Haida craftsmanship has become world famous?
5. Why are the Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies so well known?
6. Why were the Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies nomadic?
7. Why was the teepee so suitable for a nomadic people?
85
8. How did the transportation of the Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Canadian
Prairies differ from that of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast ?
9. In Paragraph 7, what was the cause and what was the effect? (To check your answer, see the
Answer Key.)
10. Identify one way in which a modern game of lacrosse is different from the way it was played
by the Iroquois. (To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
11. In what important way do Inuit people differ from the other Indigenous peoples described
in this essay?
12. In what two ways were the Inuit and the Indigenous people of the Great Plains and
Canadian Prairies similar? (To check your answer, see see the Answer Key.)
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay on some of the ways that the style in which
you live today differs from the way Indigenous peoples lived in earlier times. (This essay could
be developed by making a series of contrasts.)
86
Chapter Thirteen:
An All-Star Hockey Team

Vocabulary
different context.
achievements: things someone did well
aggressive: ready to attack
anticipating: guessing
charity: to raise money for people who need help
chronological: the order of events according to time
consistently: on a regular basis
criteria: guidelines
87
destructive: leading to a great deal of damage
dominated: was the very best
enraged: made angry
excelled: was superior
extremely: very
feat: something not easy to do
high-strung: nervous
inevitably: cannot be avoided
intangible: not easy to describe, measure, or understand
intensity: with strong feelings
left on the bench: a hockey metaphor meaning in this case, “not part of the best team”
modest: humble or not boastful
remarkable: unusual in a good way
roster: list of players
suspended: not allowed to play
triple: a three-base hit in baseball
universally acknowledged: agreed to by everyone
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Various Tense Forms
Because this essay deals with events that took place in the past, it is natural that the most
common tense form used is the simple past as in this sentence from Paragraph 5.
He was the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games, and for many years, he held the
record for the total number of goals scored in playoff games.
However, because of the nature of some of the events being described, the writer has
88
occasionally had to make use of other tenses including the present, the present perfect, and the
future. Consider the following examples.
From Paragraph 2: (Present Tense)
He makes it into this select group because he is universally acknowledged as being the
greatest Canadian athlete that ever lived.
From Paragraph 8: (Future Tense)
Even though he no longer holds the NHL scoring record, Gordie Howe, in the minds of
many hockey fans, will always be remembered as one of the truly great ones.
From Paragraph 13: (Present Perfect Tense)
As well as being admired for his playing skills, Wayne Gretzky has won respect for the
modest and gentlemanly way he has behaved off the ice.
An All-Star Hockey Team

(1) There have been so many excellent Canadian hockey players that selecting just a handful of
the best to make up an All-Star Team is far from easy, and many great players will, inevitably,
have to be left on the bench. In the imaginary All-Star team listed below, two criteria were
used: the player must have dominated the game in the era in which he played or must have
made a contribution that in some way changed the game of hockey. The six players chosen have
been placed in chronological order of when they first started playing in the National Hockey
League (NHL) instead of in the usual way of naming an All-Star Team, which is to list a goalie
(in this case, Jacques Plante), then two defensemen (Lionel Conacher and Bobby Orr), and
then three forwards (Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, and Wayne Gretzky).
*****
(2) To be truthful, neither of the two criteria mentioned above has been used in selecting
Lionel Conacher (1902-1954) as one of the defensemen. He makes it into this select group
because he is universally acknowledged as being the greatest Canadian athlete that ever lived.
He was, indeed, a professional hockey player for several years, and a good one, but unlike most
other professional athletes, he also excelled at several other sports—wrestling, boxing, lacrosse,
football, baseball, and track and field. (He always said that his best game was lacrosse.)
(3) Among his achievements were winning the Canadian heavyweight boxing championship in
1920. In 1921, he led the Toronto Argonauts football team to a Grey Cup, the Canadian Football
89
League’s championship, victory over the Edmonton Eskimos by a score of 23 to 0. After scoring
the Argonaut’s first 15 points, Conacher left the game and got into a taxi. As the taxi raced
across Toronto, he changed from his football to his lacrosse uniform in order to take part in
the last period of a championship lacrosse match in which he scored the tying and the winning
goals. On the football field, Lionel Conacher was a swift and fierce halfback (his nickname was
“The Big Train”), and he was one of the best kickers in the history of Canadian football.
(4) Because he came from a very poor family, Lionel Conacher didn’t get a chance to learn
how to ice skate until he was sixteen. Nonetheless, in 1925 (at the age of 23), he became
a professional hockey player. Before he retired from the game in 1937, he had been a star
defenseman on teams in New York, Chicago, and Montreal. After leaving hockey, he entered
provincial politics in Ontario and, for twelve years, was a member of the Ontario Provincial
Legislature. In 1947, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons. This remarkable
athlete died in a remarkable way. At the age of 52, playing in a charity softball game, he
suffered a heart attack and collapsed at third base after hitting a triple.
*****
(5) Maurice “Rocket” Richard was a player on the Montreal Canadiens team in the NHL.
He dominated the game from 1942 to 1960. He was the first player to score 50 goals in 50
games, and for many years, he held the record for the total number of goals scored in playoff
games. In 1944, he got all five goals in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Richard played
the game with an intensity that has never been matched, especially in playoff games (in which
he scored 18 game-winning goals).
(6) When the hot-tempered Rocket was suspended for striking a linesman during the 1955
playoffs, his Montreal fans were so enraged that they carried out one of the most destructive
riots in Canadian sports history, similar to the riot in Vancouver following the 1994 Stanley
Cup finals.
*****
(7) Among the superstars in the next generation of hockey players was a goalkeeper named
Jacques Plante (1929-1986). During a hockey career that ran from 1953 to 1975, he played
for five different NHL teams though his greatest years were with the Montreal Canadiens
between 1955 and 1960 where he won the Vezina Trophy (for top goaltender) five years in a
row. Plante changed goalkeeping in two ways. He was the first goalie to consistently move
away from his net to go after the puck; and, after 1959, he was the first goalie to regularly wear
a protective face mask, something that all goalkeepers now do. A high-strung man, he had the
unusual habit of calming himself down between periods by knitting. He died in Switzerland in
90
1986.
*****
(8) Gordie Howe was not only the greatest goal scorer of his era but also the athlete who had
the longest career of any player in any major professional sport in any country. Between the
years 1946 and 1980, he played for 32 seasons. He retired from the Detroit Red Wings in 1971
after starring with this team for 25 years. He did not play hockey during 1971 and 1972 but
returned to the game in 1973 to play on a team with his two sons, Mark and Marty. As a player,
Howe was extremely strong and aggressive; he was also a fast skater with a powerful shot and
very dangerous elbows. Howe held the all-time NHL scoring record of 2010 points (869 goals
and 1141 assists) until Wayne Gretzky broke that record on October 15, 1989. Even though he
no longer holds the NHL scoring record, Gordie Howe will always be remembered by many
hockey fans as one of the truly great ones.
*****
(9) A man who had a powerful impact on the way hockey was played was Bobby Orr, the first
defenseman to win the NHL scoring title, the Art Ross Trophy, a feat that he achieved in both
1970 and 1975. What Orr contributed to the game was the way the position of defense would
thereafter be played. Following Bobby Orr’s example, each NHL team has attempted to have a
rushing defenseman on its roster. Instead of staying in his own defensive zone, Orr would pick
up the puck behind his own net and swoop down the ice to set up a goal or score.
(10) Orr joined the Boston Bruins at the age of 18 in 1967 and played for that team until 1976.
He was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1970, 1971, and 1972. He won the Norris
trophy for best defenseman eight times and was a First Team All-Star eight times. His brilliant
career was shortened by injuries to both knees, which forced him to undergo six painful
operations.
*****
(11) Wayne Gretzky, Number 99, was the dominant player in hockey during the 1980s and
into the 1990s, and he also, in some intangible way, changed the nature of the game. He wasn’t
the strongest player nor the fastest skater, but he had a genius for anticipating where the puck
was going to be. His first coach was his father who gave him the following basic rule: “Go where
the puck’s going, not where it’s been.”
(12) It would take several pages to list the dozens of honors Wayne Gretzky has won and the
records he has broken. But two details give a very clear picture of the way he has dominated
this sport and why he has been called the greatest hockey player in the history of the game.
91
At the age of ten, when he was playing in an Ontario league with boys four years older than
himself, he scored 378 goals in 85 games, 238 goals more than the boy who came second. At
the age of 18, in his very first year as an Edmonton Oiler (1979-80), he was named the league’s
Most Valuable Player, a title he has since won many times. As mentioned above, in 1989, he
broke Gordie Howe’s record for most goals and assists by an NHL player.
(13) As well as being admired for his skills, Wayne Gretzky won respect for the modest and
gentlemanly way he behaved off the ice. When, in 1988, he was traded by the Edmonton Oilers
to the Los Angeles Kings, not only the city of Edmonton but all of Canada felt something
important had been lost.
1. Which member of the All-Star Team described in this essay is associated with each of the
following?
a. 378 goals in 85 games:
b. dangerous elbows:
c. knitting:
d. a taxi ride:
e. a riot:
f. bad knees:
2. What two criteria did the writer use in selecting this All-Star Team?
3. In what two ways was Lionel Conacher different from most other professional athletes? (See
Paragraphs 2 and 4.)
4. When referring to Maurice Richard, why does the writer make more than one reference to
playoff games?
5. In what two ways did Jacques Plante change goaltending?
92
6. What record in professional sport does Gordie Howe no longer hold, and what record does
he still hold?
7. In the 34 years between l946 and 1980, Gordie Howe played hockey for 32 seasons. Why not
for 34?
8. Why did Gordie Howe return to hockey after he had retired from it in 1971?
9. Why does the author call the fact that Bobby Orr won the NHL scoring title in 1970 and 1975
a feat? (To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
10. In what way did Bobby Orr change the way defensemen play hockey?
11. With what two details does the author indicate how Wayne Gretzky was a dominant force in
hockey from early in his career?
12. Why do you think many Canadians were upset when Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los
Angeles Kings? (For a suggested explanation, see the Answer Key.)
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed short essay in which you make your own All-Star Selection. It need not
be about hockey, but about anything that you are interested in—six best books, six best foods,
six best singers, six best cars, six best courses in school, six best anything. (And it doesn’t really
have to be six, though it should be enough so that you can write a fully developed essay.)
93
Chapter Fourteen:
Canadian World Champions

