CELPIP Set 4-2 – Reading

Dear Peter,

I feel bad about not being there for my little brother’s big day today—you’re finally sixteen! At last you can learn to drive! You’ll soon be receiving a package in the mail that will hopefully make up for my absence. I won’t ruin the surprise, but it’s something to do with music. I found it during my travels in South America.

Speaking of music, Mom and Dad said you’re getting really good at guitar! I guess those lessons paid off. I always wanted to learn as well, but I was never as passionate about music as you. You’ll have to teach me some chords when I get back home next month.

As for me, traveling has been incredible. I’ve just spent the past week exploring the Ecuadorian Amazon with local guides. The rainforest grows on you. At first, I found it a bit intimidating with the deadly insects and intense weather changes. But soon I started seeing the beauty of it all; I could peer under a leaf and come across rainbow-coloured insects, and, when looking overhead, I could see a flock of beautiful, colourful parrots passing by. Everything has been great so far, except when I was bitten by a black ant the size of my thumb. Apparently it’s called a Bullet Ant because being bitten feels like getting shot! It certainly was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. Still, I took a picture of it anyway and also one of my swollen arm. I’m fine now and ready for more adventures.

I’m currently in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador and also my final stop. It was only a 20-minute plane ride from the rainforest. The weather is pleasantly different: dry and cool. The people are amazing! Everyone is very welcoming and helpful. When I first got here, I didn’t have a map, so I walked into a store and asked the shop owner where my hostel was. She couldn’t really speak English, so she locked up her shop and took me all the way there, which was 2 kilometres away! Amazing! If only people were like that back home!

I can’t wait to see you. I promise we’ll celebrate your birthday properly when I return!

Susie

A. There are many National Historic Sites in Canada, but few are as popular as the Fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It’s the third most popular Parks Canada site in the Atlantic Provinces, and the tenth Canada wide. Louisbourg attracts almost 200,000 visitors annually, partly because of its location near the world-famous Cape Breton Highlands National Park, but also because of its history. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the French and British competed for control of Atlantic Canada and its thriving cod fisheries based in Louisbourg. At this time, Louisbourg was a centre of commerce that traded cod for manufactured goods from France, New England, and the West Indies, making this maritime resource the region’s primary driver for economic growth.

B. Construction of the fortified seaport of Louisbourg began in 1713. It became an important military base with a permanent garrison and a settled French population of about 8,000 by 1744. However, it kept changing hands between France and Britain, depending on which country won the most recent war. In 1745 the British won, and the French population returned to France. Three years later, Louisbourg reverted to France, and the French population returned to Louisbourg. In 1758 the British attacked yet again, re-capturing the fortress in only seven weeks. This time British domination was permanent. The fortifications were destroyed and the town abandoned. This, plus the capture of Quebec in 1759 and Montreal in 1760, ended France’s power in North America.

C. In the early 1960s, the Government of Canada began a $25 million project to reconstruct about one-quarter of the original Louisbourg town and fortifications. The buildings, yards, gardens, and streets were recreated as they were in 1744. At first there was extensive archaeological excavation, uncovering millions of artifacts as well as the ruins of fortifications and buildings. Enough information was uncovered on site and discovered in archives in France, Britain, the United States, and Canada to recreate the fortress with accuracy. Louisbourg is North America’s largest historic reconstruction.

D. Nowadays tourists can enjoy the lavishly reconstructed fortress. In the summer, 150 costumed actors are onsite. Men, women, and children in their period-style clothes act out activities representing society from poor labourers to the very rich. There are engineers, musicians, soldiers, merchants, street vendors, bakers, servants, and fishermen. Visitors can listen to music and stories, watch dances, and observe activities such as lace-making, cooking, gardening, and animal care. They can watch soldiers load and shoot a musket or fire a cannon. Visiting Louisbourg is stepping back 250 years in history.

E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.