5 Read the story for detail. As you read, try to be the first to guess what country is being described. Then try to guess what names of places are missing and fill in the gaps.
Hi, everyone. I'm from...
My country is huge. You just have to think of its territory, the size of its great lakes, the volume of its world-famous ... Falls, the height of its mountains or even just the size of the whales that live there.
It's very rich. And I'm talking about both the natural resources and the people. Think of the oil, gas, timber, gold, nickel, aluminum and lead — we've got them all, and in huge quantities. Besides, we produce 15% of the world's diamonds. So our citizens have a very high standard of living.
It's full of contrasts, with one of the largest territories in the world and a very small population, polar bears and blooming gardens, igloos and skyscrapers.
It's got something for everyone. Try to live in the rhythm of the crazy heartbeat of cities like T... and M..., which offer the world's best quality of life. If that's too fast for you, go for a quiet history tour of St John's in Newfoundland. Are you a sports type? Then choose between hiking, skiing or snowboarding in the mountains of our national parks.
We are multicultural. Since our country welcomes immigration, more and more people come to live here every year. You can eat in a Russian restaurant in our capital or get a hot Sicilian pizza in the snow-covered Yukon. And you will feel as if you are in Russia or in Italy. Oh, and I forgot to tell you: in our country, you can speak either English or French. Both languages are official.
Would you like to know why? Then let me tell you about some of the facts from our history.
In spite of the fact that the climate is so cold, the aboriginal people, or First Nations, had lived there for thousands of years before the Europeans came. A lot of the names of our cities and lakes came from their language. The name of our country ... comes from the Iroquoian word kanata which means villages. The name of one of our Great Lakes, Ontario, means "beautiful lake" in the language of the Iroquoian. Two other Great Lakes were called ... and ... after the tribes that used to live in that area. A similar story can be told about our capital which was called ... after the tribe of Odaawaa.
In 1603 the French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived and started the colonisation of the country. As the colonists were helped by the Indians, they managed to survive. Their territory was called New France and they established some of our major cities: ... and ....
The English were generally uninterested in this country. They were more attracted to the warmer lands in the south, which later became the first thirteen colonies of the USA. But in 1756 the colonies had to enter the Seven Years' War which started in the Old World. As a result New France fell, and the British General Wolf established British rule there. Although my country became a British colony, the first wave of British immigration didn't come until the American Revolution. After the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from Britain, about 50,000 people who stayed loyal to the British crown (we call them Loyalists) moved here. Later the British started a very active exploration of the new land. In 1787 they founded ... (from the Iroquois word tkaronto, meaning "place where trees stand in the water" .
Oh, I completely forgot to tell you about our capital city, .... It was chosen by the English Queen Victoria on December 31, 1857. At that time it was neither big nor important. The choice surprised the people so much that they made a lot of jokes about it. One joke has it that when the Queen was asked to make her choice, she simply stuck a pin on a map halfway between the most important French and English cities ... and ... and announced the place for our capital. Thus the capital became a good compromise between the French and English population. Unfortunately, I must also tell you that this English-French problem has still not been solved since a lot of people in the French province ... still want to gain independence from the rest of the country. In ... they made French the only official language. I think it's because our country is still a British dominion. The ties between my country and Great Britain are not only historical. Look at our money or our stamps and you will be reminded of Great Britain. We even have a queen. You'll probably be surprised if I tell you that her name is Queen Elizabeth II. Yes, the English Queen, not another one. Thus, our country is both a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. Our form of government and its legislative system came from Great Britain too.
In spite of all our disagreements, there are more things that unite us in this country, and this idea is symbolised in our flag. A red maple leaf between two red stripes symbolizes the unity of all our citizens regardless of their race, religion or beliefs.
Hi, everyone. I'm from...
My country is huge. You just have to think of its territory, the size of its great lakes, the volume of its world-famous ... Falls, the height of its mountains or even just the size of the whales that live there.
It's very rich. And I'm talking about both the natural resources and the people. Think of the oil, gas, timber, gold, nickel, aluminum and lead — we've got them all, and in huge quantities. Besides, we produce 15% of the world's diamonds. So our citizens have a very high standard of living.
It's full of contrasts, with one of the largest territories in the world and a very small population, polar bears and blooming gardens, igloos and skyscrapers.
It's got something for everyone. Try to live in the rhythm of the crazy heartbeat of cities like T... and M..., which offer the world's best quality of life. If that's too fast for you, go for a quiet history tour of St John's in Newfoundland. Are you a sports type? Then choose between hiking, skiing or snowboarding in the mountains of our national parks.
We are multicultural. Since our country welcomes immigration, more and more people come to live here every year. You can eat in a Russian restaurant in our capital or get a hot Sicilian pizza in the snow-covered Yukon. And you will feel as if you are in Russia or in Italy. Oh, and I forgot to tell you: in our country, you can speak either English or French. Both languages are official.
Would you like to know why? Then let me tell you about some of the facts from our history.
In spite of the fact that the climate is so cold, the aboriginal people, or First Nations, had lived there for thousands of years before the Europeans came. A lot of the names of our cities and lakes came from their language. The name of our country ... comes from the Iroquoian word kanata which means villages. The name of one of our Great Lakes, Ontario, means "beautiful lake" in the language of the Iroquoian. Two other Great Lakes were called ... and ... after the tribes that used to live in that area. A similar story can be told about our capital which was called ... after the tribe of Odaawaa.
In 1603 the French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived and started the colonisation of the country. As the colonists were helped by the Indians, they managed to survive. Their territory was called New France and they established some of our major cities: ... and ....
The English were generally uninterested in this country. They were more attracted to the warmer lands in the south, which later became the first thirteen colonies of the USA. But in 1756 the colonies had to enter the Seven Years' War which started in the Old World. As a result New France fell, and the British General Wolf established British rule there. Although my country became a British colony, the first wave of British immigration didn't come until the American Revolution. After the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from Britain, about 50,000 people who stayed loyal to the British crown (we call them Loyalists) moved here. Later the British started a very active exploration of the new land. In 1787 they founded ... (from the Iroquois word tkaronto, meaning "place where trees stand in the water" .
Oh, I completely forgot to tell you about our capital city, .... It was chosen by the English Queen Victoria on December 31, 1857. At that time it was neither big nor important. The choice surprised the people so much that they made a lot of jokes about it. One joke has it that when the Queen was asked to make her choice, she simply stuck a pin on a map halfway between the most important French and English cities ... and ... and announced the place for our capital. Thus the capital became a good compromise between the French and English population. Unfortunately, I must also tell you that this English-French problem has still not been solved since a lot of people in the French province ... still want to gain independence from the rest of the country. In ... they made French the only official language. I think it's because our country is still a British dominion. The ties between my country and Great Britain are not only historical. Look at our money or our stamps and you will be reminded of Great Britain. We even have a queen. You'll probably be surprised if I tell you that her name is Queen Elizabeth II. Yes, the English Queen, not another one. Thus, our country is both a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. Our form of government and its legislative system came from Great Britain too.
In spite of all our disagreements, there are more things that unite us in this country, and this idea is symbolised in our flag. A red maple leaf between two red stripes symbolizes the unity of all our citizens regardless of their race, religion or beliefs.