Vocabulary
different context.
accumulate: collect
admiration: respect
alpine: in the mountains
astonished: surprised
bowed out of: left the competition
breakwater: a stone wall built at the edge of a lake or ocean
crown: the sign that a boxer is a world champion
94
damaged: weakened
defending his title: attempting to keep his championship status
dispatch runner: a soldier who carried messages out on the battlefield
dominated: was the best
downhill: the skier goes straight down the hill
elements: forces of nature, in this case, Lake Ontario
equestrian: horseback riding
excelled: did something very well
exhaustion: being very tired
first decade: first ten years
frenzy of excitement: so excited they seemed to be crazy
graciously: in a pleasant way
individual: one person
international: in many different countries
ironies: something opposite to what you would expect
lamprey eels: snake-like fish
marathon: a very long race or swim
place-kicker: someone who kicks a football while it is being held on the ground
propelled: moved
punter: someone who kicks a football while holding it in his hands
qualifying sprints: races held before the final race in order to reduce the number of
runners to the best six
related: similar
95
rheumatic fever: a childhood disease that often causes damage to the heart
semi-conscious: half awake
slalom: a ski race in which the skier has to pass through several gates that require
sharp turns
split the uprights: kicked the ball through the goalposts to score a field goal
spotlight: public attention
sprint: run very quickly for a short distance
startling upset: someone won who wasn’t expected to win
tournament: a series of games involving several teams
triumphed: came in first
valiant: brave
was dwarfed by: made to look very small
world champions: people who are the best in the world at their sport
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Still More About English Idioms
As has already been noted three times (in the Introduction and in Chapters Four and Eight),
a very helpful way to make progress in writing English is to pay attention to the idiomatic
expressions used by writers and speakers for whom English is a first language. The essay that
follows contains many examples of idiomatic expressions. If, after reading them in the context
of the essay, you still aren’t completely clear on what some of them mean, then ask an English
speaker to explain their meaning to you.
Paragraph 2: propelled across the water
Paragraph 3: after successfully defending his title
Paragraph 4: during his running career
Paragraph 5: has held the title of
96
Paragraph 6: started out as
Paragraph 7: went for many months
Paragraph 8: pay his own way
Paragraph 9: one of the most triumphant welcomes
Paragraph 10: I was glad to get out of it
Paragraph 12: showered with gifts
Paragraph 13: she fought against the elements
Paragraph 14: bowed out of the spotlight
Paragraph 15: none has matched the success
Paragraph 16: with one race still to be run
Paragraph 17: took up competitive skiing
Paragraph 19: with 32 seconds left on the clock
Canadian World Champions

(1) Although hockey is at present the favorite game of most Canadians, it is not the only sport
in which Canadian athletes have excelled. As would be expected in this land of ice and snow,
Canadian athletes have done particularly well in skiing and ice-skating. But they have also
triumphed—have produced world champions—in sculling, boxing, long distance running,
basketball, track and field, and marathon swimming. This chapter will introduce you to one
team and to eight individuals who were considered to be the best in the world in their time.
(2) Before the days of hockey, football, baseball, and basketball, a popular sport in Canada
was sculling. A scull is a short, flat boat that is propelled across the water by one, two, or four
oarsmen (or oarswomen), each of whom pulls on two short oars. (A related sport is called
rowing. This usually involves eight rowers in a long, flat boat, with each rower pulling on one
long oar.)
(3) The world’s best singles sculler during the later half of the nineteenth century was an
Ontario man named Ned Hanlan (1855-1908). Between the years 1873 and 1884, he
dominated sculling throughout the world, winning races against the best scullers in Canada,
97
the United States, England, and Australia. He became world champion in 1880, and, after
successfully defending his title six times, he finally lost it to an Australian. Hanlan was the first
Canadian to win international fame as an athlete and the first Canadian to become a world
champion in any sport.
*****
(4) The second world championship to be won by a Canadian was in long-distance running.
The Canadian who was such a successful marathon runner in the first decade of the twentieth
century was Tom Longboat (1887-1949), an Indigenous man from the Six Nations Reserve
in Ontario. A tireless runner with the ability to sprint at the end of a long race, he won the
42-kilometre Boston Marathon in 1907 and the World’s Professional Marathon Championship
in 1909. During his running career, Tom Longboat set many records, such as on the day in 1912
when he ran a 24-kilometre race in one hour, 18 minutes, and 10 seconds. During the First
World War, he served his country as a dispatch runner in France.
*****
(5) Only one Canadian has held the title of Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World. The
Canadian who did this was a boxer from Quebec named Tommy Burns (1881-1955), who won
the title in 1906. He defended his crown 10 times before losing it in December of 1908. During
his career, he lost only four of the 60 matches in which he boxed.
*****
(6) The next Canadian world champion was not an individual, but a team of women basketball
players. They were called the Edmonton Grads, a team that started out as a group of
students playing for McDougall Commercial High School in Edmonton, Alberta. After
graduating, they continued to play basketball under the guidance of their high school coach,
Percy Page.
(7) Their success was not only outstanding but also lengthy; it continued for 25 years, from
1915 to 1940. During this time, only 48 different women were members of the Edmonton
Grads. They won tournament after tournament in both North America and Europe. James
Naismith, the inventor of basketball, called them “the finest basketball team that ever stepped
out on a floor.” During their 25 years as a team, they won 93 percent of the games they played
and frequently went for many months without losing a single game.
*****
(8) When Percy Williams (1908-1982) achieved what might well be the most startling upset
98
in the history of the modern Olympics, he was a slightly built, completely unknown, ex-high
school sprinter from Vancouver, British Columbia. He was so unknown—even in Canada—that
he had to pay his own way to Amsterdam, Holland to compete in the 1928 Olympic Games.
When he lined up with the other runners at the start of each race, the 59-kilogram [130-pound]
runner from Canada was dwarfed by much taller and heavier athletes from the United States,
Germany, Holland, South Africa, and Great Britain.
(9) On July 30, after several qualifying sprints, Williams astonished the world by winning the
gold medal in the 100-metre race. Two days later, he caused a frenzy of excitement throughout
Canada when he beat the world’s best sprinters in the 200-metre race to win his second gold
medal. He returned to Canada to one of the most triumphant welcomes ever seen in this
country. As he crossed the country by train, he was greeted by huge crowds in each of Canada’s
major cities.
(10) There are two especially interesting ironies in the Percy Williams story. One is that as a
child he suffered from rheumatic fever that left him with a damaged heart, something that
could have limited his ability to run. The second is that when he retired from running two years
after the 1928 Olympics, he said, “I didn’t like running. I was glad to get out of it.”
*****
(11) It was exactly 20 years after Percy Williams’ triumph that another Canadian became a
national hero by winning an Olympic gold medal. The setting was the 1948 Winter Olympics in
St. Moritz, Switzerland. The winner this time was a figure skater named Barbara Ann Scott.
(12) Born in Ottawa in 1928, Barbara Ann Scott began to train seriously as a figure skater
when she was nine years old, practicing daily for seven hours. Prior to winning her Olympic
gold medal, she had been the Canadian, North American, European, and World champion.
Following her triumph at St. Moritz, she, like Percy Williams, became a national celebrity and
was cheered by crowds and showered with gifts in every part of the country. She toured as the
star of an ice show between 1949 and 1954, then retired to train as an equestrian. She also
excelled in training and showing horses, winning a number of equestrian medals.
*****
(13) Shortly after Barbara Ann Scott left the scene, another young Ontario woman won the
admiration of Canadians. This young woman was a marathon swimmer named Marilyn
Bell, who was born in Toronto in 1937. On a cold night in September, 1954, when she was
just sixteen years old, she stepped into Lake Ontario at Youngstown, New York to begin her
valiant 21-hour swim across Lake Ontario to Toronto, a distance of 51.5 kilometres. Fighting
99
exhaustion, lamprey eels, and patches of spilled oil on the lake, she appeared to be only semi-
conscious when her hand finally reached out to touch a breakwater in Toronto’s harbor. As
well as admiring Marilyn Bell for her courage and her power as a swimmer, many saw her
achievement as something typically Canadian: alone and determined, she fought against the
elements and won, like a pioneer surviving a long Canadian winter.
(14) In the years that followed, Marilyn Bell completed other challenging swims. She was the
youngest person to swim across both the English Channel and the stormy Strait of Juan de
Fuca west of Victoria. For a short period, this remarkable young woman was a perfect Canadian
heroine—modest, charming, and intelligent. Then, when her days of fame were over, she
graciously bowed out of the spotlight.
*****
(15) In skiing, competition for the World Cup occurs during the winter months through a
variety of downhill and slalom races held at major ski resorts throughout Europe and North
America. To win a World Cup, a skier must accumulate points as the result of first, second,
or third place finishes in a series of races held between November and April. In 1967, the first
year that the World Cup competition was held, the winner among female skiers was Nancy
Greene, a young woman from Rossland, British Columbia. Although there have been many
excellent female skiers from Canada competing for the World Cup over the past decades, none
has matched the success of Nancy Greene in l967 and 1968.
(16) In 1967, Nancy Greene was in second place with one race still to be run. To win the World
Cup, she had to finish first in this final race. She did so in a display of fierce determination. The
following year, this woman, called “Tiger” by her friends, won the World Cup for the second
time as well as an Olympic gold medal in the giant slalom.
(17) Following these victories, she retired from competition but has continued to be involved in
skiing as a coach and as the operator of several ski lodges in British Columbia. Nancy Greene
was born in 1943 and took up competitive skiing at the age of 14. During her ten-year career,
she suffered several serious injuries as a result of the bold and fearless way she approached
alpine ski racing.
*****
(18) The final member of this collection of super Canadian athletes has not actually competed
in a world championship, but he is a world champion nonetheless. He is a Canadian football
player named Lui Passaglia. He was born in Vancouver in 1954, and he played football at
Notre Dame Secondary School and at Simon Fraser University before becoming a member of
100
the BC Lions in 1975. In the 19 years that followed, this punter and place-kicker scored 2966
points during regular season play, more points than any other player in any football league.
(19) He also scored many points during playoff games but none more remarkable than the two
last-minute, game-winning field goals he kicked against Edmonton and Baltimore at the end
of the 1994 season. In the quarter-final game against Edmonton, he split the uprights with 32
seconds left on the clock to give the Lions a 24 to 23 victory. In the Grey Cup game, with the
score tied 23 to 23 and no time left on the clock, he kicked a 38-yard field goal to earn the Lions
their third Grey Cup victory in their 40 years in the Canadian Football League. Lui Passaglia
has been called “the greatest kicker that ever played the game.”
1. Which of Canada’s world champions is associated with each of the following?
a. a Vancouver high school:
b. Boston Marathon:
c. 2966 points:
d. 60 matches:
e. a scull:
f. St. Moritz:
g. Lake Ontario:
h. a school in Edmonton:
i. Rossland, British Columbia:
2. Ned Hanlan came first in many boat races, but he was also first in another way. What was
this other way?
3. What reason can you give for why the Edmonton Grads stopped playing basketball in 1940?
101
4. Why might it be possible to dispute the statement about the Edmonton Grads made by
James Naismith in Paragraph 7? (For a possible reason, see the Answer Key.)
5. Give two possible reasons why no one expected Percy Williams to win gold medals at the
1928 Olympic Games. (To check your answer, see the Answer Key.)
6. Identify the two ironies involved in the Percy Williams story.
7. What did Percy Williams, Barbara Ann Scott, and Nancy Greene have in common?
8. Why was Marilyn Bell’s Lake Ontario swim described as “valiant”?
9. What happened to Marilyn Bell after she gave up swimming?
10. What does a skier have to do in order to win a World Cup?
11. What quality of Nancy Greene’s style of skiing was stressed in Paragraphs 16 and 17?
12. What fact about Lui Passaglia makes it possible to call him a world champion?
13. Why were the 1994 Canadian Football League playoffs so special for Lui Passaglia?
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay in which you identify some sport (or some
other activity) in which you would like to be a world champion.
102
Chapter Fifteen:
The Major Cities of British

Columbia
Some Help with Vocabulary
different context.
Astrophysical Observatory: a place to look at the stars
booming: growing very fast
census: a count of the number of people living in a country
commodities: things being sold
considerable: big
distribution centre: place from where things being sold are sent out
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dominated: consisting mostly of
expansion: growth
junction: place where two things meet
landing site: place where fishing boats sell their fish
municipalities: cities
pontoons: hollow structures that float on water
population figures: the number of people living in a certain place
relatively: when compared to something else
renowned: famous
reserves: resources available for future use
retire: stop working at a job at a certain age or time
segment: a part of something
settlement: a very small community
stately: very handsome
surrounding: close by
terminal: shipping place
terminus: end point
unified entity: acting as if they were one
unbalanced: when things aren’t equal
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Parallel Structure
A parallel sentence is one in which two or more parts of the sentence consist of similar
grammatical structures placed together in a series and joined by words such as and, but, and
or, or by not only followed later in the sentence by but also. A noun is parallel only to another
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noun; a phrase is parallel only to another phrase; a clause is parallel only to another clause.
An example of a parallel sentence can be found in the essay in the previous chapter. It begins
with a series of nouns, some of which have additional modifiers, which do not destroy the
parallelism.
Fighting exhaustion, lamprey eels, and patches of spilled oil on the lake, she appeared
to be only semi-conscious when her hand finally reached out to touch a breakwater in
Toronto’s harbour.
The parallel structure would have been incorrect if the above sentence had read as follows:
Fighting exhaustion, lamprey eels, and because there were patches of oil on the lake,
she appeared to be only semi-conscious when her hand finally reached out to touch a
breakwater in Toronto’s harbour.
In the above sentence, the parallel structure is broken since the “because” clause is not the
same grammatical structure as “exhaustion” and “lamprey eels.”
Other examples of parallel sentences that were used in earlier chapters of this book are found
as follows:
In Chapter Six (Parallel phrases):
Bell’s invention of the telephone caused a social revolution changing forever the way
individuals communicated with one another, not only in Canada but also throughout
the rest of the world.
In Chapter Eight (Parallel Nouns):
Among the eccentricities for which he became famous were his habit of wearing a cap,
gloves, and an overcoat even on the hottest days of summer; his tendency to hum loudly
while playing the piano; and his preference for communicating with his friends by
telephone (often in the dead of night) rather than in face-to-face meetings.
In Chapter Nine (Parallel Clauses):
“Lord Randall said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself on his horse,
and rode madly off in all directions.”
After you have read the essay that follows, identify the sentences making use of parallel
structure in the paragraphs listed below. Some of the paragraphs have more than one sentence
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using parallel structure, but you are required to identify only one. (To check your answers, see
the Answer Key.)
Paragraph 4:
Paragraph 8:
Paragraph 10:
Paragraph 16:
The Major Cities of British Columbia

(1) In terms of British Columbia’s population distribution it is a rather unbalanced province.
Seventy percent of the over four million people are crowded into a relatively small area in the
southwest corner of the province. This part of the province, referred to as the Georgia Strait
Region, includes both the Lower Mainland (all the communities between Vancouver and Hope)
and the communities situated on the southeast coast of Vancouver Island from Victoria to
Nanaimo.
(2) In the following report on the major cities of British Columbia, the population figures given
are those from the 2006 Canadian census. The three largest cities in British Columbia are
Vancouver, Surrey, and Burnaby. As of 2011, Vancouver’s population was over 600,000,
Surrey’s population was around 470,000, and Burnaby’s population was around 220,000.
(3) Vancouver is by far the largest city in British Columbia. Vancouver and its surrounding
cities and municipalities function together as if they were one unified entity, often referred to
as Greater Vancouver. Included in what is known officially as the Greater Vancouver Regional
District (GVRD) are the cities of Burnaby, Coquitlam, Langley, New Westminster, North
Vancouver, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, Surrey, and White Rock. Also included
in this region are the districts of Maple Ridge, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, and West
Vancouver; several villages (Anmore, Belcarra, and Lions Bay); a municipality (Bowen Island);
and a township (Langley). In 2007, the GVRD became known as Metro Vancouver.
(4) Metro Vancouver has a population of 2.5 million and is the centre of British Columbia’s
commercial, industrial, cultural, and entertainment life. It is a busy deep-water port that is the
terminal from which BC lumber products, prairie grain, and other commodities are shipped to
markets around the world. Its mild climate, its beautiful mountain and ocean setting, and its
many sporting and cultural activities make it an attractive city both to live in and to visit.
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(5) In addition, Metro Vancouver offers its inhabitants many opportunities for post-secondary
education. There are four universities (the University of British Columbia in Vancouver; Simon
Fraser University in Burnaby and Vancouver; Capilano University in North Vancouver; and
Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Richmond, Surrey and Langley) and many community
and private colleges. At the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby, there are
programs in a wide range of technical specialties.
*****
(6) At one time, Greater Victoria was the second largest city in British Columbia. As of
2006, the city of Victoria itself had a population of 78,000 while Greater Victoria, including
the municipality of Esquimalt and the three municipalities north of the city on the Saanich
Peninsula, had a population of 330,000. Victoria, as well as being the provincial capital, is
renowned as a popular destination for tourists. Surrounded by the ocean, this city of many
flowers and trees offers visitors attractions such as the Butchart Gardens, the Dominion
Astrophysical Observatory, the Provincial Museum, Beacon Hill Park, and the stately Empress
Hotel. It is also the home of the University of Victoria.
*****
(7) The popular tourist destination of Kelowna went through a period of extremely rapid
growth from 1981 to 1991 and was once the third largest city in British Columbia.
(8) Situated on the eastern shore of Lake Okanagan, Kelowna is renowned for its sunny
climate, its many attractive golf courses and beaches, and, in winter, its nearby ski resorts. This
city's name derives from the term for "grizzly bear" in the local Indigenous language, also called
Okanagan. In the past, many people from other parts of Canada moved to the Okanagan Valley
when they retired. However, in recent years, they have been discouraged from doing so because
of the high cost of housing in this fast-growing area.
(9) Kelowna is the centre of large fruit-processing and wine-making industries. A long bridge,
part of which floats on pontoons, joins Kelowna to Westbank on the opposite side of Okanagan
Lake and to the highway leading to the coast. Post-secondary educational opportunities are
available at University of British Columbia Okanagan and Okanagan University College.
*****
(10) The city of Prince George (population 71,000 in 2011) is situated in the geographical
centre of BC at the junction of the Nechako and Fraser rivers. Prince George was a fairly small
community until the 1950s, when a booming forest industry attracted many people looking
for employment. Work is available in the district’s sawmills and pulp mills, as well as on the
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railroad, for Prince George is a major rail centre in the heart of British Columbia. Other types
of employment are available in the fishing, hunting, and skiing industries. Prince George has
two post-secondary institutions: the University of Northern British Columbia (which was
opened in 1994) and the College of New Caledonia (whose history goes back to the 1970s).
*****
(11) Both Kamloops in the Cariboo and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island have populations of
over 80,000 and both communities are growing. The North and South Thompson Rivers meet
at Kamloops. It has been suggested that the name Kamloops is derived from an Indigenous
word meaning “meeting of the waters.” Also meeting at Kamloops are three of the province’s
main highways, and these help make Kamloops the trade and distribution centre of the
southern part of the BC Interior. The economy in this area is dominated by mining and forestry
(there is a copper smelter and a large pulp mill), but it is also expanding as a tourist area that
offers visitors excellent fishing and skiing. The Thompson Rivers University, formerly called
College of the Cariboo, has its main campus in Kamloops.
*****
(12) The city of Nanaimo is located 112 kilometres north of Victoria on the eastern coast
of Vancouver Island. It is connected to Vancouver by a two-hour ferry journey. Nanaimo
started out as a coal mining town, but this industry ended many decades ago when the coal
ran out. Forestry is now the central occupation of residents in and around Nanaimo. Called
the “Harbour City,” Nanaimo is a deep-sea port as well as a base for one segment of the west-
coast fishing industry. It is also renowned for its annual bathtub race. People come from all
around the world to participate in the July 1 race from Nanaimo to a neighbouring island. Post-
secondary education is available at Vancouver Island University.
*****
(13) An up-to-date road map of British Columbia would have a list of over 600 cities, districts,
towns, villages, settlements, and ferry landings found in the province. This map would include
locations from Abbotsford and Adams Lake at the top of the alphabetical list to Youbou and
Zeballos at the bottom. Also on the list would be a number of important smaller communities
which have a population in the 20,000 range and which play a significant role in their corner of
the province.
(14) In the southeast corner of BC is Cranbrook, the railroad and commercial center of an
area of British Columbia known as the Kootenays. Much of the coal that is shipped to Japan
from the Roberts Bank Superport south of Vancouver comes from this region. The Kootenay
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District has two community colleges: Rocky Mountain College in Cranbrook and Selkirk
College in Castlegar.
(15) The northeastern corner of British Columbia has a large agricultural area called the Peace
River District. In addition to a long established agricultural industry (mostly grain-growing),
the Peace River District has profited from the discovery of extensive oil and gas reserves in the
area since 1951. With a population of more than 19,000, Fort St. John is the district’s largest
city. Located at Mile 73 on the Alaska Highway (Mile 0 is at Dawson Creek, the second
largest city in the Peace River District), Fort St. John is also an important terminus for the BC
Railway. The post-secondary institute in this area is called Northern Lights College.
(16) The second busiest port in British Columbia (Vancouver is the busiest) is Prince Rupert
on the northwest coast. This city of 12,500 is 720 kilometres from Vancouver, if you travel by
air, and 730 kilometres west of Prince George, if you travel by land. It is the western terminus
of the Yellowhead Highway and of a northern branch of the Canadian National Railway. Ships
from both the British Columbia and the Alaska ferry systems make regular stops in Prince
Rupert. This city is an important landing site for fish products, and from this port, several
million tonnes of grain are shipped overseas each year. Prince Rupert is also renowned as being
the city in Canada with the highest annual rainfall. Post-secondary education is offered at a
campus of Northwest Community College.
1. Identify the city in which each of the following post-secondary institutions is located:
a. University of Northern British Columbia:
b. Selkirk College:
c. Vancouver Island University:
d. Northern Lights College:
e. University of Victoria:
f. Okanagan University College:
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g. Douglas College:
2. Why does the writer say that British Columbia is an “unbalanced” province?
3. Why does it make sense to think of “Vancouver” as “Greater Vancouver”?
4. Identify the cities that are part of the GVRD.
5. What four deep-water ports are referred to in the essay? (See Paragraphs 4, 12, 14, and 16.)
6. How many separate communities make up the area called Greater Victoria?
7. What are some of the reasons that Victoria is such a popular destination for tourists?
8. What does the name Kelowna mean in the Indigenous language of Okanagan?
9. What are some of the things that have attracted people to move to Kelowna when they
retire?
10. Why are fewer people from other parts of Canada now retiring in Kelowna?
11. What industry is central to the city of Prince George?
12. What makes Kamloops the trade and distribution centre of the area in which it is located?
13. Why did forestry replace coal as the main industry that supports the city of Nanaimo?
14. What is the Nanaimo bathtub race?
15. Why does the writer mention Zeballos in Paragraph 13?
16. Why does the writer end the essay by adding a brief note on Cranbrook, Fort St. John, and
Prince Rupert?
Practice in Writing
If you have visited any of the cities mentioned in the above essay, write a well-developed
paragraph or a short essay on what you remember about what you saw there. Or if you are
not able to do this, write a well-developed paragraph or short essay describing your present
neighborhood or community to someone who has never visited there.
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Chapter Sixteen:
Multiculturalism in Vancouver
Vocabulary
different context.
ambience: atmosphere of a place
archeologists: people who study early cultures through examining objects or remains
of buildings found in the ground
blocked-off sections: places where cars are not allowed
congregate: gather
delicatessen: a store that sells cooked meat and types of cheese
eventually: in time
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festivities: parties
fisherfolk: a society that lives mainly on fish
focal point: point of interest
fraternal organizations: a club usually for male university students
glittering; shining
glitzy: very bright and flashy
in its infancy: just beginning
multicultural: having many different ethnic groups
multiplicity: of many
predecessors: those who came before
profusion: in large numbers
strikingly: very noticeably
sugar confections: candies, cakes, and cookies
vibrant: full of life
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Sentence Variety
One of the distinctive characteristics of the English language is that it gives writers the
opportunity to compose paragraphs that consist of a variety of different types of sentences.
There are three basic types of sentence structure although these three can each be shaped in a
variety of ways. The examples found below are from the essay that follows.
A SIMPLE SENTENCE has just one main clause.
The majority of Vancouver’s population used to be British.
A common variation of this is to begin a simple sentence with a prepositional phrase.
In the community centre adjacent to the church, a Greek food festival is held
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each October.
A COMPOUND SENTENCE has two main clauses joined by a word such as “and” or “but.”
People from almost 100 different countries have immigrated to Canada,

and many of them have settled in large numbers both in Vancouver and in the
surrounding cities and municipalities.
A COMPLEX SENTENCE has one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses attached
to it. Many different combinations of main and subordinate clauses are possible. In the first
example, the sentence begins with an adverbial clause.
Although it is not actually in Vancouver, Aberdeen Centre in Richmond on No.

3 Road is challenging Vancouver’s Chinatown as the focal point of Chinese commercial
life.
In the next example, the complex sentence ends with an adjective clause.
The third distinctive ethnic street in Vancouver is West Broadway, which has a strong
Greek flavour.
In example number three, the sentence ends with a long noun clause.
It is well-known that in recent years, Vancouver has become a distinctly

multicultural city.
It is not really important that you learn to analyze sentences in terms of their clausal structure.
What is important is that, as you develop as a writer of English, you try to use a variety of
sentence structures. The main thing to avoid is writing paragraphs that consist of nothing but
short, simple sentences.
After you have read the following essay, return to Paragraph 7, and decide whether each of its
sentences is simple, compound, or complex. To help you with this exercise, the beginning of
each sentence has been given below. (To check your answers, see the Answer Key.)
a. The next oldest of the ethnic communities ...
b. The first Italian food store was opened ...
c. By 1982, more than 80 Italian delicatessens ...
d. In 1977, the Italian Cultural Centre ...
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e. It is the place where many of the festivities ...
f. Little Italy has changed recently ...
g. Though Commercial Drive still has ...
Multiculturalism in Vancouver
(1) It is well known that in recent years, Vancouver has become a distinctly multicultural
city. People from almost 100 different countries have immigrated to Canada, and many of
them have settled in large numbers both in Vancouver and in the surrounding cities and
municipalities. It would be difficult to list all the ethnic groups now represented in the city, but
it can be noted that among them are people from Europe (Poland, France, Greece, Italy, and
Romania), from West Asia (India, Pakistan, and Iran), from East Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan,
China, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam), as well as from the Caribbean, Africa, and South
America.
(2) The majority of Vancouver’s population used to be British. This means that they, or
their predecessors, came from either England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. Residents whose
ancestors have been in the Vancouver area even longer than the European pioneers are, of
course, the Indigenous peoples. Archeologists have recently dug up evidence to show that
Indigenous peoples lived as fisherfolk along the shores of what is now Vancouver at least 8000
years ago.
(3) On the streets of Vancouver, one can hear dozens of different languages being spoken,
and an array of fashion styles can be seen from numerous cultures. Further evidence of the
city’s wonderfully rich multiculturalism is found in the many different kinds of food that are
available in hundreds of ethnic restaurants—Chinese, Greek, Thai, Hungarian, Japanese,
Malaysian, and American, to name a few.
(4) Many ethnic groups tend to congregate in one area of the city where they can maintain
some of the customs of the country from which they emigrated, and four groups have
developed a truly distinctive commercial community with a central street containing
restaurants, stores, and businesses. The four groups that have done this most strikingly in
Vancouver are the Chinese, the Italians, the Greeks, and the Indians.
(5) The oldest of these ethnic communities is Chinatown, which has roots going back to 1886
when Vancouver was in its infancy. In the area surrounding Pender and Main Streets, there
are over 250 Chinese shops and other assorted buildings—restaurants, clothing stores, grocery
stores, herb stores, temples, and buildings housing fraternal organizations. One of the special
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attractions of Chinatown is the elegant Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Garden. Another is the
Sam Kee Building, which is the narrowest commercial building in the world. It is a centre
for importing goods from overseas. Also of great importance is the annual dragon parade that
takes place on Chinese New Year.
(6) Although it is not actually in Vancouver, Aberdeen Centre in Richmond on No. 3 Road
is challenging Vancouver’s Chinatown as the focal point of Chinese commercial life. Whereas
Chinatown is old with many historic buildings, Aberdeen Centre (named after the Aberdeen
District of Hong Kong) is modern and vibrant. At present, the majority of the shops in this mall
are owned or operated by Chinese residents. Other malls are being developed nearby, and there
could eventually be 400 shops and restaurants surrounding a major hotel.
(7) The next oldest of the ethnic communities in Vancouver is Little Italy on Commercial
Drive. The first Italian food store was opened in 1957 at the corner of Commercial Drive and
Third Avenue by a man whose name was Petronio Olivieri. By 1982, more than 80 Italian
delicatessens, restaurants, grocery stores, and coffee bars were open for business. In 1977, the
Italian Cultural Centre was built, and it soon began to play an important role in the life of this
community. It is the place where many Italian festivities are held each summer. Little Italy
has changed recently since many Italian people are moving from the Commercial Drive area to
Burnaby, Coquitlam, and Surrey. Though Commercial Drive still has many Italian stores and
restaurants, several other cultures are now represented there as well.
(8) The third distinctive ethnic street in Vancouver is West Broadway, which has a strong
Greek flavor. Along Broadway (west of MacDonald Street), there are many restaurants,
bakeries, food stores, and travel agencies, as well as a Greek bank. The first Greek shops were
built there in the early 1960s, and by the mid-1970s, the Greek presence on the street was well
established. Between 1974 and 1988, there was an annual Greek Day with feasting and dancing
in blocked-off sections of Broadway. Unfortunately, when crowds from outside the community
came in large and rowdy numbers, things got out of hand and this festival was cancelled. In
2005, Greek Day returned to Broadway. Although Broadway is obviously important to the
Greek community, the true centre of their culture is now located a few blocks south on Arbutus
Street. This is the site of St. George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral. In the community centre
adjacent to the church, a Greek Food festival is held each October.
(9) Beginning in the late 1970s, a three-block stretch on Main Street south of 49th Avenue
became the centre of Vancouver’s Indian community. By 1991, there were more than 50
commercial businesses crowded together along this bright and vibrant section of Main Street.
Much of the brightness comes from the many clothing stores featuring great rolls of bright
red, green, and yellow silk for making saris, the traditional dress of Punjabi women. Also
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adding to the brightness are the many shops whose windows are filled with gold jewellery of
many shapes and designs. Equally distinctive in the Punjabi Market are the numerous stores
featuring glittering sugary confections of many colorful kinds and all of a startling sweetness.
The sidewalks are filled with people, and in front of the many groceries stores, bags of onions
and sacks of flour are piled out on the street in some profusion.
(10) It will be interesting in the years ahead to see whether additional nationalities will be able
to place the stamp of their distinctive culture on one of Vancouver’s streets.
1. Which street would you go to if you wanted each of the following?
a. some Greek food:
b. some Chinese herbs:
c. very sweet confections:
d. a cup of cappuccino:
e. silk for saris:
2. In Paragraph 1, why doesn’t the writer list all the ethnic groups that contribute to the
multicultural nature of Vancouver?
3. What two ethnic groups were the first to live in and around Vancouver?
4. What are some of the signs that indicate that Vancouver is a multicultural city?
5. What distinction does the writer make in Paragraph 4 between most ethnic groups in
Vancouver and the Chinese, Italians, Greeks, and Indians?
6. What distinction does the writer make in Paragraphs 5 and 6 between Vancouver’s
Chinatown and Aberdeen Centre in Richmond?
7. What changes are now taking place in the community known as Little Italy?
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8. Where is the true centre of Vancouver’s Greek community now?
9. What details found in Paragraph 9 contribute to the idea that the Punjabi Market is a
colorful place?
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay on some of the customs that help to make
the community you belong to distinctive; or if you have been to an ethnic community such as
discussed in the essay above, write an essay describing this community in greater detail.
117
Chapter Seventeen:
Endangered Species in Canada

Vocabulary
different context.
accelerated: speeded up
amphibians: creatures such as frogs that can live on land and in water
assurances: a way of making something happen
befoul: make dirty
beneficial: useful to human beings
burrowing: digging
carnivore: meat eater
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colonies: large groups
consume: use
ecology: how plants and living creatures relate to each other and their physical
surroundings
edible: something that can be eaten
elaborate: complex
evolve: change over time
exterminate: kill
far-fetched: not easy to believe
fish-spawning grounds: streams where fish lay their eggs
fossil records: animal and plant remains in rocks that can help us understand what
was alive and when
habitat: the place where something lives
herbivores: plant eaters
hibernation: a long sleep
inevitably: something that cannot be avoided
insecticides: poisons that kill insects
integrated ecosystem: an area in which all living things are connected with one
another
intertwined: tied together
intervention: to interfere
intruders: unwelcome visitors
isolated event: something that happens once
linkages: ties
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migrating: moving to another part of the world
pelts: skins
pesty: troublesome
reptiles: any cold-blooded animal covered in scales such as a snake
rodents: small animals such as rats and mice
sea mammals: a warm-blooded animal in the sea that gives birth to live young instead
of laying eggs (such as seals and walruses)
sea urchins: small shellfish
skyscrapers: tall buildings
snowbound: covered in snow
species diversity: having many types of living things
survival: living rather than dying
terms: words
ultimately: in the end
A NOTE ABOUT WRITING: Some Rhetorical Devices
The essay in this chapter is different in tone from the preceding 16 essays. A few of the earlier
essays were occasionally laudatory, that is, they sometimes praised the places, things, or people
being written about, but for the most part, they maintained a factual, neutral tone. In contrast,
this chapter’s essay on endangered species is neither laudatory nor neutral; it is critical. The
writer clearly thinks that something has gone wrong to cause so many living things to be in
danger of extinction. The purpose of the essay is to make sure that the reader is aware of this.
In order to raise the reader’s awareness of the increasing number of endangered species, the
writer has used several rhetorical devices to make the argument more convincing.
A rhetorical device involves using words and sentences in such a way that they get the reader’s
attention. Some of the rhetorical devices employed in this chapter are as follows:
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1. Using a PERIODIC SENTENCE
The opening sentence of this chapter’s essay is a strong one.
“What must be understood is that the disappearance of a plant or an animal species is

not an isolated event.”
Part of the strength of this statement is that it is what is called a periodic sentence, that is, a
sentence whose meaning is not complete until the period has been reached. In most prose, with
the exception of simple sentences, the majority of sentences are loose; that is, they contain a
main clause that is completed before the period has been reached, as in the following:
“Around 1750, Russian, British, and Spanish explorers reached the west coast and
hunted sea otters for their beautiful pelts, [main clause] which were sold by the
thousands in Europe and China.”
Because they create a certain amount of suspense, periodic sentences — especially fairly long
ones — can be used to gain emphasis although they should not be overused. The opening
sentence of Paragraph 3 is another example of a periodic sentence used to good effect.
“An important principle related to ecology is that one of the best assurances for the
continuation of life on Earth is the richness of species diversity.”
2. Using REPETITION to gain emphasis
Paragraph 2 in the essay that follows is an excellent example of how the repetition of both
words and sentence patterns can be used to gain emphasis. The paragraph’s last four sentences
all begin in a similar way: “Human beings cut down;” “Human beings befoul;” “Human beings
turn;” “Human beings spray.” This is not a case of careless repetition of words as was discussed
in Chapter Seven but the repeating of words on purpose to get the reader’s attention.
3. Using a CLIMACTIC SERIES
This involves using a series of sentences (or even just a series of words or phrases) that move in
steps up to a final or climactic point. This has been done in the last half of Paragraph 3 in which
the rate of species extinction between the time of the dinosaurs and the end of this century
moves from “one every 1000 years,” to “one every four years,” to “one species each year,” and
then climactically to “by the year 2025, as many as one fifth of all species known to exist today
may disappear from the Earth.”
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4. Using UNUSUAL WORD ORDER
The usual word order for the last sentence of Paragraph 1 would be
There is a linkage between the electricity users, the river, and the fish.
But the writer has reversed this.
The electricity users, the river, and the fish—all have linkages to one another.
5. Ending a paragraph with a SHORT, DRAMATIC SENTENCE
This device is most effective when the short sentence is placed after a series of longer sentences
and conveys an important idea. The writer of the essay on endangered species has used this
device in three paragraphs.
Paragraph 7: “It, too, is in danger of becoming extinct.”
Paragraph 8: “None are now alive anywhere on Earth.”
Paragraph 14: “As a result, the beaver survived.”
6. Using a sentence that contains a CONTRAST
Contrasting involves placing two things that are opposite to one another side by side, as the
writer has done in the fourth sentence of Paragraph 8.
Where once they had darkened the sky during their huge migratory flights, by the year
1890, the passenger pigeon had become a rare bird.
The above are some devices that you may wish to use in your own essays, keeping in mind that
there must always be a close relationship between the idea being expressed and the device
used. You cannot, for example, write a contrasting sentence unless the idea you are expressing
actually contains a contrast.
Endangered Species in Canada

(1) What must be understood is that the disappearance of a plant or an animal species is not an
isolated event. This is because our Earth is what has been described as an integrated ecosystem
in which every living thing is in some way linked to every other living thing. It may seem
far-fetched, but the following series of events illustrates one way in which this intertwined
relationship can operate. As the residents of British Columbia steadily increase the number of
122
electrical appliances they own and use, they will inevitably increase the amount of electricity
they consume. Ultimately, this will result in the need to build more power dams, and the
damming of a river could lead to the destruction of fish-spawning grounds. The electricity
users, the river, and the fish—all have linkages to one another.
(2) At present, when a particular species disappears, in almost all cases, it is the human species
that has caused this to happen. Human beings cut down forests and destroy the habitats of
birds and animals. Human beings befoul the oceans and beaches with oil spills and, as a result,
bring about the destruction of fish, sea mammals, and sea birds. Human beings turn wilderness
into a city of skyscrapers and upset the flight path of migrating birds. Human beings spray
insecticides on farmland to kill insects that they consider harmful and, in so doing, kill off
beneficial insects, birds, and small rodents.
(3) An important principle related to ecology is that one of the best assurances for the
continuation of life on Earth is the richness of species diversity. The more species there are,
the greater the chances that life on Earth will survive. Although there are still several million
species of plants and animals on the Earth, they are now being destroyed at a much more rapid
rate than ever before. From fossil records, we can unearth some alarming statistics. In the
days of the dinosaurs (millions of years ago), species disappeared at the rate of one every 1000
years. Between the years 1600 and 1900, as the human species increased its intervention with
the environment, species were lost at the rate of one every four years. Between 1900 and 1975,
the disappearance rate climbed to about one species each year. At one time it was predicted
that, by the end of the century, the rate will have accelerated to one species every hour, but
this rate was surpassed in 2002. According to the Red List of Threatened Species published in
2009 by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), 17,291 species of plants and
animals were at risk of extinction. The World Wildlife Fund also now predicts that by the year
2025, as many as one fifth of all species known to exist today may disappear from Earth.
(4) Five different terms must be understood in order to realize the nature of the problem
of species loss in Canada or anywhere else for that matter. First of all, a species might be
considered of special concern (also known as vulnerable). This means that the numbers of that
species in a particular area have been severely reduced. The species may not be in immediate
danger, but if the causes that make it vulnerable are not removed, and its numbers continue to
decline, it will become threatened.
(5) A threatened species may take the next step up the danger scale and become endangered if
it continues to have its numbers reduced by human or natural causes. An endangered species
is threatened with being either extirpated, or driven to extinction. An extirpated species is one
that no longer exists in a particular region (such as on Vancouver Island or on the Canadian
123
prairies) although it might still be found in some other part of the world. An extinct species no
longer exists anywhere on Earth.
(6) An organization called the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is
responsible for maintaining an official Canadian Endangered Species List. The list contains
not only mammals and birds but also fish, marine mammals, plants, reptiles, and amphibians.
The 2009 list included 160 special concern species, 145 threatened species, 244 endangered
species, 23 extirpated species, and 13 extinct species.
(7) An example of species extirpation is a small weasel called the black-footed ferret.
This carnivore lived on the species of small prairie dogs called gophers. These gophers made
their homes on the open prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan. They lived in colonies and
would burrow their dens and elaborate tunnels beneath the rich prairie grasses on which
these herbivores fed. The black-footed ferrets moved into these “prairie dog towns,” living
in abandoned gopher dens and feeding regularly on gophers they caught and killed. The
gophers and the ferrets lived in an ecological balance. However, when settlers arrived and
the grasslands were turned into farms, farmers found it necessary to exterminate the pesty
gophers. When most of the prairie dog towns had disappeared, the black-footed ferrets found
they had no place to live. By the 1930s, they had completely disappeared from the Canadian
prairies. A very small black-footed ferret population can still be found south of the Canadian
border in the state of South Dakota. It, too, is in danger of becoming extinct.
(8) One of the most disturbing examples of a species made extinct by human greed involves a
bird called the passenger pigeon. It was once the most common bird in North America, but,
because it was both edible and tasty, it was used as food by humans. With the growth of large
city populations in the middle of the 19th century, passenger pigeons were killed and shipped
to markets each year by the millions. Where once they had darkened the sky during their huge
migratory flights, by the year 1890, the passenger pigeon had become rare. The last time one
was seen in Canada was the year 1902. None are now alive anywhere on Earth.
(9) Two interesting mammals in British Columbia that have been on the list of endangered
species are the sea otter and the Vancouver Island marmot. In 1996, the BC sea otter
population was downlisted to threatened. However, in other parts of North America, sea otters
remain on the endangered list. Sea otters used to be found by the thousands in the waters off
the west coast of British Columbia. Sea otters (along with seaweed and sea urchins) provide
us with another example of what it means for an ecosystem to be in balance. At one time, sea
otters lived in family groups in coastal areas where there were great beds of kelp or seaweed.
Down in the mud of the seabed were creatures called sea urchins, which fed on the roots of the
kelp, and were, in turn, eaten by the sea otters that lived on the surface among the kelp. Before
124
human beings entered the picture, the sea urchins, the kelp, and the otters were in balance—all
maintaining strong populations.
(10) But sea otters have a wonderfully rich fur (they need it to keep warm in the cold ocean),
and this nearly brought them to extinction. Around 1750, Russian, British, and Spanish
explorers reached the west coast and hunted sea otters for their beautiful pelts, which were
then sold by the thousands in Europe and China. Within a century, they were extirpated from
the coast of British Columbia, although a few were still surviving in Alaska. When the otters
were gone, the sea urchins increased in numbers and destroyed the seaweed beds. Then the sea
urchins disappeared because their food supply ended.
(11) There are now two small colonies of endangered sea otters off the west coast of Vancouver
Island. Human beings have intervened again though this time in a beneficial way. In 1969,
a biologist in British Columbia moved a colony of sea otters from Alaska in hopes of re-
establishing them on the west coast. At present, over 3500 of these playful creatures exist in
British Columbia. Even though it is illegal to hunt them, they could once again be in grave
danger if the section of coast where they are established suffered a disaster such as an oil spill
since the oil would destroy their pelts, and the sea otters would perish from the cold.
(12) Also on Vancouver Island is a critically endangered mammal. This is the Vancouver
Island marmot, a stout-bodied member of the rodent family about the size of a family cat.
This herbivorous marmot lives in small colonies on the rocky slopes of alpine meadows. Since
their habitat is snowbound for many months of the year, these marmots go into hibernation in
October and have a long winter sleep until May. Although they have always been preyed upon
by cougars, eagles, wolves, and bears, they were able to maintain and increase their colonies.
What endangers them now is human activity in their very specialized habitat, especially the
building of logging roads, ski resorts, and hiking trails. Marmots are nervous little creatures. If
they are frightened by too many intruders near their colony site, they will abandon their home
and may not be able to find another one suitable for their needs. The Vancouver Island Marmot
Recovery Project recently announced critically low numbers of marmots. Less than 30 wild-
born marmots remain in the few areas on Vancouver Island that are suitable to provide them
with the special kind of living conditions they need to survive.
(13) Among the other Canadian species having to struggle to exist are the following familiar
creatures. On the special concern list are the western wolverine, the grizzly bear, and the
western barn owl. The grey fox, the peregrine falcon, and the harbor porpoise are threatened.
The northern spotted owl, the whooping crane, the bowhead whale, the blue whale, and the
eastern wolverine are all endangered. Humpback, killer, and beluga whales can be found under
the heading special concern or threatened, depending upon the population location.
125
(14) The beaver, the mammal that is frequently used as a Canadian symbol (look on the back
of a Canadian five-cent coin), was at one time an endangered species and would have become
extinct if something fortunate had not happened. Towards the end of the 18th century, over
100,000 beaver pelts were being shipped to Europe from Canada every year in order to make
Beaver Hats for gentlemen. But fashions changed, and the gentlemen stopped wearing hats
made out of beaver fur. As a result, the beaver survived and flourishes today.
1. What is the central idea that the writer develops in Paragraph 1? (To check your answer, see
the Answer Key.)
the Answer Key.)
the Answer Key.)
4. Imagine that you want to tell a friend about the differences between the five different terms
that the writer defines in Paragraphs 4 and 5. In your own words, what would you tell your
friend?
5. What brought about the extirpation of the black-footed ferret in Canada?
6. Why did the passenger pigeon become extinct?
7. In Paragraph 9, an example is given of ecological balance. Summarize briefly what the

paragraph tells us.
8. What beneficial intervention is referred to in Paragraph 11?
9. Why are the Vancouver Island marmots now an endangered species?
10. What saved the animal that symbolizes Canada from becoming extinct?
126
Practice in Writing
Write a well-developed paragraph or a short essay in which you describe some of the elements
that make up the ecosystem where you live; or write a one-paragraph summary of the above
essay.
127
Supplimentary Answer Key

Here are answers to some questions that may not be answered in the essays.
CHAPTER TWO: A Note About Writing: Verbs in the Past Tense
Paragraph 2:
A surprising statistic, especially to someone who has crossed the country by plane and seen the
great grain fields spread out across the prairie provinces ....
Paragraph 4:
Until recently, when the codfish stocks became so low that fishing had to be stopped, the cod
fishery was the mainstay of the Newfoundland economy.
The first settlers from England arrived in Newfoundland in the early 1600s, and Newfoundland
was a British Colony until 1949 ....
Paragraph 7:
PEI entered Confederation six years later, in 1873. PEI was physically joined ....
Paragraph 9:
The dramatic tide changes that can be seen from Rockwood Provincial Park have been
described as one of the wonders of the world.
Paragraph 11:
(All four sentences in this paragraph are in the past tense.)
Paragraph 13:
This area is famous for its skiing in winter, and for the brilliance of its landscape when the
leaves have changed in the fall.
The capital, Quebec City, is one of the oldest in Canada, having been founded in 1608.
CHAPTER TWO, Question 2:
The writer’s reason for giving so many numerical facts in the opening paragraph of the essay is
to show the immense size of Canada’s land mass.
128
CHAPTER TWO, Question 14:
The writer makes reference to eight Boeing 747 airplanes in order to show how big the field is
in Toronto’s Rogers Centre (formerly called Skydome).
*****
CHAPTER SIX, Question 6:
The fact that basketball was included in the 1936 Olympics shows that the game had by then
established itself in many countries of the world.
*****
CHAPTER SEVEN, Question 6:
The irony of Agnes Macphail’s life was that, after a lifetime of working to help other people, she
ended up being in need of help herself because she was poor and in bad health.
*****
CHAPTER EIGHT, A Note About Writing English Idioms
a globe-trotting performer: (someone who gives concerts in many different countries)
in the dead of night: (in the middle of the night)
front page news: (very important news)
a star attraction: (something many people want to see)
any subject under the sun: (any subject at all; everything)
from all walks of life: (many different types of people)
came up with the idea: (thought of an idea)
CHAPTER EIGHT: Question 8
Besides being friends and being people with disabilities, Rick Hansen and Terry Fox had two
things in common: they were excellent athletes and raised money for medical research.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Question 12
Two possible explanations for the apparent inconsistency related to the width of Canada and
129
the distance that Terry Fox ran were (a) streets and highways do not always follow a straight
line; and (b) during his run, Terry Fox would sometimes leave the main highway to make an
appearance in nearby towns and cities, thus adding to the number of kilometres he ran.
*****
CHAPTER NINE: Question 3
The reason that the T. Eaton Company went out of the mail-order business in 1976 was
probably that most Canadians, by that time, had easy access to a shopping mall in their
community and didn’t need to order goods through the mail.
CHAPTER NINE: Question 4
Canadians probably find the statement “Keep your fork, Duke, there’s pie a-comin’” humorous
because it illustrates the contrast between the fancy life of the aristocracy and the simple
lifestyle and manners of people in pioneer Canada.
*****
CHAPTER TEN, Question 5:
The advantage gained from building a thermal power plant close to where the power is to be
used is that it saves the cost of erecting power lines over a long distance.
CHAPTER TEN, Question 7:
The reason nothing is said in the essay about electric power production in Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan is that there is nothing unusual about the way
these provinces produce electricity. They do not use nuclear power and do not produce great
amounts of hydroelectric power. Therefore, they must be dependent on thermal power plants.
*****
CHAPTER ELEVEN, A Note About Writing: Introductory Phrases
Paragraph 3:
Throughout their history, ...
If several bands join together, ...
When a group of tribes are closely associated,...
130
In 2006,...
Paragraph 6:
As well as retaining their culture and improving their economic conditions, ...
Although some progress towards settling Indian Land Claims is being made, ...
CHAPTER ELEVEN, Question 1:
In the essay’s opening sentences, the author wants to make a contrast between how long the
Indigenous peoples have been in Canada and how long the later immigrants have been here.
*****
CHAPTER TWELVE, Question 9:
The cause introduced in Paragraph 7 was that the Iroquois fought for the British against the
French; the result was that in most of North America, the main language is now English.
Today’s version of lacrosse is different from the original version in at least three ways: (a) there
are only six players for each team playing at any one time; (b) the area over which the game is
played is much smaller (about the size of a hockey rink); and (c) the game is completed in only
a couple of hours.
The Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies and the Inuit were similar
because (a) they both built temporary shelters; and (b) they both had to track animals in order
to get food.
*****
CHAPTER THIRTEEN, Question 9:
Bobby Orr’s winning the NHL scoring title was called a “feat” because no other defenseman
had ever done this. Until Orr, defensemen had not been expected to score a lot of goals.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN, Question 12:
The probable explanation for why Canadians were upset when Wayne Gretzky was traded to
Los Angeles would be that Canadians did not want “the greatest hockey player in the history of
131
the game” to be playing for an American team.
*****
CHAPTER FOURTEEN, Question 3:
The probable reason that the Edmonton Grads disbanded in 1940 was that the Second World
War (1939 to 1945) was occurring, and international travel was not possible.
The reason one might be able to question James Naismith’s remark about the Edmonton Grads
being “the finest basketball team that ever stepped out on a floor” was that he died in 1939 and,
therefore, never saw any of the very powerful professional teams in the National Basketball
Association (NBA).
The two possible reasons that no one expected Percy Williams to win gold medals at the 1928
Olympics were (a) no one had ever heard of him; and (b) he was younger and smaller than the
experienced runners he had to race against.
*****
CHAPTER FIFTEEN, A Note About Writing: Parallel Structure
Paragraph 4: “Its mild climate” and “its beautiful mountain and ocean setting” and “its many
sporting and cultural activities” are parallel noun phrases.
Paragraph 8: “its sunny climate” and “its many attractive golf courses and beaches” and “its
nearby ski resorts” are parallel noun phrases.
Paragraph 10: “fishing” and “hunting” and “skiing” are parallel words.
Paragraph 16: “720 kilometres from Vancouver, if you travel by air” and “730 kilometres west
of Prince George, if you travel by land” are parallel clauses.
*****
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: A Note About Writing: Sentence Variety
a. Simple sentence (one main clause)
b. Complex sentence (main clause and adjective clause)
132
c. Simple sentence (one main clause)
d. Compound sentence (two main clauses)
e. Complex sentence (main clause and adjective clause)
f. Complex sentence (main clause and adverb clause)
g. Complex sentence (adverb clause and main clause)
*****
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN, Question 1:
The central idea of paragraph 1 is that in an ecosystem all parts are dependent on all the other
parts.
In paragraph 2, the central idea is that when a species disappears, in most instances, the
disappearance is caused by something human beings have done.
Paragraph 3 presents the idea that species are now becoming extinct at an increasingly faster
rate.
*****
© 2010 by Paragon Testing Enterprises Inc.
All Rights Reserved
For more study guides and test preparation material, visit www.celpip.ca
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READING YOUR WAY

Reading Your Way Into English

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© 2010 by Paragon Testing Enterprises Inc.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Main entry under title:

1. English language—Textbooks for second language learners.

Introduction: The Value of Reading 1

Chapter One: Populating Canada 6

Chapter Two: The Shape of Canada –

Present and Past Tenses

Chapter Three: The Shape of Canada –

Clauses That Begin with Although

Chapter Four: Governing Canada 30

Chapter Five: The Canadian Legal System 35

Subject and Verb Agreement

Chapter Six: Made in Canada 40

The Use of Participial Phrases

Chapter Seven: Special Canadians – Part I 48

Chapter Eight: Special Canadians – Part II 54

More About English Idioms

Chapter Nine: Canadian Jokes and Quotations 62

The Use of Prepositions

Chapter Ten: Lighting up the Country 69

Using the Articles A and The

Chapter Eleven: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada 74

Introductory Phrases and Clauses

Chapter Twelve: Four Indigenous Cultures 79

Chapter Thirteen: An All-Star Hockey Team 87

Various Tense Forms

Chapter Fourteen: Canadian World Champions 94

Still More About English Idioms

Chapter Fifteen: The Major Cities of British Columbia 103

Chapter Sixteen: Multiculturalism in Vancouver 111

Chapter Seventeen: Endangered Species in Canada 118

Some Rhetorical Devices

Supplimentary Answer Key 128

Introduction: The Value of

comply with: agree to follow

context: the words surrounding a word or a phrase that help to

determine: its meaning

fluently: able to use a language easily

grammatical structures: the way words are used in sentences

primarily: the main way

proficient: doing something correctly and skillfully

pronunciation: the way a sound is spoken

sophisticated: complex; not simple

strategies: plans of ways of doing something

The Value of Reading

Seven Strategies to Improve Writing and Speaking

Some Notes About Using This Book

a) What is the topic of the paragraph?

b) What does the writer say about that topic?

What is the topic of the paragraph?

“The importance of reading.”

What does the writer say about this topic?

chronological: in order of occurrence

consequently: afterward; as a result

dramatically: very noticeably

garment: a piece of clothing

in excess of: more than

populating: providing a country with people

rural: in the countryside